During Para Site’s 25th anniversary year in 2021, held under the 25+25 vision that honours the communities built over the past quarter century and commits to the foundations of the next, Para Site announces a second edition of NoExit Grant for Unpaid Artistic Labour. The 2021 NoExit Grant for Unpaid Artistic Labour—Philippines seeks to award HKD20,000 for unrestricted use to 27 artists in the Philippines at any stage of their careers and not current recipients of stable income from the market or academic work.
Recognising the severe and ongoing impact of the pandemic in the Philippines and on its art scene, the long, profound, and often unacknowledged connections between Hong Kong and the Philippines, as well as the urgent need for international solidarity, in particular in close vicinities, Para Site is organising a 2021 edition of NoExit Grant for Unpaid Artistic Labour directed entirely to artists in the Philippines at the same amount and conditions as the first edition of the grant in 2020, which was dedicated to artists in Hong Kong. The grantees will again be determined through an open call and selection by a jury composed of Para Site team members and a majority of artists from the Philippines.
The 2021 edition of the NoExit Grant for Unpaid Artistic Labour continues the spirit of the previous edition, acknowledging the precarious nature of artistic labour where, also prior to the pandemic, crucial parts of the artistic production process went unpaid and unacknowledged. Different from most kinds of financial support for which recipients are required to deliver set outcomes, the NoExit Grant for Unpaid Artistic Labour—Philippines wishes to provide a small but unique and necessary contribution at the crucial (yet often uncompensated) phase in artistic practice that allows thinking to flourish, outside of daily stress and without the pressure to produce, functioning in a way like an artist residency without travel.
The 2021 NoExit Grant for Unpaid Artistic Labour—Philippines will also expand its eligibility to include, beside visual artists, curators, writers, filmmakers, and choreographers.
Twenty-five grants of the 2021 NoExit Grant for Unpaid Artistic Labour—Philippines are made possible by an anonymous donor, with two additional grants supported by Jam Acuzar and Mercedes Zobel.
Application Guidelines
All artists, curators, writers, filmmakers, and choreographers currently living in the Philippines and without commercial and academic sources of income may apply for the grant. Each artist will be awarded with HKD20,000 with a total of 27 grantees, and the jury will determine the finalists based on their individual assessment of merit and need.
To shorten the jury process and lessen the time and effort invested in the application, applicants are invited to submit the following documents, and strongly recommended to observe the specifications in format and length.
- A one-page CV in English (personal website accepted if applicable)
- An objective describing your plans for the use of the grant and your financial requirements.
Please submit both documents in the following formats:
- Video (less than 3 minutes long) OR
- PDF or Word document (less than 3 pages, A4, point 11 or 12 font, single spaced); may include images and text, with text no longer than 300 words
All applications should be made in English and emailed to grants@para-site.art by 17 September 2021, noon HKT. The jury will meet in late September to make the final selection. Para Site expects to disburse the grants before the end of October 2021.
For more information, visit: www.para-site.art
