UPDATE: THIS OPEN CALL IS CLOSED for the outcomes look at the page Mama’s Call II
Deze residentie wordt begeleid door de Bulgaarse Viktoriya Gotseva. Daarom zal er tijdens deze residentie in het Engels gecommuniceerd worden en is de Open Call ook in het Engels.
EN
Are you a single mother and interested in taking part in one of our practical design projects? As people we use design and making as a tool to find our place and voice in the world. Residency for the People invites you to participate in the design workshop ‘Mama’s call’ in Rotterdam. You will get guided time to work on your project for a period of one month.
Single mothers and design
Being a mother of a young child is a stage of life nothing alike. Time is flowing differently and priorities change. These first years of motherhood are incredibly complicated and challenging especially for single mothers. The everyday routine, new responsibilities, and the change of focus could easily make one lose themselves in the spin. The life of a single mom is extremely organized and structured up to the maximum – to keep things under control and provide the best for her child. Simply because there is no one else to do it. An entirely new reality in which a woman learns how to juggle and balance in no time. And in which she develops and perfects a set of skills and qualities like quick adaptation, ingenuity, and imagination, flexibility, inner power, wisdom, strong will, and much more. A new reality with almost no space left for personal activities and needs, pleasure, and fun. We are happy to offer you that time and space and guide you into the process of achieving something important for you.
Open Call
Are you experiencing the shrinkage of time and your personality melting in the pot of endless tasks and worries? Do you have an idea you want to realize, but you simply don’t have the time and the opportunity to do so? Are you a single mother of a child/children age 0-3 years? Do you live in Rotterdam or preferably nearby?
Join us in the ‘Mama’s Call’ design workshop. No need to be an artist or designer; you may not know it, but we are all designers. Tell us why you’d like to participate and what gets you going in life. Do you have an urgent need to change something? What is relevant and important to you at the moment? You might need to have some creative “you time” or just walk the city for hours. You might want to make something with your hands or develop a new skill. There are no limitations as long as you have strong motivation. Everything from making a piece of furniture to baking your own bread is possible. Tell us if you have special interests and needs and we will find a way to accommodate them. We will select 2 participants. Your application can be sent in any format you feel comfortable with: email, video, phone call, meeting in person, etc.
The deadline for applications is January 2nd 2022. The selected residents will be informed by January 10th 2022 latest. The residency will start on 17th January 2022 and will end on 18th February 2022. Each participant receives 250 euros in fee, plus 200 euros for material costs.
Workshop course
The workshop will last one month and will be led by Viktoriya Gotseva, a designer and a single mother, supported by the Residency for the People team. We will meet online the week before 17th January to discuss your plan, needed materials, etc, and every week after that at our workshop in Rotterdam. We understand the unpredictability of everyday life as a single parent and we will happily discuss with you what suits you the best. Your children are very welcome and we can organize a play area and babysit them while you are busy with your project.
Throughout the whole residency, we will always be available to answer questions and assist with the process of creating and making. The process and participation are more important than the result. In the end, we will make a publication and meet to discover everybody’s work at a final exhibition. We will just celebrate the moment. The workshops will take place at Het Wijkpaleis, Claes de Vrieselaan 72 in Rotterdam.
THIS OPEN CALL IS CLOSED for the outcomes look at the page Mama’s Call II
About Residency for the People
Residency for the People (RftP) is based in Eindhoven. RftP is inspired by the art and design tradition of the ‘artist-in-residence’. We turn it into an inclusive platform that provides all types of people with space, time, and support to bring their (too often) unrecognized or uncelebrated talents and passion to life. Normally, an artist-in-residence program is only meant for artists or designers to work on a specific project or their practice. But RftP is open to anyone – including you. Your plan doesn’t have to be artistic either. The only thing that matters is that you really want to make it happen. Like in many other artist-in-residence programs, the participants are paid so that their time and skills are valued. Currently, RftP only offers workspace and no place to stay, which is why for the current project we are looking for participants close to or in Rotterdam.
