12 Mar 2015

Open Call for B_Tours Berlin & B_Tours Leipzig 2015

B_Tour is a platform to examine current needs of urban life and how art can be used as a tool to explore possible answers to these needs. We curate, commission and develop artistic guided tours in urban environments. These tours, B_Tours, provide locals with a new perspective of their city and inspire community life and civil participation. We aim to trigger our audiences' imagination in order to generate the cities we would like to live in and the societies we would like to be part of.

We work with local and international artists, academics and experts of everyday life who create tours that rethink storytelling and suggest innovative, experimental approaches to the conventional format of a guided tour. B_Tours refer aesthetically and in their use of media and new communication technologies (text messages, Apps, GPRS, geocaching etc) to our urban habits and lifestyles. The tours are lead either by the artists in person or the artists' narrations in the form of audio tours, instruction guides/texts or maps through different neighborhoods.

Over the past two years, artists from 19 countries showed over 40 B_Tours to more than 1200 festival visitors in two European cities. This year, B_Tours Berlin's third edition will take place between the 26-28 June 2015; and for the first time we will present B_Tours Leipzig between the 2 – 12 July 2015.

This year, B_Tour explores the notion of 'periphery'. This term underlies two current discourses: the global mass-urbanisation process as well as the contemporary struggle over the self-definition of local and national identities. What is defined as 'periphery' in geographical, cultural and socio-economic terms? Who determines what is considered to be center and what is periphery? How does this categorization impact both the residents of a certain urban area and its environmental or built profile? What impact has life in border and central areas on the self- and public perception of its inhabitants?

Here are some more terms that suggest further research directions:
#branding #stereotypes #decentralised #hierarchy #hegemony #de-industrialisation #diaspora #areas in transition #gentrification #urban/rural

The deadline to send in your proposal is 15 March 2015.

For more information please turn to the B_CALL 2015 section of the Festival's homepage. Before completing the application form please make sure to thoroughly read the Festival's concept paper, artist guidelines, B_Tour's A_Bout and B_Glossary sections on the website.

If after reading all the information provided on B_Tour's website and in the open call you still have questions, please don't hesitate to contact the team at: info@b-tour.org

Dates:
Berlin, Germany: 26.06 – 28.06.2015
Leipzig, Germany: 2.07 – 12.07.2015

Deadline for application:
15. 03. 2015

Learn more and apply:
www.b-tour.org/b_call-2015.html

Contact and info:
info@b-tour.org