SCIENCE GALLERY AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE
CALL CLOSED
Open from February 11th 2022 to March 10th 2022
Deadlines:
Thursday 10th March 15:59 AEST
Thursday 10th March 04:59 GMT
Wednesday 9th March 11:59 EST
Results by Mid April, 2022
Keywords Gender, identity, representation, science, technology, creativity, culture, social constructs, race, sexuality, binary codes, body, interdisciplinary, conformity, lived experience, neuroplasticity, liminal, categories, between, beyond the binary, spectrums, multiplicity, intersections, intersectionality, power, bias, discrimination.
View the Open Calls in Japanese and Spanish here: 二者択一論を超えて; ROMPIENDO EL BINARISMO
BREAKING THE BINARY
Science Gallery Melbourne invites proposals from all disciplines to explore the spectrums of knowledge, experiences, connections and possibilities in the liminal space within and beyond…. Part experiment, part exhibition – BREAKING THE BINARY is a celebration of everything that’s possible in a world beyond binaries.
BREAKING THE BINARY presents a playful and kaleidoscopic view of genders, identity and their relationship with science and technology, creativity, culture, race and sexuality. The season welcomes exploration around the vast expanse of intersections that bend, blend, blur or break society’s binary codes.
We welcome works, words, people and actions that challenge binary frameworks. With genders at its heart, this exhibition will create connections and conversation through personal perspectives, interdisciplinary creative practice and research.
If selected, your work will feature with key contemporary UK artists and collectives originally commissioned by Science Gallery at King’s College London, as part of GENDERS: Shaping and Breaking the Binary. Science Gallery Melbourne’s presentation of BREAKING THE BINARY is supported by the UK/Australia Season Patrons Board, the British Council and the Australian Government as part of the UK/Australia Season ‘Who are we now?’
Potential directions and topics include but are not limited to:
Interdisciplinary exploration of the intersections that constrain - and expand - our understanding of genders, identity and their relationship with science and technology, creativity, culture, race and/or sexuality.
Works that present opportunities to flex our non-binary thinking muscles. To move away from binary opposites towards more fluid, complex understandings of ourselves and the world.
Collaborations that dissolve, complicate and move beyond binary thinking in society. This could be specifically in one area or across many disciplines.
Works that challenge social constructs and power structures.
Some leading questions that may connect with you:
What are the lived experiences of breaking the binary? In what ways can Indigenous knowledges continue to shape and expand conversations around thinking, being and doing? How can we better understand experiences beyond the binary? What are more helpful ways of defining and communicating our identities? What ways can we break/bend/blend/blur the concept of binaries in society today?
How can interdisciplinary creative practice and research contribute to new knowledge and understanding of how to helpfully move beyond binaries? What is the role of imagination and the scientific method in rewriting “norms” in the binary? How does the world shape our understanding of identity and how does identity shape our understanding of the world? How are the binary markers in society - from the built environment to language itself - shifting over time? How does technology contribute to the societal frame and control around identity?
SEND US YOUR PROPOSAL TO BE IN THIS EXHIBITION!
Science Gallery acknowledges First Nations people as first scientists and artists. We especially encourage submissions from all First Nations people.
Experimentation, provocation and research are at the heart of SGM’s values and programs. This exhibition will explore BREAKING THE BINARY across a range of topics through the lens of artists, lived experience, experts, performers, scientists, designers, medically minded people, engineers, musicians, mathematicians, architects and young people. The list of possibilities are endless.
Your proposal could be a new or existing artwork, performance, workshop, digital intervention, research project, or other activity. We strongly recommend that you keep our target audience of young people aged 15-25 years in mind and consider including interactive or participatory elements. We love humour, and surprise to feature in our exhibitions in a kind and respectful way. That means a way of laughing together rather than at anyone in particular.
