Open Call for Submissions
TIJUANA TRIENNIAL: 2. PICTORIC INTERNATIONAL ART
Tijuana Cultural Center
July 2024 – February 2025
First Call
The Tijuana Cultural Center, CECUT, an organism from the Ministry of Culture of Mexico, invite the international artistic community to participate in the public contest with artworks or projects that use the pictorial as a starting point to explore other poetics, new issues and drifts that allow the build-up of different aesthetic models.
The call´s objective consists of not being repetitive inside the creative tradition, trusting only in the figurative representation as the do-over of the plastic formalist components. The goal is to pursue the pictorial sense inside the disruptive as an image that expresses transformation and invites to implementation of hybrid strategies that stimulate a two-directional dialogue with the spectator.
The Triennial accepts the pictorial, recognizing its metamorphic, recursive, controversial, experimental, resurgent, unsolved, (in)tense, and ultra-dialectical nature. The pictorial can be expressed as a visual, tactile, auditory, static, or dynamic manifestation to build with certainty or uncertainty, with regular or vague, offering distinct perceptive opportunities and awake other insights, encouraging to speculate to not conforming and never to become an unmovable postulate. It also considers the significance of disassociating from rules that standardized contests since this action limits the creative potential. In this manner, The Triennial seeks to liberate the art from the restraints of formats, space, and supports, allowing the opportunity to think in the interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary to a new creative independence.
In the spirit of liberation, democracy becomes a necessary referee to determine how to imbue the process of selection and award of the contest’s entries with certainty and trust. For that reason, the first step is to have the participation of a curatorship foreign to our context, avowed for its critical and ethical soundness that will select the entries that will become the Triennial exhibition without bias. As a second step, to determine with fairness the first-place award and honorable mentions through a three-part voting system (curator, participants, and popular vote) in which the sum of two or more coincident votes will allow to establish the awards; all of this under the scrutiny and legality of a certified public notary.
Guidelines
Participants
1.- All artists over the age of 18 of any nationality can apply to this call. (The only people excluded from participating will be the government officials, professional service providers of the Secretariat of Culture, and officials disqualified by law)
2.- Only one pictorial proposal will be accepted per individual and/or collective.
3.- Submitted artworks must be finished or be an in situ art-installation project, which must be thoroughly described in the application format.
4.- Submitted artworks must have been elaborated during 2021–2023 and, if it’s an in situ art installation, these must be able to be completed, at least, five days before the exhibition’s opening day.
5.- Submitted artworks must be original creations and should not have participated in any previous contest or exhibition, nor participate in any other contest at the same time. Infringe upon this guideline Violating this rule is penalized with an automatic disqualification.
6.- There are no restrictions in formats or dimensions. The only limit is to be able to complete the artwork, as it is proposed, in the given space.
Procedure for the submission
This call will remain open from the day of its publication in the official digital channels of the Secretariat of Culture (cultura.gob.mx/convocatorias), and CECUT (trienal.cecut. gob.mx/en/calling/), until April 28th, 2023.
Applicants must send an email to the following address: [email protected], up until April 28th, 2023 with the following documentation in a single PDF file titled as: Trienal de Tijuana – Artist’ full name
1.- Personal data (full name, artist name, email, address, and telephone with zip codes and local area codes).
2.- Copy of an official current ID.
3.- Title of the artwork or project.
4.- Characteristics of the artwork: technique, materials, size (in centimeters), weight (in kilograms), and year of elaboration; technical need for its installation and, if it’s an in situ art-installation project, the specific description of the technical needs for its installation and estimated time to produce it. If it’s a polyptych, attach the final disposition of the pieces and, if necessary, an instruction manual to its proper installation.
5.- Statement of the artwork (maximum 4,000 characters).
6.- Individual curriculum summary (maximum 6,000 characters). If it’s a collective project, the concept or trajectory as a group and a curriculum summary of each member must be presented.
7.- Three to five images of the artwork that clearly shows the shape, volume, and dimensions. If possible, one of the images must be taken showing the final position of the artwork and using the same material needed for its installation.
8.- In the case of a proposal for an in situ art-installation project, sketches with the final measures and a work schedule must be included.
9.- Production appraisal* of the artwork or project in USD to cover the transit insurance.
*The production appraisal is the approximate value of the artwork, or the cost invested to produce it. It will always be less than the retail appraisal and it allows to acquire a less expensive transit insurance.
Procedure for selecting the finalists
1.- Starting from the publication of this call, the Curatorial Committee will be formed, and its members will be announced at the right time.
2.- In response to the global demand for gender equality in the art world, this Curatorial Committee will choose, at least, 50% of female artists, with special emphasis on the diversity of gender identities.
3.- The selected artworks will reflect the current state and innovation of the pictorial, as well as the technical and thematic diversity.
4.- The selected artworks will be published on the official website of the Triennial, on October 20th, 2023.
5.- The Committee reserves the right to exclude any artwork that does not faithfully correspond to the images sent or that does not have the proper documentation attached and/or in the requested format. Any author who submits two or more artworks will be automatically disqualified.
6.- If the selected artworks or project is conceived to be exhibited outside of CECUT facilities, as urban art projects —either art-installation or in situ works—usually are, CECUT will inquire and process the permits needed to the proper government instances, who will decide the acceptance or rejection. If the permit is not granted, CECUT will notify the participant to search for other options.
