Learning Labs: Designing training on digital archiving in performing arts

This is an open call to invite cultural practitioners working in the spectrum of archiving in performing arts to collaborate with Meta Arts to devise a training programme for young cultural practitioners from South Asia. This call is for citizens currently living and working in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Afghanistan (Afghan arts workers displaced after 2021 can apply as well).  

Presented by artlink and Meta Arts, ‘Learning Labs’ aims to see a new learning environment developed for young and emerging artists and practitioners to develop alternate vocational skills in culture that will not only help them further their existing practices but also open opportunities for alternate career and employment options in the arts.  

Context  

 Archiving in the arts, especially in South Asia, is an afterthought across art forms except for visual and film-based forms. There is a glaring gap in the development of archives in performing arts, music and the literary arts perhaps owing to the lack of training, awareness, funding issues and much more. Additionally, countries within South Asia have consistently witnessed political, religious, cultural and financial instabilities that have directly affected the process of documentation in the arts such as the films division of Afghanistan that has been struggling with their archives since the advent of the Taliban regime.  

 Through this open call we aim to invite and work with established artists / collectives / agencies that could devise a learning programme for young and emerging arts workers to address in lessening the gap, help envisage solutions that are time, material and cost effective which could work for practitioners of other artforms to archive their works, and pick up new skills that could help generate employment or witness learning dissemination in their communities. This training programme also responds to the needs of arts companies, arts agencies who seek to employ or commission arts personnel who possess working experience of documenting and digitizing works of art using technology and allied solutions but are struggling to find the right people to employ. Additionally, grassroots-based cultural organizations often find it a challenge to not only archive their work for the lack of arts personnel who are adept with this skillset but also are unable to apply for international funding projects that offer grants / opportunities that encourage them to create programmes / interventions using archives and archival materials from their discourse for the lack of manpower or the right people.  

In a post Covid-19 set-up, young cultural workers across South Asia with working knowledge of tech are consistently looking for second jobs in the arts and creative industries. To this, the gap for trained personnel with knowledge of digital archiving is proving to be a growing challenge which can be addressed / reversed with training programmes / dissemination such as these.  

 The training programme will be designed and implemented in a hybrid structure for participants from across South Asia to join in, primarily targeting young practitioners. A few in-person mediations will be jointly devised by the partners in case the number of participants of a particular country that the trainers represent exceeds the others.  

 

Eligibility criteria  

 

  • Experience of archiving in the arts with over 10+ years of experience as a practitioner yourself 

  • Thorough working knowledge of digital and tech components available for archiving / digitization of work in the arts  

  • Hands-on experience and skills of running training and dissemination programmes / workshops on archiving and documentation for younger arts workers within one’s communities with credible outcomes 

  • This call is for citizens currently living and working in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Afghanistan (Afghan arts workers displaced after 2021 can apply as well)

  • Priority will be extended to indigenous artists, women artists and collectives 

  • You can apply as an independent artist, a collective or an agency 

  • Good network of young creative practitioners. 

 

Terms of reference 

 The successful applicant will: 

  • Design a new learning programme and its ancillary course structure/s (content / sessions / activities / documentation, et al) 

  • Design the monitoring and evaluation metrics for the learning programme complete with the outputs / immediate outcomes / some long-term outcomes and long-term impact 

  • Work closely with Meta Arts and artlink on the project’s implementation 

  • Invite and organize participants for the course from across South Asia 

  • Act as the lead tutor of the course 

  • Implement the course / learning programme virtually via zoom whilst using allied digital platforms for additional course reference / classroom work 

  • Design a showcasing structure where the participants can demonstrate examples of their learning 

  • Work closely with Meta Arts on the design and implementation of the creative roundtable series which will happen online, featuring the participants and sector experts gathering to discuss and share the efficacy of the programme 

  • Design and implement a closed call targeting participants of the training programme, where together with Meta Arts you select one of the course participants to apply their new knowledge and produce a creative output. 

Submission requirements  

Please submit your proposal and CV/resume.

A PDF of your proposal with file name based on the open call title has to include: 

  • An expression of interest that states your project proposal. Outline your motivation for applying to this Open Call, how you meet the criteria, what connects you to the project’s vision and how do see yourself (tangibly) acting as a catalyst in furthering the development of new skills.  

  • An implementation methodology of the training based on the Terms of reference, a clear plan of how you’re going to facilitate the skills building process, your plans for assessing progress and how you wish to close the project 

  • Budget breakdown. We want to understand how your project is interlinked with your project planning. Budget considerations for your grant will comprise 

  • Costs for developing and implementation of training 

  • Costs of Professional Fees 

  • Costs of the Creative Roundtable Series   

  • Updated portfolio of your recent work with proven examples and experiences of working on archiving that also involves some elements of having designed and implemented training programmes and workshops within your communities in your country / region. 

Updated resume of the applicant applying for this call should include the name, contact details and context of two references who could validate your work and your experience as a practitioner  

Please note that the submissions must be completed in English. The training and dissemination will also be implemented in the English language. 

Funding  

Grant amount: CHF 5925.50  

Use of grant funding: 

  • professional Fees allied with the project  

  • production support for covering the training programme 

  • devising the monitoring and evaluation purposes associated with the project. 

  

Project timeframe

March to July 2025 

Delivery of the project; including planning, design and implementation of the training programme comprising the online sessions, field study/s, mediations, et al. 

 

August 2025 

Creative Roundtable Series 

This will be a digital immersion event co-produced with Meta Arts featuring industry experts and speakers along with the grantees and the participants mediating about the project and devising roadmaps around the sustainability of these interventions from the perspective of employability, income generation and much more 

Application Process 

Step 1: Create an account by clicking on the register-button on this page and start a new submission for the call - Learning Labs: Developing training platform on Augmented Reality. 

Step 2: Fill in all required fields and upload the required attachments. You can save the application and complete it later until the deadline. 

Step 3: Once you have successfully submitted your application, you will receive an automatic email confirmation.  

Contact

For any questions, please contact Malaya Del Rosario malaya.delrosario@artlink.ch

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