Open calls

EXMURO arts publics is now planning the summer 2020 edition of Passages Insolites (Unusual Passages), an annual circuit of public art installations. The selected works will be displayed throughout Québec City’s old town (the Old Port, Place-Royale, and Petit-Champlain) and the Saint-Roch district (click here for the map).

Every year since 2014, PASSAGES INSOLITES has presented larger-than-life public artworks that powerfully and assert the freedom of art and its important place in the urban landscape.

EXMURO is calling on visual artists in all disciplines to submit large-scale works that explore the project’s two central ideas: a “passage” is a place spectators pass through, while “insolite” describes the surreal, whimsical, extraordinary experience spectators enjoy while transiting through physical, metaphorical, or virtual passages. Artists are encouraged to freely interpret these ideas to produce their own signature “passage insolite”. 

For the 2020 edition, EXMURO is looking for bold, engaged work that explores one or more of the fundamental issues facing humankind today. From social and cultural issues to environmental concerns, EXMURO pays special attention to work that defies convention, surprises us and destabilizes our points of reference while raising important questions about the world we live in and our place in it.

PASSAGES INSOLITES

passagesinsolites.com

Created in 2014, Passages Insolites is about creating intriguing, playful temporary public art installations that enliven the district while fostering dialogue about our relationships to urban space and the world around us. This popular high-profile annual event is accessible to all and gives visitors a unique, visually stunning public art experience.

• The selected works will be displayed throughout Québec City’s old town (made up of the Old Port, Place-Royale, and Petit-Champlain) and Saint-Roch district (see map below). Artists may submit site-specific works tailored to a location, or projects adaptable to various locations (parks, sidewalks, roofs, façades, public squares, docks, etc.).
• Locations can be selected from those used in previous editions (com), or new locations can be proposed (subject to approval). Multi-section works designed to be experienced in more than one location will be considered. Applicants may contact EXMURO to discuss their choice of location prior to submitting their project.

• A budget of $5,000 to $25,000 will be allocated, based on the project value and size. The budget you submit must include exhibition fees (around 10%), production fees, artist fees, and installation and takedown fees. EXMURO will act as an artistic and technical resource and monitor progress throughout the production process.

• • Public artworks must be durable (to last 4 months outside), safe, and self-sufficient (not requiring surveillance of any kind.)

• A workshop will be available for the selected artists to produce the work.

• EXMURO does accept previously produced work, so long as it has never been presented anywhere in Quebec City. Other than exhibition fees and installation and takedown fees, budgets for existing work must include all transportation fees.
• Applications will be assessed based on the following criteria:
  • Artistic quality and impact
  • Connection with one or more contemporary issues
  • Technical feasibility
  • Realistic budget

Submission package must be emailed or sended by Wetransfer to dossier@exmuro.com.

Deadline: December 9, 2019, 4:59 p.m.

Submission package:

• Curriculum vitae (brief)
• Artist statement (max. 250 words)
• Project description (max. 500 words)
• Preferred location (if applicable)
• Maximum 5 images of recent work (format: .jpg)
• Maximum 5 project sketches (photomontage, drawings, area plans, 3-D models, etc.)
• Preliminary budget

The complete file must be compressed in .zip (10 MB max.) and must be identified in the name of the applicant or the collective.

For any and all questions concerning this call for submissions, please contact EXMURO at info@exmuro.com or 418-529-0909.

It should be noted that the realization of this project is conditional on the granting of the necessary financing.