Call for Interest: Silent Witnesses

Silent Witnesses:

Migration stories through Synagogues Transformed, Rebuilt, or Left Behind
February or March 2012 in the Metro Detroit area

cosponsored by the:
Cultural Heritage Artists Project
Jewish Art Salon
JWalks: Retracing Jewish Heritage

The Cultural Heritage Artists Project, JWalks, and the Jewish Art Salon invite artists working in all media to apply for participation in creating an exhibition based on the Migration stories as witnessed by the Synagogues left behind, transformed, and rebuilt. Like many metropolitan areas in the US, Detroit has been a city of migration, and thus the point of inspiration is Detroit. Artists, however, may choose parallel stories in other cities.

This is a CALL for Expressions of Interest.  Proposals are due at a later date.
We are not yet asking for full proposals, because the parameters of this exhibition require new that artists produce new work, based on research.

Artists are making new works derived from reflections on how synagogues, as community institutions, stand as witness to the social upheavals of our time.  The synagogues might be former synagogues, and therefore the communities involved may be Jewish or non-Jewish communities, depending on the period in history.

The synagogues and communities researched for creative work might be in any city.

Options include
â—¦ former synagogues which are now churches, temples, mosques
â—¦ continuing synagogues for migrated/changing communities
â—¦ transformed or transplanted synagogues
â—¦ former synagogues which are now secular structures
â—¦ current synagogues which once served other purposes

The exhibition will be be held during the CAJM Conference (Council of American Jewish Museums) in February or March in the Metro Detroit area. We expect that the exhibition will receive National attention.

The exhibition is planned as a community art project, as a new genre of hybrid between collaborative engagement and individual works. Combining history and personal interpretation, the project will include scholarly essays, and participating artists are expected to engage in some form of research as part of their creative process.

The migration story you choose may be about any city. The story of Detroit is the inspiration for this exhibition, but we as hands-on research is required for this project, we are open to parallel stories from anywhere that touch on the theme of buildings that are or once were Synagogues, as Silent Witnesses to Community Migrations.

Participation is open to all artists, regardless of background.

Through the responses to the Expressions of Interest we will form the working group of artists who will shape this project. Acceptance into this working group does not constitute acceptance of your proposal, which you will submit after you have had time to research. Collaborations are encouraged.

Guidelines are here

http://culturalheritageartistsproject.org/chap2/guidelines.html

Go to:
http://culturalheritageartistsproject.org/chap2/chap-two.html

And be sure to click on:
http://culturalheritageartistsproject.org/chap2/call-interest.html
and then Fill out the very short form for Expressions of Interest