Curatorial team
Science Gallery Melbourne creates exhibitions with young people for young people. BREAKING THE BINARY will be shaped by a curatorial panel of young people, Science Gallery Melbourne staff and interdisciplinary experts including:
Dr Mohammad Taha (they / them) is a non-binary trans queer person of colour, advocate, scientist, engineer, reader, writer, and aspiring filmmaker. They use elements and phase-transition like LEGO to build smart materials to tackle climate-change and build the future of flexible electronics. To them gender is a make your own adventure kind of thing.
Eliki Reade (they/them) is an Interdependent Producer, artist, and community arts facilitator of kailoma-Fijian (Fijian/European) heritage. Eliki is intrigued by many forms of storytelling and the ways it is creatively embodied, engaging with work that centres the practice as a form of liberation, analysis and connection.
Nevo Zisin (they / them) is a queer, non-binary, Jewish writer, performer, activist and public speaker based in Naarm/Birraranga/Melbourne. They run workshops in schools and professional development training in workplaces around transgender identities. Author of award-winning Finding Nevo (2017), a memoir on gender transition and The Pronoun Lowdown (2021) a useful guidebook on all things related to pronouns.
Dr Hannah McCann (she / her) is a bisexual queer activist and Senior Lecturer in Cultural Studies at the University of Melbourne. Her research in critical femininity studies focuses on queer femme LGBTQ+ communities, salons and beauty culture, and queer fangirls online.
Teaka Williams (she / they) is a freelance creative, part time artist and full time pop culture consumer. A proud Gunditjmara woman, she is always adding to her ever-growing portfolio of design skills. Avid video game player and professional day dreamer, in her spare time you’ll find her streaming over on twitch or writing poetry with an iced beverage.
Professor Dan Harris’ (they / them) research focuses on the intersection of creativity at both practice and policy levels; on cultural, sexual and gender diversities; and on performance and activism. They are committed to the power of collaborative creative practice and social justice research to inform social change. Harris is most widely known for their scholarship in creativity studies, affect theory and autoethnography.
Tilly Boleyn (she / her) is a massive nerd, curious about the world and everything in it. She is a collaborative creature at heart and heads the curatorial team at Science Gallery with a mixture of organisation, chaos, humour and sassy backtalk. She loves connecting people, making space for thought, and challenging people to back up their opinions in an imagined recreation of Mad Max Thunderdome.
Dr Ryan Jefferies (he / they) is Director, Science Gallery Melbourne and proudly part of the LGBTIQ+ spectrum of life. Ryan is a passionate advocate of the blurred intersections between science and arts, and promoting social change through the sharing of knowledge and creativity. Formerly a biomedical scientist, he has curated major interdisciplinary exhibitions, festivals and residencies.
Budget
We’re open to all kinds of proposals through the open call. Proposals may be new ideas, early developments or existing works. As a guide, projects supported via the Open Call will typically be funded by Science Gallery Melbourne for between AUD$2,000 - AUD$8,000 which includes all artist fees, materials and travel. Larger scale projects would only be considered where additional partners/funding have been secured or there is a plan in place to do so. We enthusiastically welcome proposals that work to a smaller budget or have a larger budget and are part funded through other means.
HANG ON, I HAVE A QUESTION….
Great. We love questions. Have a read through these extra bits first to see if they help.
When are where will this show happen?
This BREAKING THE BINARY show will happen at Science Gallery between February –
June 2023.
Who can apply?
Anyone. There are no restrictions on age, education level, research background, country or any other factor. We especially encourage submissions from young people and all First Nations people.
Do I have to submit a written application?
We want you to apply in the format that is easiest for you. You can submit in these formats:
Written
Video, uploaded via Vimeo or YouTube
Auslan video
Audio
Can individuals or groups and collaborations apply?
We welcome submissions of interest from individuals, groups, collaborative projects and productions working locally or internationally.
How big is the exhibition space?
Science Gallery has approx. 1,000 square metres of exhibition space with wide open areas, moveable walls, large glass windows, natural light and high ceilings. The main gallery space is approx. 800 square meters with a ceiling height of 5.5m.
How do you decide which projects are included?
