iniva (Institute of International Visual Arts) and The Hepworth Wakefield are excited to announce an open call for expressions of interest from artists of African and/or Asian descent, British born or based, to undertake a major new commission.
The commission is offered through Future Collect, a partnership project initiated by iniva to reimagine the future of public collections at major art galleries and museums in the UK. The Hepworth
Wakefield is iniva’s partner for the second year of Future Collect, which was established in 2019 with generous support from Art Fund, Arts Council England and Esmée Fairbairn Foundation.
Future Collect has three key aims:
- To produce outstanding new artwork by an artist of African and Asian descent, British born or based, to be subsequently accessioned into museum and gallery collections to better reflect the breadth of contemporary British society
- To transform curatorial practice around commissioning within major British art galleries and museums
- To cultivate a new generation of young people and their families to be self-assured visitors to galleries and museums.
The new work will be displayed at The Hepworth Wakefield in spring 2022, and will then be acquired by the gallery and accessioned into its collection. As well as giving an opportunity for an artist to be collected and exhibited by a major British institution, the commission will contribute to a wider public debate on collections and whose heritage is being preserved. A public programme will be developed with input from the artist which underpins the critical context for the commission, accessing the specialist collection at the Stuart Hall Library through artist-focused study days and reaching the wider visual arts sector through curator days and a conference.
The Commission
This commission opportunity is open to artists of African and/or Asian descent, British born or based, working across all media.
The artist’s commission fee is £10,000 paid in three instalments and the production and materials budget is £15,000, plus agreed expenses to cover travel, accommodation and subsistence. An acquisition fee for the final work will be offered depending on the nature of the work and to be negotiated with The Hepworth Wakefield and funders.
The deadline for the receipt of expressions of interest is 12pm on Wednesday 30 June 2021. Please send by email to Rohini Malik Okon rmalikokon@iniva.org