The Kommune Norrtalje Dignity Scholarship offers a psychological safe haven for personal creative practice. We provide radically spirited Doers a unique framework in which to create, direct and reflect upon their activities free from external commercial, personal, political and social pressures whatever they may be. Our function is to provide an institutional 'cubbyhole' where time is given for shelter, recuperation, repair, and rebuilding so as to let Doers develop some new ways to navigate the rough sea of the post truth era.
We have an opportunity for a creative practitioner interested in weaving their Doing into the theme of anti capitalist critique in the post truth era. We ask only that the chosen artist shows us what they are Doing and tells us something about it, whilst bearing in mind the themes of the Dignity Scholarship
1. Instituting and valorizing the term "Doing" to describe open ended, non specific activities which are emancipatory in spirit.
2. Creating consciousness of the 'scales of experience' which press upon us in everyday life. How do the local, national, global, virtual, media and social media scales impinge upon your life and your Doing?
3. Develop the idea of 'productive sheltering' as a slow and methodical approach to critical art. What new ways can this work be made public?
4. How has the imagined art public/audience changed in the post truth era?
5. To what extent are antagonistic critical artistic strategies productive in the post truth era?
Dignity Scholarships are seasonal and once selected, practitioners can continue the scholarship for a maximum of four seasons after which Kommune Norrtalje will review progress. Participants will be assisted in any way we can during the course of the scholarship but at present no funding is available. For the inaugural Dignity Scholarship applicants were asked to submit a proposal in verse form on the theme of creativity in the post truth era and after careful consideration the Bergby based artist John Maclean was selected for his verse entitled Current Bun.
yesterday’s chaos is home to roost
and behind the curtain a poster of truth
woke peoples wail, out memed and out done
by Realpolitik and a current bun
a chance now to make left imaginary new
quietly in solitude, do Doing do
my dutch ghost and I will show it to you
our process of Doing; doing Do.
Current Bun, John Maclean, 2018
To ensure that the Dignity Scholarship appeals broadly to both the public in Norrtälje and an international audience a commentator with specific knowledge of the relevant subject is appointed to comment upon, investigate, analyse and clarify the work and thinking of each participant.