VOCENTO in collaboration with ARCOmadrid 2010 International Contemporary Art Fair, Madrid :: Open Call for Proposals — Deadline for Applications: January 31, 2010; 5:00 pm :: Total award is 15.000 euros :: Online application form here.

VOCENTO and ARCOmadrid announce a competition of ideas to provide art galleries with web solutions, and to provide opportunities to enhance their online presence and networking potential. The competition wishes to respond to the shifting context of online environments — from Web 2.0 to Web 3.0 and beyond — and to draw attention to the dynamic potential of the web as a research, production and presentation platform for the specific context of art. It invites individual and collaborative proposals by programmers, software engineers, designers and artists alike, that combine creative and critical thinking, technical solutions with practical competence.

ARTE 2.0 VOCENTO aims to enable the development of a powerful tool or web environment for art context, and to promote creative, original, innovative and speculative thinking in a fast developing field, reflecting new social sensibilities and art’s ability to surprise.

VOCENTO and ARCOmadrid invite proposals for innovative and experimental online platforms or effective web tools to foster and stimulate the presence, exhibition, communication and management of art on the Internet. The selected proposal will be awarded with a production budget of 15,000 euros (taxes included) to realize the project.

The competition wishes to encourage research in the field of social technologies and artistic practice, and more specifically to identify current needs and provide suitable solutions for art galleries and art market more generally in the context of the Internet. The intention behind the competition is to enhance communication and exchange between the field of art and wider society.

The proposal - a complete web concept, environment or a tool - shall offer an application to be implemented by individual art galleries and / or ARCO Fair.

The winning proposal will be selected by an international Jury, made up of two experts in the field of art and technology: Dr. Joasia Krysa (KURATOR/University of Plymouth, UK), CSDVA (winner of the 2009 edition with the project WAAP, Croatia) and a representative of VOCENTO (Spain). LaAgencia will act as coordinator of the award and jury secretary.

Production of the award-winning proposal has to be completed in a maximum period of nine months. Once produced, a complete web concept, or environment, or tool, will be freely distributed for implementation by the participant galleries at ARCOmadrid´s 2010 edition and the galleries participating at ARCOmadrid´s 2011 edition.

Conditions for entry to participate: The competition ARTE 2.0 VOCENTO is open to any individual or group, of any nationality or legal entity. It is an open and international award contest. The proposal must be submitted through an online application form available on the dedicated ARTE 2.0 VOCENTO’s website at http://www.vocento.com/en/concurso_ideas_arte2_vocento.php

Proposals sent by e-mail, post or any other way will not be accepted. Each individual or group is allowed to submit only one proposal. In case of the submission of more than one proposal, only the first proposal will be considered. Applications for the ARTE 2.0 VOCENTO competition can be submitted in English or Spanish. We highly recommend submitting bilingual versions of the proposal.

The participating proposals must be for projects realizable for the value of the prize money, i.e. €15,000 (including taxes), within a maximum production period of nine months from the date of the Jury’s decision.

The Jury reserves the right to accept or reject any of the projects, and its decision is final. Accepting the prize implies the transfer of property rights of the awarded project to VOCENTO, after the termination of its free distribution among art galleries participating at ARCOmadrid 2010 and those taking part in the 2011 edition. VOCENTO agrees not to commercialize nor distribute it in any other form than that described. After two years VOCENTO may make the project available to the public under the license CreativeCommons, Attribution 2.5 Spain.