BAK Partners in the FEINART Training Network; Call for PhD Applications Now Open

[Update 30-06-2020: Given the Covid-19 crisis and the uncertainty about travel, FEINART decided to extend the recruitment deadline until 31 August 2020.]

—
BAK, basis voor actuele kunst, Utrecht, is proud to announce its partnership in the European FEINART network. FEINART (The Future of European Independent Art Spaces in a Period of Socially Engaged Art) is an ambitious training network funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement, and led by the University of Wolverhampton. The network is committed to providing high-quality training for 11 Early Stage Researchers (ESRs) to complete PhDs in the area of art and social engagement.

The network connects four Beneficiaries—the University of Wolverhampton, University of Iceland, University of Edinburgh, and Zeppelin University—with seven Partner Organizations, allowing for an exchange of academic, theoretical, and practical expertise in socially engaged art across Europe.

As a Partner Organization, BAK offers practical and practical-theoretical training during a two- to three-month secondment at BAK in Utrecht, guided by BAK’s founding general and artistic director Maria Hlavajova. This training spans the network’s research areas of Art Theory and Practice, Art and Political Philosophy, and Curatorial Studies and Arts Administration. These areas provide a rigorous and integrated framework to address the challenges socially engaged art faces in Europe in the twenty-first century, combining questions of democracy, social policy, new social forms of art, and curating.

Research Programs 
Within the subject areas, BAK is part of the following ESR Research Programs:

1. ESR Project 4 (Art Theory/Cultural Theory): Participatory, Community, and Activist Art and the Future of Democracy
Host university: School of Humanities, University of Iceland, Reykjavík
Includes a three-month secondment at BAK

2. ESR Project 5 (Art and Political Philosophy): Changing Notions of Value and Judgment in Relation to Participatory, Community-Based, and Activist Art
Host university: School of Humanities, University of Iceland, Reykjavík
Includes a three-month secondment at BAK

3. ESR Project 10 (Art Theory and Practice): Socially Engaged Art and Digital Network Culture
Host university: Faculty of Communication and Culture, Zeppelin University, Friedrichshafen, Germany
Includes a three-month secondment at BAK

4. ESR Project 11 (Curatorial Studies and Arts Administration): Gender and Sexual Division of Labor in the Curating and Production of Socially Engaged Art
Host university: Edinburgh College of Art, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh
Includes a two-month secondment at BAK

Call for Applications: Deadline 31 August 2020 [now extended]
The call for applications for each of the Research Programs is now open. Applications must be submitted through the website of the host university where the ESR project is based, before the deadline of 31 August 2020. Eligible candidates should be an Early Stage Researcher and hold a Master’s degree in the field of art history, philosophy, curating, arts administration, social science, artistic research/practice, or cultural studies (MA degrees in other relevant fields may be considered). If accepted, candidates will receive a three-year, full-time employment contract. For the complete requirements and application procedure, please visit the FEINART website. (Please note: you cannot apply via BAK).

This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement No 860306.


—
BAK’s activities are made possible through financial contributions by the Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science and by the City Council, Utrecht.

BAK’s main partner in the field of education and research is HKU University of the Arts Utrecht.