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RESIDENCIES
PHI MONTREAL
PHI Residencies — MONTREAL is a 60-day production residency that offers 5 artists based in the Greater Montreal area the opportunity to make new work that responds to a curatorial theme based on current questions, ideas, and issues. Whether it is an installation, visual art, sculpture, media art, or otherwise, the artworks produced will be presented in a group exhibition at PHI Foundation for contemporary art in September 2021. One cohort of five artists will be selected per year and will work under the support and guidance of PHI curatorial, technical, and production staff.
Artists across all disciplines are invited to submit their application via the form.
The Residency
Deadline to apply
May 16, 2021
→ Submit your application via the form
PHI Residencies - MONTREAL program (60 days)
→ Call for proposals: April 27 to May 16, 2021
→ Two voluntary Q&A online sessions (30 minutes) via Zoom: May 12, 2021 at 10 AM and 4 PM
→ Public announcement of the 5 selected artists: June 14, 2021
→ Residency: from July 1st to August 30, 2021
→ Exhibition: from mid-September 2021 to January 2022
Contact
For more informations, please contact [email protected]
Program Details
Artists are asked to submit a proposal for an art project based on the following curatorial prompt: still there are seeds to be gathered, and room in the bag of stars.
In The Carrier-Bag Theory of Fiction, author Ursula K. Le Guin offers another understanding of the power of storytelling. Throughout the essay, she envisions stories as bags: tools to sustain and provide for ourselves and our communities; opportunities to carry and to bring together; essential repositories for our survival. Through a critical reading of the past and present, she argues for a decentering of our society's obsession with the heroic, the canonical and the singular. Instead, she invites all of us to imagine future gatherings that honour the vastness and value of our humble, everyday gestures.
With these reflections in mind, how can art allow us to imagine spaces, temporalities, conditions, or systems where we can all get together, again? To borrow another of Le Guin’s turns of phrase, what kinds of “strange realisms” might mirror this “strange reality”? PHI MONTREAL invites artists to imagine other modes of gathering for survival.
PHI MONTREAL is an annual production residency that offers 5 artists based in the Greater Montreal area the opportunity to make new work that responds to a curatorial theme based on current questions, ideas, and issues. Works produced during the residency will be presented in a group exhibition at the PHI Foundation.
Artists across all disciplines are welcome to submit a proposal, while bearing in mind the residency's objective is to produce an artwork — installation, visual art, sculptural, media, or otherwise — which will be exhibited at the PHI Foundation in September 2021.
Residency PHI — MONTREAL, an annual production residency
At PHI, we value the role of art and culture in our everyday lives. The purpose of PHI MONTREAL is to nurture a relationship between artists, curators and visitors by inviting them to investigate the pressing issues of our time through the production and presentation of artworks. This residency explores art making and presentation through the concept of the ecosystem, a community-building network that relies on interaction and interconnectivity for its health and wellbeing.
Selected artists participating in PHI MONTREAL Residency will receive:
- Individual artists will receive 2,000$ CAD as an artist fee and up to 4,000$ CAD for production expenses;
- Personalized support from the PHI Team over the course of the residency period:
- curatorial support;
- creative direction;
- technical support;
- production support.
- Access to the following PHI Studio facilities: PHI’s sound recording and editing studio and sound engineer; access to PHI offices and administrative spaces.
- Promotional support of the artist and the final presentation across PHI networks;
- Public exhibition of the final artworks at the PHI Foundation, including installation support;
- Access to PHI’s vast network of collaborators;
- Production of a short video profile on each artist for promotional purposes;
- Cost of transport, insurance, and installation of the final artwork during its presentation.
Applications
Submit your application by May 16, 2021 before 11:59 PM by completing this form. Applicants will be asked to provide the following information:
- Artist biography;
- Contact information;
- Description of proposed project (max. 500 words);
- Production plan for the proposed project, including:
- A detailed calendar listing each stage of production;
- A detailed budget outlining creation, production, and other expenses;
- A list of relevant suppliers and/or vendors.
