OPEN CALL, Nikt tu już nie pisze manifestów

OPEN CALL, nobody writes manifestos here anymore

January 24, 2025

The Foksal Gallery, operating within the Mazovian Institute of Culture in Warsaw, announces a competition for artists to prepare a concept for a performance to be realized as part of the project "Nobody Writes Manifestos Here Anymore".

In a review of an exhibition at the Foksal Gallery, which was published in 2014 in the online culture magazine dwutygodnik.com, Karol Sienkiewicz wrote that “nobody writes manifestos here anymore.” These words became the inspiration and title for this project.

On an open-call basis, we invite people who would like to work together with curator Martyna Stołpiec on a project that will be implemented in the SARP garden at the Foksal Gallery on the first weekend of September 2025.

The project will be realised in two stages. Before the final performance, the selected actions will be recorded by Ania Płonka (visual artist and director) in order to create documentation in the form of video art. As a result of the collaboration between the artists selected in the open call and the artist, a suitable film form will be selected that best reflects the nature of the performative action. The resulting work will become part of the Foksal Gallery archive.

“Manifesto” is a topical issue, at the same time important for the history and programme of the Foksal Gallery. Ambitious and utopian theoretical manifestos written by critics and curators associated with the Gallery may, but do not have to, serve as a context for projects implemented as part of the Competition.

Rules of the Competition “Nobody Writes Manifestos Here Anymore”

The competition aims to select concepts for projects that will be recorded in the form of video art by the artist Anna Płonka and presented in the SARP garden at the Foksal Gallery on the first weekend of September 2025.

1. Competition

The Competition Rules (hereinafter referred to as the “Rules”) define the rules of the competition Nobody Writes Manifestos Here Anymore (hereinafter referred to as the “Competition”), the aim of which is to select the best performance projects expressing the idea of “Manifesto.”
The competition is organized by the Mazovian Institute of Culture with its registered office at the following address: 00-139 Warsaw, 12 Elektoralna Street, entered into the register of cultural institutions maintained by the Mazovian Voivodeship Self-Government under the number RIK 34/12, NIP 5250005900, REGON 146115201 (hereinafter referred to as the “Organizer”).
In matters related to the competition, please contact the Foksal Gallery operating within the structure of the Mazovian Institute of Culture.

2. Purpose of the Competition

The purpose of the Competition is to select for implementation no more than four performance projects expressing the idea of “Manifesto” (hereinafter “Project(s)”). In special cases, Projects of a type other than performative are permitted.
The Project concepts selected in the Competition will be developed together with Foksal Gallery curator Martyna Stołpiec, and then presented on the first weekend of September 2025 in the SARP garden adjacent to the Foksal Gallery.
The implementation of the Projects will be documented in the form of video art. The film documentation of the project will be made by the artist Anna Płonka, invited to cooperate by the Foksal Gallery. The person documenting will cooperate on the selected Projects at the final production stage in order to best capture the artistic vision and respond to the needs of the Competition winners.

3. Rules of Participation

The Competition is aimed at adult artists (who will be 18 years of age on the day of submitting the competition entries), both of the young generation and with documented achievements.
Formal artistic education is not required to participate in the Competition.
Competition entries may be submitted by individuals or teams.
Each participant may submit one competition entry (one Project concept).
A Competition entry containing a description of the Project concept should be submitted on the entry form constituting an appendix to these Rules.
Competition entries should be submitted by sending the entry form to the following e-mail address: m.stolpiec@mik.waw.pl, by 31 March 2025.
The Organizer allows for the possibility of adapting the competition entry procedure for people with special needs; applications in this matter will be consulted individually after they have been submitted to the e-mail address: m.stolpiec@mik.waw.pl.

4. Evaluation of Competition Entries

In order to conduct the Competition, the organizer will appoint a Competition Committee from among representatives of the Foksal Gallery and other persons.
The Competition Committee shall make decisions by a simple majority of votes.
The decisions of the Competition Committee are final and cannot be appealed.
The Competition Committee will evaluate the competition entries in terms of form and substance.
Competition entries that do not meet the conditions for participation in the Competition or are submitted after the deadline will be excluded.
The substantive evaluation of the Competition entries by the Competition Committee will be conducted in two stages:

stage one – substantive evaluation of the Competition entries in closed proceedings, during which the up to 10 project concepts will be selected, the authors of which will be invited to participate in the second stage of the competition;
stage two – substantive evaluation of the Competition entries during a live or online conversation (depending on possibilities and needs) with the authors of the Project concepts selected in the first stage, in which the Competition Committee will select no more than four projects with the highest scores.

The following aspects of the submitted Projects are subject to evaluation as part of the substantive evaluation:
- clarity of the Project in terms of content and organization;
- artistic potential of the Project defined as originality, topicality, innovation, subversiveness, experiment, unconventionality, utopianism and rationality, methodicalness, consistency, accuracy, intentionality, and sense of humour and irony (anything);
- organizational and financial viability of implementing the Project.
Authors of Competition entries will be individually informed about their qualification for the second stage of the Competition by e-mail and phone, with an indication of the date of participation in the interview forming the second stage of the Competition procedure.
Authors of Competition entries who do not register for the interview forming the second stage of the Competition procedure will be excluded from further participation.
The purpose of the second stage of the Competition procedure is to better understand the Project concepts and expectations regarding cooperation in their implementation and to verify the organizational viability of implementing the Project.
In the event that the author of the selected Project concept withdraws from the implementation of the Project, the Organizer has the right to invite another author of a Project concept that has been qualified for the second stage of the Competition to implement the Project.
The Competition results will be posted on the Foksal Gallery website, Facebook, and Instagram. The authors of the winning Project concepts will be individually informed of the Competition results.

