Movements and Moments: Open Call for New Comics 2020 – 2021

Deadline for submissions: 31 Aug 2020, 11:59 pm (GMT+7)

From Goethe Institut:

Goethe-Institut invites graphic artists and teams of graphic artists and writers/authors/scenarists to submit proposals for new comics on Indigenous feminist movements and activists from the Global South. Up to ten selected stories will be published in a Comic Anthology in 2021.

The Goethe-Institut is Germany’s international cultural institute and promotes cultural collaboration worldwide. The cultural and educational programs of the institute encourage intercultural dialogue and enable cultural involvement focusing on shared artistic production, reception and reflection from a global perspective.

The narratives of feminism are still written from a predominantly white, western perspective. While feminist claims and positions from the Global North are still marginalized in a patriarchal mainstream, the same holds true to a much broader extent for feminist movements from the Global South. Little information about these movements and their activists is accessible in large knowledge databases such as Wikipedia, and even in the respective native regions of these feminist activists their achievements are often not archived because resources are too scarce or their demands are not thematized.

Initiated by Goethe-Institut Jakarta, the project “Movements and Moments – Feminist Generations” aims to make visible these hidden stories, activisms and protagonists by relating their life stories in the highly accessible format of comics. By emphasizing an Indigenous feminist perspective, which is often linked to decolonial struggles and emancipatory approaches to sustainability, we wish to shed light on one of the most marginalized, underexposed aspects of feminist protests. On the other hand, this project wants to inquire how these often overlooked struggles might be role models for feminist movements worldwide. By publishing these stories from different continents and bringing them into dialogue with each other, we hope to spark interest in archiving and mediating non-Western feminist endeavors.

We are interested in proposals that:

– tell a biographical story of a notable activist or a narrative of a whole movement
– are accessible to a broad audience by telling stories of marginalized activists or movements without compromising aesthetic expression
– use the democratic form of comics as a tool for testimony, education, and activism

Output

As part of the project, a 20–40 page narrative comic work in color or black & white will be published online and in print.

Schedule

2020
October–-December: Research

2021
January: Workshop
February–May: Production
June: Final artwork
Comic Anthology launching and publishing in original language, English, and German

The schedule might have to be adjusted due to the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak. We will try our best to make it happen!

Eligibility

– Applicants may be a single person or a two-person group of graphic artist and writer/author/scenarist.
– Residence of at least two years in the Global South or originally from the Global South. Basic English skills are obligatory for a solo artist or for at least one of a two-person group.
– Applicants have at least five published comics or sociological/political/feminist/scholarly/literary works or monographs in print and online (incl. social media).
– Priority is given to female-identified or non-binary applicants.
– We welcome applications that consider experiences and stories that have been excluded from other accounts of Indigenous feminisms, such as those of persons with disabilities, mental disorders, trans people etc.
– Applicants have not previously participated in a Goethe-Institut literature/anthology program.

How to Apply

Please provide the following materials in English and PDF format, in total less than 10 MB to [email protected] with the email subject line “Movements and Moments: [Name of Applicant(s)]”:

– A proposal of up to 3 pages specifying your one initial idea/potential research topic/figure/community that you would like to portray (max. 500 words, including diagrams/plots/notes/images/sketches). We do not accept existing/finished projects.
– Confirmation that the submitted entry has so far been unpublished and that it will be produced especially for this call.
– Portfolio of up to 5 relevant works with the links (if published online). If your work is a collaboration, please specify your role.
– Brief informative CV.

Please note that as our jury members are located all over the world we can accept only digital applications.

Wir We will notify the successful applicants by email within 4 weeks following the application deadline.

Selection

Commissions will be selected by a jury made up of Urvashi Butalia (Zubaan director, feminist writer and activist – Delhi), Sonja Eismann (founder of Missy Magazine, feminist writer and researcher – Berlin), Maya (cultural program coordinator of Goethe-Institut Indonesia, Jakarta), Auá Mendes (graphic designer, illustrator, graffiti artist, performer and Indigenous activist – Manaus/Belém), and Johann Ulrich (head of avant-verlag publishing house – Berlin).

Benefits

The Goethe-Institut shall cover:

– A flat fee of €1,500
– An additional research and production support allowance up to €1,000. This includes expenses of any needed equipment, documentation, local/on-site research partner/assistance, resources, travel. This can be acquired only through a budget proposal process.
– Copies of published comics.
– Airfare, accommodation, airport transfer, meals allowance, and visa expenses for any events with Goethe-Institut invitation (only if international travel will be possible during the project).

In addition, Goethe-Institut will be responsible for all English and German online production and publishing costs. For presentation and marketing purposes, the artists shall share the original artworks and any required documents and information, and they shall be available for interviews and presentations upon agreement.

Goethe-Institut Hanoi 56-58 Nguyen Thai Hoc, Ba Dinh, Hanoi Tel.: +84 24 3734 2251 Fax: +84 24 3734 2254 [email protected] website