- Documentation of previous work (up to 5 maximum; web links to existing images, video, or other documentation are accepted).
Applications can be completed in French or English. Incomplete applications or applications that do not meet the eligibility requirements will not be considered.
An acknowledgement message will appear once once the registration form has been completed. Selected applicants will be contacted in June 2021.
Submit your application via the form.
Eligibility Requirements
- Montreal-based artists with a professional practice (including emerging artists) are invited to apply;
- Artists working in all disciplines are eligible, including, but not limited to: visual arts, digital and new media arts, performance art, dance, photography and film;
- Groups and collectives of artists are eligible, the conditions offered remain the same.
Selection Process
The selection will be undertaken by a committee composed of PHI staff and invited external professionals who reflect a diverse set of expertise and perspectives as well as represent intersectional diversity.
Applications will be evaluated according to the following criteria:
- Conceptual and formal rigor of the proposed art project and its resonance with the proposed curatorial theme (35%);
- Feasibility of the production of the artwork within the given timeframe as well as the technical and budgetary practicality of the proposed project (35%);
- Quality of past work and overall application (30%).
PHI is committed to equity in all its forms.
Selection Committee
Daniel Fiset, PHI MONTREAL Curator, PHI Foundation
George Fok, Creative Director, PHI Studio
Dayna McLeod, Artist
Nico Williams, Artist
Cheryl Sim, Managing Director and Curator, PHI Foundation
Marika Shaw, PHI Senior Advisor and Residencies Co-Director
Ask your questions!
You are invited to take part in two voluntary online Q&A sessions (30 minutes) via Zoom on May 12, 2021 at 10 AM and 4 PM.
Consult the Facebook pages of both of our sessions (the first one at 10 AM and the second one at 4 PM) to stay up-to-date on potential developments.
FAQ
Do you have any questions? Check out the following FAQ, which also includes the features and dimensions of the PHI Foundation spaces. For more information, please contact [email protected]
Artworks will not be made on site at PHI, but will be exhibited at the PHI Foundation in mid-September 2021. However, artists will indeed have access to some PHI Studio facilities during the residency period, including PHI’s sound recording and editing studio, and PHI offices and administrative spaces. Access to these spaces will be coordinated with the PHI MONTREAL Production Coordinator, depending on the needs of each artist.
Here are the details of the spaces at the PHI Foundation that will be dedicated to the upcoming exhibition.
G0: SS Exhibition Space
Area: 57 square-feet
Dimensions: 34 ft x 9 ⅝ ft
Floors: Ceramic Tile
Walls: Gyproc sheet paint white, on one wall; cement walls
Lighting: Ceiling Fixture
G3: 3rd Floor Exhibition Space
Area: 760 square-feet
Dimensions: Consult attached gallery plan Ceiling: 9 feet high
Floors: Hardwood
Walls: Gyproc sheet paint white
Lighting: Natural and track lighting
G4: 4th Floor Exhibition Space
Area: 1020 square-feet
Dimensions: Consult attached gallery plan Ceiling: 9 feet high
Floors: Hardwood
Walls: Gyproc sheet paint white
Lighting: Natural and track lighting
The PHI Centre and PHI Foundation are partially accessible for those with reduced mobility, although additional assistance may be required and will be arranged with artists who require it.
Given the PHI MONTREAL residency is designed for Montreal-based artists, we do not offer overnight accommodation for this residency.
PHI MONTREAL is a residency program that provides access to some PHI Studio facilities during the residency period, including PHI’s sound recording and editing studio, and PHI offices and administrative spaces, as well as support by way of personalized meetings with the PHI Team as you create your artwork.
