With less than six weeks before artRiot 2010 opens at the Annandale Hotel as part of the Sydney Fringe, this is the final call-out for artists to…

submit proposals by next Wed 11 Aug.

We are particularly looking for performance/musical artists but welcome works in any medium. Submit your proposal here.

Don’t forget, the selection criteria

1. The proposed work shows a genuine capacity to directly motivate an action or change people’s behaviour with the intention of radical social change. /10
2. The proposed work demonstrates strong artistic ability relevant to the medium – eg. aesthetically, musically or linguistically. /10
3. The proposed work has the potential to integrate well with other accepted proposals while differing enough in form, subject matter or medium to add to the diversity of the overall exhibition. /5

You read it right, the riot starts at 6pm, Sat 11 Sept 2010, upstairs at the Annandale Hotel on Parramatta Rd, just west of Sydney’s CBD. The opening night of artRiot 2010 will including performances, opportunities to change the world, radical works from across Sydney and a chance to speak to the artists who make it all happen.

You can’t have a riot without people, right? artRiot is formed around the idea of bringing politically radical art to the forefront of the Sydney art scene – getting the brilliant art of artists working to change the world out there to the people it can change. We’re about to hit full production mode with promotion & logistics – and could use your help! Drop us a line if you can pitch in. Up top is the postcard/flyer we’re getting printed & we should have posters on the same theme soon.

artRiot is a collective – we’re all volunteering our time and money to make this happen – but we fuckin’ love it.

You heard right! Round Two is now open for Expressions of Interest to participate in artRiot’s inaugural exhibition/performance event as part of the Sydney Fringe. Round One closed with around 12 awesome submissions and we’re asking you to top what we saw/heard/conceptualised & get more radical.

Round Two closes midnight Mon, 9th August.

Banksy steam roller stencil

The exhibition will run for two weeks from 11 – 26 Sept 2010 upstairs at the Annandale Hotel. Opening night on Saturday 11 August will include performance works. Artists offered a place in the exhibition will be asked to contribute a $30 entrance fee to go toward making everything happen but anyone is more than welcome to apply for a fee waiver if you can’t afford it.

We know at least a few rockin’ artists out there who were disappointed they missed the cut-off for Round One, so Round Two will be open once again artworks in any medium addressing any social, environmental or political issue. However, works in mediums not currently covered by artists short-listed in Round One will be given special consideration. We’d like to hone in a bit on performance based works (dramatic, musical, spoken for example), radical craft and stencilling & culture jamming. We think through diversity we can create the best and most active experience possible – showing that contemporary Sydney artists can change the world.

Riot Cross Stitch by Cross-stitch ninja on Flickr

Speaking of changing the world, if you submitted in Round One, don’t panic, you’ll be hearing from us soon! One thing we’re going to be discussing with artists who have been short-listed in Round One is creating mobilisation opportunities through the exhibition – in other words, for artRiot, it’s not enough to just have a awesome artwork about edgy, topical political issues – we want you to show us how you think your work can directly motivate an action, ideally at the point of contact. For example, could you fire up the audience with a song about locking on to a coal train then pass round a sheet for people to pledge to take part in a direct action to halt climate change? Could you convey the plight of refugees in Australian detention centres through painting and couple that with a stand providing paper, pens & talking points for your audience to write letters on the spot to their local paper condemning the racist policies of the Federal Government? Could your artwork run right off the wall and into the streets? After all, this is artRiot.

Peaceful Protest by Rainforest Action Network on Flickr

And that brings me to the selection criteria. In the interests of fair judging, each submission will be judged by at least three people from the artRiot collective on the following weighted criteria:

1. The proposed work shows a genuine capacity to directly motivate an action or change people’s behaviour with the intention of radical social change. Judged out of 10.
2. The proposed work demonstrates strong artistic ability relevant to the medium – eg. aesthetically, musically or linguistically. Judged out of 10.
3. The proposed work has the potential to integrate well with other accepted proposals while differing enough in form, subject matter or medium to add to the diversity of the overall exhibition. Judged out of 5.

Enough chin-wagging, get your submissions in!
Click here to fill out the Expression of Interest Form.

artRiot has been accepted into the Sydney Fringe!

This is the first time ever that Sydney will be hosting a fringe festival, joining a wonderful traditional built in places like Edinburgh & Adelaide.

The details?

11-26 September 2010
Annandale Hotel (upstairs)
17 Parramatta Rd, Annandale

Keep an eye out for us on the Sydney Fringe web site & in the programme when it’s out.

News Flash No. 2: Round One Expressions of Interest have now closed.

We received about 12 great submissions which got us really excited about the exhibition, but we’re looking for more. If you submitted an artwork in Round One and haven’t heard from us, please be patient, we’ll get back to you in the next week or so. Stay tuned for Round Two.

After being accepted into ‘the Fringe’ the collective had to make a tough decision: did we have the capacity to run an artRiot exhibition for 2 weeks from the 10th – 26th of September in the Inner West and then back that up with an overlapping 2 week exhibition at the TAP Gallery in Darlinghurst? Could we create a significantly differing event? Could we give both exhibitions the energy that art for radical social change deserves? The tough conclusion we reach was no.

Riot Gear 2078 by Dunechaser on Flickr

The good news? We’re now looking at re-scheduling our TAP Gallery exhibition from September to the festival season in February 2011 with a new cast of artists and exciting new opportunities. That’s right, artRiot is in for the long haul & we’re not going home for tea & cakes just when the riot’s getting started.

Update: see Change of Plans

The artRiot collective’s inaugural exhibition now has dates and a venue!

20 September – 3 October 2010
TAP Gallery
278 Palmer St, Darlinghurst

Don’t forget, Expressions of Interest are now open.
Round one applications close May 31st.

Get your art in. People will remember the night the riot started.