ELIGIBILITY

The call for submissions is open to all artists. Emerging artists are especially encouraged to apply, though all artists are welcome to apply. There is no age limit for submissions.

Artists include any person engaged in creative endeavors (photographers, performers, musicians, makers, innovators, technologists, cultural entrepreneurs, data visualization scientist etc.)

The exhibition at the World Bank headquarters will seek to feature emerging artists, however, all emerging to late-career artists will be considered when selecting artwork for the exhibition at the 2020 Understanding Risk Forum (UR2020), as well as in the online database.

World Bank Group staff, including Consultants, Interns, Contractors and their immediate family members, are not eligible to participate for inclusion in the World Bank headquarters exhibition. However, they will be eligible to be considered for a) inclusion in the UR2020 exhibition, and b) the online database. Non-immediate/distant relatives of the panel members are also ineligible for consideration for the World Bank headquarters exhibition. Project staff contracted through World Bank-supported projects are eligible to be considered for all elements of the call.

SUBJECT MATTER

This exhibition will showcase how the arts can be used to highlight, achieve, or improve societal understanding of disasters stemming from natural hazards. The World Bank Group is seeking artworks that engage with the science, politics, and cultural aspects of building a community's resilience to disasters. We invite artworks of any medium.

A wide variety of artistic approaches to this topic will be considered. These include, but are not limited to:

• Pieces of any medium - works that serve as calls to action by stressing the urgency of mitigating disaster impacts and adapting to changes an artist’s environment; works that imagine hopeful futures in a world impacted by these shocks
• Visualizations of Big Data - data art as an emerging form of science communication
• Public Art - installations as a way of putting knowledge about disaster risk into local context
• Community-Based Arts Programs - initiatives that engage the public in arts production to support post-disaster reconstruction or deliberative disaster risk management

Submissions will be judged on: relevance to the theme, power of the message, originality in treating the theme, creativity, technical quality, and suitability for presentation in a workplace of an international organization. Pieces that have been shown to have impacts on improving the resilience in their geographic contexts will be given priority.

The World Bank is an international organization that works in a multicultural environment where the works of art it displays reflect the different countries and their cultures. The philosophy of the organization respects the diversity of belief and sensibilities of different cultures. For that reason, the World Bank Art Program limits the depiction of religious images, sexual subjects, nudes, and/or works with a marked political content that might be deemed offensive or inappropriate.

The artworks must not contain hazardous substances or materials deemed to be inflammable, radioactive, perishable, or gasses. Nor will works be admitted that are made of feathers, coral, or animal hides.

SUBMISSIONS

Participation Guidelines for Artists

To be considered for this exhibition, each artist needs to submit:

• Images of the artworks being submitted (no more than 5 artworks can be submitted)
  • Each image must be accompanied by the following data:
  • Name of the artist/author
  • Title of the work
  • Year of creation
  • Technique
  • Dimensions (in centimeters and kilograms).
• Maximum 300-word artistic statement about the artworks being submitted
  • Please include the relevance to resilience and the inspiration behind your piece
• Maximum 500-word biography
  • Please include your location of residence and locations that you have worked in
  • Please include the medium(s) you work in
  • Please include a link to your website, if you have one
• One-page artistic CV

*Photographs and other digital representations of artworks can be sent as clear medium-resolution image files (jpeg format) as attachments to an email, or through WeTransfer (a free online service: https://wetransfer.com). We are unable to accept Google Drive links.

Submissions are accepted via email or postal mail.

Email: artprogram@worldbank.org

Postal mail:
The World Bank Group Art Program (MSN MC 1-109)
1818 H Street NW
Washington, DC 20433
USA

Deadline
Complete applications should be submitted by 23:59 your local time on Friday, May 31, 2019.

Communication
All artists will receive an email confirmation for the receipt of their materials. Beyond this, only those artists selected to exhibit of be included in the online database will be notified.

Copyrights
The artwork remain the property of the participating artists. If the World Bank or any partner organization would like to use images of the works beyond the scope of this exhibition, it will be with prior approval of the artist and with due credit.

The images of the works selected for the exhibitions may be reproduced in the exhibition catalogue, promotional material (posters, invitations), as well as any other materials deemed educational. For non-commercial and educational materials, the World Bank Art Program and its partners cannot be asked by the artist or his/her representative to pay for any reproduction fee or royalties.

Selection Committee
After receiving all entries, an international panel of judges, representing leaders from the contemporary art and disaster sectors, will review them between May 31 and June 12, 2019 to select the final artists and artworks to be a part of the World Bank exhibition, the 2020 Understanding Risk Forum exhibition, and inclusion within the online database.

No fixed number of works is established for either exhibition. The decision is based on the quality of submissions and curatorial selection.

Exhibition Structure
The selected artists and their works will be featured in an exhibition, curated by the World Bank Art Program and the Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery, opening at the Main Complex of the World Bank Group in Washington DC in October 2019. The exhibition will be on view until the beginning of January. The exhibition will be accompanied by an exhibition catalogue published by the World Bank Group, showcasing the works, the artists, and relevance of the exhibition theme to international development.

In May 2020 the exhibition, in whole or parts, will travel to Singapore to be exhibited in conjunction with the ten-year anniversary of the Understanding Risk Community. There are possibilities for continued exhibitions at other locations in 2020 and beyond. For any exhibitions beyond May 2020, the World Bank will request permission from the artist.

If selected, the main responsibility of the artists will be to be a responsive partner with the World Bank Group during the organization of the exhibition, and to assure timely response to the Bank’s requests.

THE WORLD BANK RESPONSIBILITIES

Shipment and packaging
The cost of packaging and shipment of works selected for exhibitions will be paid by the World Bank Art Program, which uses for that purpose companies experienced in international shipping and freight forwarding. The Lender is responsible for providing the carrier with the necessary documentation for the temporary export and re-import of the artwork(s) with the purpose of including it in this exhibition. If custom duties should arise for the export or re-import of the artwork to or from this exhibition, they will be responsibility of the Lender.

Loan agreement
The works selected for the exhibitions will be sent to the World Bank on a temporary loan basis, said loan to be guaranteed by signature of a "loan agreement" form (available for information on this website). The Borrowers (World Bank Art Program) will not pay any rental fee for the loan of the artwork to be displayed at the exhibition.

Acquisitions
Private buyers (galleries, individuals, associations) may desire to acquire artworks from the exhibition. The World Bank Art Program will provide the potential buyer with the contact information of the artist and the transaction will take place outside the World Bank. The World Bank Art Program will not charge any commission.

Insurance and unforeseen circumstances
Works selected for exhibition will be insured by the World Bank Group during transportation and for the duration of the exhibition.

Payments
The World Bank will pay for the installation of the exhibition. The World Bank will not be able to pay the artists any fees. For photographic works, the World Bank will pay for the printing and framing of the art for the exhibition using its own equipment and resources.

Promotion
The World Bank will promote the exhibition in the usual ways allowed for the World Bank Group’s programs and in close coordination with partner organizations.

Printed Materials
The World Bank will design, print, and disseminate a brochure of the exhibition. Each artist will receive 10 complimentary copies of the brochure. The World Bank will also design, print and disseminate an exhibition catalogue. Each artist will receive 1 complimentary copy of the catalogue.

Last Updated: Tuesday, April 16, 2019