Artists are not required to produce an artwork specifically for one of the gallery rooms at PHI Foundation, but should keep in mind the feasibility, technical and spatial realities of the spaces (please refer to the specs sheet in the call). A 100-foot-tall sculpture simply will not fit in our exhibition spaces, for example. For the exhibition at PHI Foundation, the layout and placement of the artworks will be determined by PHI curatorial staff in consultation with the artist. We will consider and try to accommodate the technical and spatial needs of each artwork.
Artists across all disciplines are encouraged to apply with their proposed project, while keeping in mind that the residency’s objective is to produce an artwork—installation, visual, sculptural or media artwork, or otherwise—for exhibition. Are you a dancer with an idea for a video project? A poet with a textile installation in mind? A design duo who wants to make an interactive artwork? We welcome all sorts of projects, not only object-based ones.
There may be the possibility of borrowing some PHI equipment during the residency period depending on the needs and scope of the request, but this will be decided at the discretion of PHI staff. Applicants should include rental or purchase costs of specialized equipment and materials in their project budget in the application.
For applicants applying as collectives, at least one member of the collective must be based in Montreal during the period of the residency. Again, please take note that overnight accommodation is not provided as part of the residency.
Artists will have access to the following PHI Studio spaces during the residency period: PHI’s sound recording and editing studio, and PHI offices and administrative spaces. Access to these spaces will be coordinated with the PHI MONTREAL Production Coordinator, depending on the needs of each artist. Artists will also be given a tour of the PHI Foundation spaces during the onboarding period of the residency.
Yes! If you have further questions about the curatorial theme, application process, selection process and PHI MONTREAL residency as a whole, we invite you to attend one of our two voluntary 30-minute online Q&A sessions via Zoom. We invite you to email your questions beforehand.
If you have questions beyond this, or cannot attend the session, simply direct your questions to [email protected]
The PHI Team will provide curatorial, technical, and administrative support in the form of personalized meetings with each artist, but it is up to each artist to make and produce their own artwork.
PHI MONTREAL is a production-based residency, whose aim is to produce an artwork for exhibition. Already completed artworks are not eligible for this residency. Your proposed project may be a continuation of a past series, but must integrate new elements to be produced during the residency period and must, above all, connect with the curatorial theme of the residency.
There is no application fee.
Selected artists will receive 2,000$ CAD as an artist fee and up to 4,000$ CAD for production expenses for their participation in the residency. Participating artists are therefore not required to apply for additional funding.
Final artworks will be publicly exhibited at the PHI Foundation from mid-September 2021 to January 2022.
Yes; all participating artists will be asked to sign a Letter of Agreement with PHI.
Your budget should be basic and should include the primary costs related to the production of your artwork. Its format and content will depend on the type of project you are submitting! We will not require a cost report at the end of the residency.
The PHI MONTREAL Residency is only open to those with Canadian Resident status at this time.
Applicants may voluntarily add their date of birth into the Voluntary Self-Declaration section of the application. This is not required, but helps us assess the diverse age range of the artists applying for residency.
First, selected artists will be contacted and publicly announced by PHI in June 2021, followed by an onboarding period. During this onboarding, PHI will go over the logistical parts of the residency with each artist, including signing Letter of Agreements and providing a tour of PHI Foundation, where the artworks will be exhibited. The residency itself, the production of the artworks, will start in July through August 2021.
The artist retains ownership of the final work. PHI will retain the exclusivity of the presentation of your artwork only during its exhibition at PHI Foundation from mid-September 2021 to January 2022. In other words, the artwork cannot be presented elsewhere during this period. Any future presentation of the work will credit the PHI MONTREAL Residency accordingly.
The proposal can certainly be submitted under your name, while including a collaborative aspect with other artists, as long as one member of your collective is based in Montreal during the residency period. However, if your proposal is accepted, the final presented project would be credited under your name during the exhibition.
Health and safety: COVID-19
Throughout the residency and public presentation period, the PHI Team will carefully follow the health protocols recommended by Quebec Public Health authorities to ensure the safety of all participants and support staff.