Are you an artist with an interest in and experience of working in a local community? Do you think that your art can initiate creative processes that contribute to inclusive social communities? Are you interested in co-creating with the locals through an artist community?

The Ministry of Culture in the City Council Department for Culture, Diversity and Gender Equality wants to engage two artists with experience from social artistic work to work in Loddefjord and Olsvik from 29 August 2022. The engagement has a duration of at least 6 months with the possibility of extension.

The two project positions are open to professional / performing artists in any discipline who live or work in Bergen municipality. Artists can apply together or separately. We are concerned about diversity and want applicants regardless of gender, age and level of function, as well as ethnic and cultural background. Each of the project positions is 40% (2 working days a week) and the work will be oriented towards the local areas connected to Loddefjord and Olsvik. The working days involve fieldwork and mapping, and through relationship building and dialogue with people, the environment and places, opportunities are opened up to initiate socially inclusive activities.

A social experiment
“Creative Loddefjord and Olsvik” is our first experiment in how creative socially engaged practice can contribute to the development of inclusive local environments. Loddefjord and Olsvik is a strong sports district with the shopping center as the most important hub and social arena with cafes, the library, bathing facilities and ice rink. The area is rich in nature with a large outdoor area, and at the same time characterized by traffic and a lack of walking and cycling paths. The inhabitants have given input that they want more social meeting places and low-threshold offers.

We started the project by inviting local citizens’ representatives to come together to take the pulse of the area, and after a workshop process, priority groups were identified, along with key common values, such as respect, openness and creativity, which form the project’s foundation. We now want to continue the process of hiring artists who, through their presence over time, can contribute to enriching the local community and individuals.

“Creative Loddefjord and Olsvik” will be a process-driven and locally-based experiment. We want to support an approach that has the potential to generate social value, create lasting change and that is realistic about what can be achieved within the given time frame. We will support an approach that is willing to take risks, test new ways of working and a willingness to learn from mistakes. We want a process that highlights resources and unique characteristics in people and places without an expectation that the result will be object-based art (eg artwork, exhibition or performance). We are interested in developing our own understanding of people, place and environment in Loddefjord and Olsvik as part of the process. We are looking for professional artists who have social engagement within their artistic practices and ways of working.

The application deadline has now passed.