Call for Proposals from A Library of Things at MACHANG is seeking proposals for an upcoming three-week residency at MACHANG

A collaboration between DKUNST Art on Campus at DKU, M Art Foundation, and the Art Materials Collaborative, the research and creation residency program A Library of Things at MACHANG is seeking proposals for an upcoming three-week residency at MACHANG (Shanghai). We welcome proposals of projects that will engage closely with the things (normally materials for building up an exhibition or creating an artwork or left behind after their demolition) at MACHANG through research and/or creation. It could be a curatorial project in collaboration with artistic creation using the materials of MACHANG. It could be a project of photography or video that records the life of a thing or two. It could be a project of archiving that proposes interesting ways of cataloguing the materials which would take their changing ontological status into consideration. It could also be an art-historical investigation of any given artist or artistic movement that have engaged materially and/or conceptually with things and materials (especially building materials or “waste”). We especially encourage group proposal of up to 2 persons. 

Proposal due date: Please send your proposal (no more than two pages) to ZHANG Tianyu tianyu.zhang186@dukekunshan.edu.cn by Nov 20, 2022.Duration: December 15th, 2022 – January 5th, 2023Prerequisites:1. At least one participant should be a Duke Kunshan University student

2. Bring your projects back and show them on DKU campus at the “Beauty Salon (AB)” or elsewhere (to be discussed with the curatorial team)

3. Write a report on the residency experience (max. 1000 words)

We offer:

1. Transportation cost (one roundtrip) between DKU campus (or anywhere within the Suzhou-Kunshan-Shanghai triangle) and MACHANG (Jiading, Shanghai)2. Accommodation at MACHANG (double room fully equipped with private shower and toilet)3. 3,000 RMB honoraria for a single person; 5,000 RMB for a team of two.4. Production cost (to be discussed on a case-by-case basis).

About DKUNST Art on Campus

DKUNST Art on Campus is led by Duke Kunshan University’s professor Zairong Xiang in close collaboration with the Humanities Research Center and the Division of Arts and Humanities, aiming at bringing professional art practitioners to DKU and have direct engagement with the students and the university community at large. It also aims at enhancing conviviality on campus through artistic interventions, while encouraging artistic exploration and collaboration within and beyond DKU.

About Art Materials Collaborative

Initiated by M Art Foundation and MACHANG, Art Materials Collaborative (AMC) tries to recycle, research, restore, and redistribute the materials used and generated from contemporary art production. AMC invites creators to act on and discuss the issues of sustainability, value, and economic pattern in contemporary art and beyond.

About MACHANG

Established in Jiading, Shanghai, 2020, MACHANG aims to support the artistic production and practices of youth artists by providing materials, technique and transportation assistance. As a new-born art group, MACHANG hopes to form close connections with artists, and further transforms the factory setting into a space in which various discourses about material experiments, labors, and artistic practices can happen.

About M Art Foundation

M Art Foundation (MAF) is an artist-driven organization founded to support, nurture, and realize the aspiration of leading and emerging contemporary artists by pursuing concepts and practices across borders and boundaries. Acting outside of existing institutional formats but maintaining the highest quality and rigor, MAF helps artist find new possibilities in both research and production by matchmaking constellations of cutting-edge positions. We turn ideas into realities.