At Science Gallery Melbourne we embed young people in every stage of the process. The projects we receive through this open call will be reviewed and hotly debated by our curatorial panel. This panel is made up of young people, Science Gallery Melbourne staff and academic/industry experts. If your proposal makes it to the shortlisting stage you will then meet and discuss your project with the Science Gallery team in person or on video call. This will most likely happen around March/April 2022.
How many projects will be included?
We’re not absolutely sure as it will depend on the size of the projects that go in the gallery. The final gallery will have between 10-15 works installed in the exhibition. There are all sorts of other opportunities to collaborate with us on talks, performances, poetry battles, dance-offs, apps, outreach programs, school programs, citizen science projects, or pop-ups.
What kind of project formats are accepted?
Science Gallery isn’t a traditional gallery space. We’re not too keen about just plonking things on plinths for people to look at. We love interactivity and inviting our visitors to participate with the installations. We welcome projects across all forms - that could include digital, physical, immersive, game-based, video, sound, imagery, interactive, sculpture, web-based work, live research experimentation, data mining, medical, or natural science research – essentially we are not format-prescriptive and we love weird creative ideas.
We also accept proposals for projects that aren’t physical installations. Your project could be online only or at another site. It would still have to really connect with Science Gallery, our audience and the Breaking the Binary season and you’d have to really convince us about that in your submission.
Who are your audience?
Young people are at the centre of all things we do. 70% of our audience are under 30 years old and all our exhibitions will be created with young people for young people. It’s really important that you think about how this audience will connect with your work.
What sort of projects are your favourite?
We’re so glad you asked. Science Gallery’s approach is interdisciplinary, so we especially love to see the creativity that erupts from the collision of different disciplines. That means:
If you are an artist then we’d love your project to include collaboration with people from other fields – scientists or engineers or technologists or designers…. The list goes on.
If you are a researcher we’d love your project to include collaboration with creative practitioners not in your field.
Don’t panic if you haven’t connected with a collaborator, we can hook you up if you are selected. It really is the ‘vibe of the thing’ that we are after at this point.
Will this season include new or existing work?
We welcome all kinds! What is most important is the fit for this specific open call. If you’re going to shoe-horn your work in, really try to explain how it fits within the theme.
Can I submit an anonymous application?
We won’t publicise your name without your permission. If you are selected to be in the show and you would rather have your work displayed anonymously we will work with you along that journey. It can be for whatever reason be it pragmatic, cultural, religious, or you’re just not there yet.
When will I get an answer?
Once the open call closes we will convene the curatorial panel to review the submissions, make a short list, meet with all those people to discuss in more detail. This will most likely happen in March-April. Science Gallery Melbourne will keep all applicants informed of the progress as the discussions evolve.
If I’m shortlisted does it mean I am successful?
No. It means the panel really liked your idea and think it would work well in our BREAKING THE BINARY season. The next step is meeting with us to discuss your idea in more detail and to talk more seriously about budgets and timelines and all that jazz.
Can I receive feedback from my application if I am not shortlisted?
Sorry but it’s not possible due to the volume of applications we receive. Feedback is only available to proposals that make the shortlist when they meet with the Science Gallery team.
I don’t really have a project to pitch but I work in this area and I’d love to be involved.
Let’s gloss over that this isn’t technically a question to say: Fantastic! We want to know about your practice. Come join us as we embed research and knowledge within the fabric of all our programs. We want to connect you with the public, creative practitioners, academics and industry both locally and globally. Get in touch - melbourne.sciencegallery.com/research
Other network wide Frequently Asked Questions are answered here. https://sciencegallery.org/faqs
Ask questions! If you’re unsure about an aspect of your proposal, email info@Melbourne.sciencegallery.com
Please note that we are using a new system – called Submittable – to accept open call submissions. If you had an account with us on our old system, you will need to create a new account with Submittable in order to submit to current and future open calls.
HAVE A QUESTION ABOUT THIS OPEN CALL? ASK US BELOW
Open call closes on 9th March, 2022 11:59 PM EST.