7.- Because it’s exposed to the environment, all urban art projects will be exposed to the natural damage done by atmospheric phenomena and climate, as well as ossible vandalism. CECUT is not responsible for this kind of contingencies and the participant accept such things can happen the moment it sends its proposal.
Shipment
1-. Selected artworks must be properly physically sent from 9:00 to 14:00 hours, in business days between November 6th, 2023 and March 1st, 2024, to CECUT’s address: Paseo de los Heroes 9350, Zona Urbana Rio Tijuana, Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico, 22010 (zip code).
2.- The artworks must be sent properly packed in a wooden box or crate that fulfills phytosanitary international regulations, completely immobilized and isolated to prevent damages, with its lid screwed on to allow that the same package is used to return the artwork when the exhibition is over.
3.- The author must cover the shipping costs of its artwork, and it must purchase transit insurance, which should be acquired using the production appraisal as the base value.
4.- In the case of artworks that require specific electronic components (such as adapters, cables, batteries, etcetera) the participant must include them in the shipping, as well as a replacement if the component has an expiration date.
5.- If the packing does not comply with the stipulated safety features or it arrives damaged because it does not follow the instructions above this paragraph, the Tijuana Triennial organization will not be responsible for its restoration and keeps its right to exclude them and have them returned to the author, at his or her expense.
6.- Once received and reviewed for good status, CECUT will insure each artwork from its arrival until its return to the author at the end of the exhibition.
In situ art-installation projects
1.- CECUT will be responsible for the installation of all artworks, except the in situ art-installation projects, whose value resides in the manual labor and the care of the author. The artist is responsible for the installation of this kind of project and he or she must come to CECUT —during business hours and days— to complete it, at least five days before opening day.
2.- Artists must solicit the dates they will require to work on their piece inside the facilities, which will be reviewed by the Tijuana Triennial organization in order to accommodate them. The stipulated time frame to complete the artwork cannot be exceeded, except a major emergency occurs.
3.- The artist must cover the cost of his or her travel and lodging and should comply with the safety measures and technical possibilities of CECUT.
Return
1.- The selected artworks will be returned once the exhibition is finished. CECUT is responsible for the return of the artworks, and they will be shipped back using the same container/packing used by the author and through a shipping company designated by CECUT.
2.- An exception will be made to urban art, in situ art-installation projects, murals or any piece that, given its ephemeral nature, does not require to be returned.
3.- The winning artworks will become part of the CECUT collection and part of the organization’s patrimony
Award selection process
In a spirit of democracy, criticism, and reasoning, the organization establishes that the process to choose the selected artworks that will form the exhibition will be in the hands of the chief curator, invited for that purpose; and the process to choose the winning artwork and two honorary mentions will be based on a triple vote:
Curatorial vote
A second curator will be invited exclusively for this stage, and he or she will select the artworks that fulfill the spirit of the event and he or she considers had merits to be acknowledged with the prizes.
Participant vote
Each selected artist or collective will have one vote to select an artwork, refraining from voting for themselves, according to an agreement of procedure, confidentiality, and ethics that will be signed in due course.
Popular vote
The public may vote electronically on the official website of the Triennial. If at least two of these three votes coincide, the artwork that had more votes in these coincidences will be declared the winner, and in descending order the two honorary mentions will be awarded. These decisions will be backed, always, by a certified public notary.
If there is no coincidence in the votes or in case of an eventuality disrupts the process, the organization will meet again, under the scrutiny of the public notary, and will decide on publicly and with a sustained reasoning, the controversy, seeking to be as transparent as possible at all times
Awards
To encourage participation and recognize the work of artists, the organization —in accordance with the unappealing ruling of the jury and with the ethical confirmation of the designated notary— will deliver the following incentives through a bank transfer in Mexican pesos or the equivalent to another currency:
First place:
$ 1,000,000.00 (one million pesos) (MXN).
Two honorable mentions:
$ 250,00.00 (two-hundred and fifty-thousand pesos) (MXN), each.
Winners must have a bank account in their name in which the payment will be made, submit their documentation for registration in the Accounting and Budget System (SICOP) and the Federal Integrated Financial Management System (SIAFF).
Payment will be deposited in the account once the corresponding procedures are completed.
Opening day and award ceremony
The opening day will be on July 26th, 2024 in the facilities of CECUT.
The award ceremony will be on August 23rd, 2024, at 18:00 hours in the facilities of CECUT.
The selected artworks will be exhibited from opening day until February 2025, at they cannot be removed from the exhibition, unless CECUT gives a precise and justified decision.
Note: CECUT is not responsible for any damage that the artworks suffer because of the quality of the material used in its production; however, it will try to repair the damage, to the extent of its abilities and possibilities, in accordance with the author.
Use of personal information
By participating in this call, the author gives authorization to the Tijuana Triennial organization to reproduce the images of its artwork and the information of its curriculum vitae on the platforms they deem appropriate.
Observations
The rules and guidelines of this contest are accepted by the applicants at the time of sending their application to this call.
Any circumstance not foreseen in this call will be resolved by the organization, together with the Award Jury, as the case may be.
For more information, please contact:
[email protected]
Phone: +52 664 687 9652
trienal.cecut.gob.mx