5. Project Implementation

The authors of the winning Project concepts will be invited to conclude an implementation agreement with the organizer, specifying the organizational and financial conditions for the implementation of the Project(s).
Based on the concluded agreement, the author of the Project concept will receive a fee of PLN 4,000 gross. If the author of the Project concept is a team of people, the fee will be divided between the team members in equal parts, unless the team members indicate a different method of dividing the fee.
Based on the concluded agreement, the author of the Project concept will undertake to implement the Project in cooperation with the Organizer and to grant the Organizer a license to use the copyrights to the Project and the image of the Project participants, together with the right to exercise dependent rights, without territorial restrictions for an indefinite period, in the following fields of exploitation:

implementation of the Project according to the selected Project concept and recording the Project in audiovisual media (hereinafter Works”);
in the scope of recording and reproduction – production of an unlimited number of copies of Works using any technique, including printing, reprographic, audiovisual, magnetic recording, digital, and computer technology;
in the scope of circulation of the original or copies on which the Works were recorded – introduction to circulation, lending or renting, entering into computer memory, transmission via a multimedia network, including the Internet;
in the scope of dissemination in another way – public performance, exhibition, display, reproduction, broadcasting, and re-broadcasting, including on the Internet, as well as making works publicly available in such a way that everyone can have access to them at a place and time of their choosing.

The Organizer will provide:

printed posters and invitations;
photographic documentation of the Project;
preparation of formats promoting the Project on the Internet;
technical and organizational support (individually agreed upon according to the Organizer’s capabilities);
film recording of the Project in the form of video art;
communications and PR, including through the channels of the Mazovian Institute of Culture and the Foksal Gallery;
making the project available to people with special needs,
accommodation on the days of Project implementation for authors of awarded projects from outside Warsaw (no more than 5 hotel nights; in the event that the author of the winning Project is a team of people, accommodation will be provided for no more than 2 people from the team, for no more than 5 hotel nights for each of these people).

A detailed work plan for the Project will be developed based on separate arrangements, taking into account the specifics of the Project.

6. Personal Data

Pursuant to art. 13 of Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 April 2016 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data, and repealing Directive 95/46/EC (hereinafter “GDPR”), the organizer presents the required information related to the processing of personal data of the Competition participants.
The administrator of the personal data of the Competition participants is the Mazovian Institute of Culture with its registered office at: 12 Elektoralna Street, 00-139 Warsaw (hereinafter referred to as the “Administrator”).
The data protection officer can be contacted in writing to the Administrator’s address, or electronically to the e-mail address: iod@mik.waw.pl. in matters relating to the processing of personal data by the Administrator.
Personal data will be processed for the purpose of conducting the Competition based on the consent expressed by the participant (art. 6 sec. 1 letter a) of the GDPR).
The recipients of personal data may be entities providing IT services, technical support, e-mail providers, entities providing courier and postal services to the administrator, users of the media, websites, and social networking sites of the Administrator.
Personal data will not be transferred to a third country, i.e. outside the European Economic Area, or an international organization.
Personal data will be stored for no longer than until the purpose for which they were collected ceases to exist or until the date of withdrawal of consent to their processing, and if there are grounds for pursuing or defending claims, or an obligation to store documents resulting from applicable regulations – until the expiry of the period for pursuing or defending claims by the Administrator and the expiry of the period for storing documents resulting from applicable regulations.
The Competition participant has the right to request from the Administrator access to their personal data, their rectification, deletion, or restriction of processing.
In the case of personal data processed on the basis of consent referred to in art. 6 sec. 1 lit. a) GDPR, the Competition participant has the right to withdraw consent at any time without affecting the lawfulness of the processing carried out on the basis of consent before its withdrawal. The withdrawal of consent is done by submitting an appropriate declaration to the e-mail address: iod@mik.waw.pl or sending a declaration to the Administrator’s address.
The Competition participant has the right to lodge a complaint with the supervisory authority, i.e. the President of the Personal Data Protection Office.
Providing personal data is voluntary, but necessary in order to participate in the Competition.
During the processing of personal data, there will be no automated decision-making and no profiling will be used.

7. Final Provisions

These Rules and their amendments are available for inspection at the Organizer’s office and on the Foksal Gallery website: galeriafoksal.pl
The Organizer reserves the right to change the Rules at any time in justified cases.
The Organizer reserves the right to cancel the Competition without giving a reason, as well as to end the Competition without selecting any winning projects.
Questions related to the Competition should be sent to m.stolpiec@mik.waw.pl.stolpiec@mik.waw.pl.
The Organizer will provide answers to the submitted questions provided they are sent no later than five business days before the deadline for submitting Competition entries. The answers will be published on the Foksal Gallery website, referred to in point 1.
Participation in the competition constitutes acceptance of these Rules.

Formularz zgłoszeniowy: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1cMYe0ilFmv6QVnr3TOew7qdQMuJeb8PfTwg2uOOfvSc/edit?usp=sharing