Artist Opportunities

Arts by the Sea has held a number of large-scale parades which have snaked from Horseshoe Common to the centre of Bournemouth, drawing audiences onto the streets to watch and participate as the parade passes.

• 2017 – Dundu & World Beater’s Parade
• 2018 – ‘Next Generation’ parade by Shademakers
• 2019 – ‘Carnival SOS’ parade by Shademakers
• 2021 – Static parade led by Shademakers in partnership with locally based IAAC & UMOJA Arts

Each year Arts by the Sea has been curated in line with a different theme, each of the above artists have curated the parade to respond to this theme. Please see our 2022 theme below.

In 2020 a survey was conducted by the United Nations, asking children what they would change to make themselves happier. They said, to have more time and space to play.

We agree with this wise statement wholeheartedly. After a tumultuous, and yet caged, 2 years, we are throwing our doors open to a range of music, dance, theatre, installations and spectacles that explore PLAY in all its forms.

In PLAY, the act is more important than the outcome; we lose both ourselves and our sense of time. Arts by the Sea 2022 is permission to rediscover the profound nature of what we all know as children, that PLAY is the best thing we can do for our brains, for our bodies, and for each other.

To shake off the seriousness of what has been and dive headlong into singalongs, disco lights, and gathering together, to laugh, to dance, and to lose oneself.

The weekend of the 30th of September – 2nd October will see the centre of Bournemouth taken over by artists exploring and interpreting the theme of PLAY and it is an invitation for everyone, from 9 months old to 90, to come and PLAY.

This is art at its best, to be lost in, to admire, to ignite a mischievous spark, to have fun with, and most importantly to PLAY with.

We are looking to bring back our processional carnival parade with a bang, upscaling our previous iterations into a headline closing spectacle on the 2^nd of October, that represents the diverse cultures of Bournemouth, Poole and Christchurch, enabling audiences to celebrate the conurbation they call home.

We are looking to commission a carnival specialist to curate and deliver a parade which engages with our 2022 theme, as well as involving community groups, local makers, and the festival audience.

A key component of this brief is also to deliver a focused mentoring programme to develop key skills within the BCP locality. Bea Sieradzka has been identified as the recipient of this mentoring programme. Director of the World of Love Festival, she is a critical gatekeeper to diverse communities across the BCP conurbation and is engaging in exciting community focused work. We are ambitious that this mentoring will enable her to step up the scale and ambition of her work.

Please bear in mind the following considerations in relation to this brief:

• The breadth of engagement – communities from across Christchurch, Bournemouth and Poole need to be actively engaged and represented as part of the carnival
• The content will need to incorporate our theme, and enable audiences to participate**
• The time the parade will need to take place – ideally the parade will take place no earlier than 4pm, and no later than 7pm
• The spectacle that the carnival will culminate in
• How the parade allows participants to engage in new art forms, whilst drawing together to make a carnival of high quality
• Our audience is very mixed, this spectacle should look to engage a diverse range of ages

**We are open as to how this might happen, previous iterations have included a torchlit parade with audience participants.

There is a budget of £50k for this project. This is inclusive of both project fee and budget – all project costs relating to the Carnival Spectacular (including production) need to be anticipated and included as part of this £50k. Production calculations will be supported by the BCP Events Team who will organise the production surrounding the project.

The application process for the awarding of this brief will consist of two stages. An Expression of Interest is to be submitted first. Shortlisted applicants will then be contacted and asked to submit a two-page (maximum) proposal.

First Stage: Expression of Interest

Please submit no more than 350 words stating:

• Why you would like to work on this project
• Your experience, which is relevant to this project

Web links & additional video or images may be included.

First stage applications will also be accepted as video, audio or in other, non-traditional, formats.

We want to ensure that everyone has the best opportunity to express their ideas and experience – please do respond as best suits you.

DEADLINE: Ensure your EOI is received by 8.30am on Monday 28th March.

Second Stage:

Applicants will be invited to the second stage.

Please submit a two-page (maximum) proposal to include:

• An outline of how you would approach this project
• How you envision the end Carnival Spectacular
• A short summary budget (creative only, production not required)

Any imagery can be included separately to the two-page maximum.

Please submit questions via email to Arts by the Sea’s Creative Coordinator, Tor Byrnes, tor@fromthefields.co.uk please ensure that you include CARNIVAL BRIEF: QUERY in the title of the email. Our team works on a part-time basis so please ensure that you send questions in plenty of time ahead of the programme deadline.

Arts by the Sea is keen to support freelance artists and welcome you to contact us if you would like to discuss anything further or to request any reasonable adjustments to this project.