KIN

Keywords: rhizome, kin, kinship, reciprocal, reciprocity, species loneliness, biodiversity, polycultures, regeneration

How have we been living for so long, so arrogantly supposing that Nature exists for the convenience of humans?

• Improper Walls42 ReindorfgasseWien, Wien, 1150Austria

We blinded ourselves to reject our own kin. Without seeing the kinship, we separated ourselves into the lonely existence of species — species denying the common ancestor and submitting to the manipulation of fake anthropoid ancestors and data-driven calculations.

And yet, it is engraved in our DNA. The undeniable bound to each other — between all living. We knew it before we knew about DNA. There are millions of stories, myths, and songs about the vital communication and reciprocity between all the species. We still can learn from the intelligence of Indigenous Peoples about the sacred respect for everyone. Respect can start with language, noticing, absorbing, and gaining knowledge:And my family has never been just human beings. To be any kind of animal at all is to be within obligate mutualisms with a whole range of other plants, animals, and microbes and living as a holobiont, not as a single organism or individual. Said Donna Haraway when asked to define her family. While Gustav Metzger urges us to get rid of the term Environment which is the smoke humanity has put on Nature…And Väinämöinen, in the Kalevala epic, consoled the birch, which feels sad because of how people treat her:Weep no more, O verdant birch-tree!Leafy sapling, weep no longer, Thou, equipped with whitest girdle, For a pleasant future waits thee, New and charming joys await thee. Soon shalt thou with joy be weeping, Shortly shalt thou sing for pleasure.

This open call for artists invites them to submit artworks that have kin as the main protagonist — to amplify the existence and intelligence of plant species. We invite artists to leave the human species behind merely as viewers and students who are willing to learn more about their ignored family members. To learn to be more kind to kin as we breathe each other in and out of existence, one made by the exhalation of the other (Monica Gagliano).

• Submission Requirements

  Eligibility:
  For artists based in Austria or Lithuania
  For individual artists or collectives
  For artists working in video, short film, animation, interactive art, sound art, video games, VR, or AR media
  For artworks that can be delivered and presented digitally

  Languages:
  English (in exceptional cases, submissions can be accepted in German or Lithuanian)

  Application

  1. A short artwork description (max. 2000 characters)

  2. Argumentation of why the artwork fits this exhibition (max. 1000 characters)

  3. Photo/image/link/concept of the artwork

  Please send all information in one PDF file (max. 10MB size) by the 14th of October, 2022 to opencall@ltartvienna.com.

  If you have any questions regarding the application, please write an email to opencall@ltartvienna.com.

  Selection Process

  The selection process consists of 2 parts.

  • First part: the jury consisting of curators and artists will pre-select artists (jury members will be announced soon).

  • Second part: all applicants will be notified about the selection results via email. Artists who were selected in the first round will undergo a short interview, after which the final selection will be announced, and artists will be invited to participate in the group show.

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  Your privacy is important to us 

  We would like to ensure you that information submitted to the opencall@ltartvienna.com email will be used only for:

  • reviewing submissions and selecting the final artists for the exhibition (please find the detailed information on the exhibition above) in the jury meeting

  • informing all applicants of the selection results

  • in cases of artwork being selected for the exhibition, submitted information and personal data (email and full name) will be used in regular communication regarding the exhibition

  The submitted documents and full name of the applicant will be shared only with jury members and the Lt.art Vienna team. This information will be stored in Google Drive. After the selection process, all data will be removed from Google Drive.

  We are using gandi.net as our email service provider. Application emails will be stored without defined timelines. Of course, with the opportunity to request emails to be removed at any time by the applicant. It can be done via email: contact@ltartvienna.com.

  If you have any questions or concerns, please reach out to opencall@ltartvienna.com.