Association for research, documentation and artist representation SKLOP is pleased to announce the open call for The ZVONO Award 2020 – YVVA The Young Visual Artists Award for young visual artists from Bosnia and Herzegovina up to the age of 40.

The call is open to visual artists working in the field of contemporary art including painting, sculpture, graphics, drawing, installation, photography, video, performance, new media, or might have an interdisciplinary approach.

The award is not open for artists working in the field of applied arts, such as design, theater, dance or film.

The ZVONO Award for the award winner consists of a two-months residency in New York at Residency Unlimited and a public presentation of the experiences in NY upon return from the US.

Application deadline: October 31, 2020

Eligibility:

-The call is open to visual artists from Bosnia-Hercegovina up to the age of 40, working in the field of contemporary art including painting, sculpture, graphics, drawing, installation, photography, video, performance, new media, or having an interdisciplinary approach.

-The award is not concerned with the applied arts such as design, theater, and film.

-The applicant should have graduated from the Academy/University and and have a considerable body of work and exhibitions at home and abroad.

-Visual artists may apply for the contest on their own or can be nominated by institutions, individuals, professionals from the field of the visual arts or other citizens.

-The candidates need not to be citizens of the award’s country (BiH) but their artistic development and career must have been formed there. As with emigre artists, they should be members of the artistic community and regularly exhibit in the country.

-English communication skills are of great importance in order to successfully participate in the residency program in New York, but also to be able to communicate with professionals and artists.

Application process:

Please make sure to read the information below carefully and to prepare the required documents as listed below.

Each applicant is obliged to send in:

1. Application form (obligatory)

• The application form needs to be filled out in b/h/s AND English (because of international jury members).
• Application forms filled out in b/h/s only won’t be accepted.
• The application form needs to be focusing on 1-3 works only, created in the last three years.
• The application form can be downloaded from this website (see menu on the left-hand side).

2. Visual documentation (obligatory)

• For each work you are applying with 1-3 photos have to be sent (9 photos max, 5 MB max. for all 9 photos);
• The photos need to be labeled clearly with work title and year of creation,
  Example: If you are sending three photos for one work, the photos need to be labeled as following:
  Living nature, 2019_1; Living nature, 2019_2, Living nature, 2019_3 (and so on for each additional work)
• Please don’t copy paste the photos into the application form (text only), but send them as separate files.
• Please choose a reasonable resolution of the photos, which does not compromise you work, but also takes into account that the photos are used only internally as an insight and are not aimed at publishing.
• For video works and video documentations of performances please add a link under the work description in the application form. If no links are available, please send 1-3 photos and label them as described above.
• If you choose to send an artistic portfolio which entails the photos of the 1-3 works you are applying with, please note that despite you need to send 1-3 photos for each work you are applying with as separate files as described above.
• If you have a website which entails the 1-3 works you are applying with, please note that despite you need to send 1-3 photos for each work you are applying with as separate files as described above.

3. Artist statement (obligatory) 

• The artist statement needs to be sent in b/h/s AND English (because of international jury members).
• Artist statements sent in b/h/s only won’t be accepted.
• The artist statement should not include descriptions of singular works. Work descriptions are to be formulated in the application form (and portfolio).
• The artist statement should explain your overall interests, artistic approaches and important thematic/methodological shifts.
• The artist statement should not be longer than one A4 page (max. 300 words)

4. Artistic curriculum vitae/CV (obligatory)

• The CV needs to be sent in b/h/s AND English (because of international jury members).
• CV’s sent in b/h/s only won’t be accepted.
• The CV needs to contain:
  • personal data (name, date of birth, place of birth; your current address (where you currently live); mobile phone number, e-mail address, website (if available);
  • information on education;
  • solo and group exhibitions (please list separately);
  • awards (if available);
  • works in collections (if available);
  • other possible engagements (teaching, curating etc., if available).

5. Artistic porfolio (optional)

• The portfolio is not obligatory.
• In addition to the obligatory documents (1-4), the applicant can optionally send a portfolio, including further works.
• The portfolio too must be in b/h/s and English and not bigger than 4 MB.
• Please choose a reasonable resolution/size for the portfolio, which does not compromise you work, but also takes into account that it is used only internally and is not aimed at publishing.

Please send you application directly to the e-mail address or via wetransfer to: zvono@sklop.org

Application deadline: 31.10.2020

Selection Process

A jury of established professionals will select four finalists who will present their work in a group exhibition.

Finalists will be selected on the merit of their portfolio, exhibited artwork in the finalists’ exhibition, prior accomplishments and exhibitions, and demonstrated potential.

• The basis of selection is quality and innovativeness in the works of art created in the last two years.
• The selection of the award winner is devided in two cycles. In the first cycle the Jury screens all applications and nominations received and selects among them the 4 finalists, whose works will be presented in a curated group show.
  In the second cycle the Jury, composed of the same members, selects the award winner, justifies its choice in a jury statement and announces the winner at the at the opening of the exhibition.
• The award is awarded to one artist only.
• The award consists of a 8 weeks residency in New York at Residency Unlimited and a public presentation of the experiences in NY upon return of the award winner from US.

Jury Members

Igor Bošnjak, artist, professor at the Art Academy Trebinje/BA and The Zvono Award winner 2018

Daniel Baumann, Director Kunsthalle Zurich

Ana Dević, member of the curatorial team WHW (What, How & for Whom), Zagreb & Program Leader of WHW Akademija

Mirsolav Karić, curator Museum for Contemporary Art, Belgrade

Ana Torok, curator, New York

Zvono Ambassadors

Đenita Kuštrić, artist and lecturer at the Art Academy, Sarajevo

Vlatka Lucić, art historian and independent cultural worker, Mostar

Ena Mitrovska, founding member of the art association Prostor and independent journalist, Banja Luka