Shut Down but Scratching: opportunity for artists

There’s been much publicity around the impact of the Coronavirus lockdown on public venues such as theatres, pubs and restaurants. But what can sometimes be forgotten is the knock-on effect these closures have on independent artists and creative companies who rely on those venues to share their work.

It’s because of this that we’re delighted to be supporting a new rapid response initiative from Shoot Festival aimed at providing an opportunity for early-career artists from Coventry and Warwickshire to showcase their work online.

Supported by the Belgrade Theatre and Coventry City of Culture Trust, Shut Down but Scratching is an online scratch night of original live performance, visual and digital art. The project will offer approximately ten micro-commissions of £200 to artists who consider themselves to be “early-career”.

The term “early-career” can be interpreted broadly, but please note that this opportunity is aimed at supporting independent makers aged 18+ and living in a CV postcode.

Shoot Festival are looking for live performance artists working across a range of different media (theatre-makers, musicians, spoken-word poets and dancers), as well as visual and digital artists, to create short pieces of work responding to the theme “imagine”. Perhaps you can help us envisage a better tomorrow, take us on a spectacular journey from your living room or create an imagined reality for us to escape to?

Applications are now open, and the deadline for submissions is Monday 6 April. The scratch night will take place online on Wednesday 15 April. Further guidelines for submissions are given below.

Live artists (for example: theatre makers, dancers, poets, musicians)

• To create a new piece of work responding to the theme ‘imagine’
• Work must be 5-10 mins long, original and will be live streamed as part of the digital scratch night on Wednesday 15 April
• We also encourage you to find creative and safe ways to engage with your local communities whilst adhering to the government guidelines on social distancing

Visual and digital artists

• Using the materials you have available to you, how might you find a way to connect with your immediate community responding to the theme ‘imagine’?
• We also encourage you to find creative and safe ways to engage with your local communities whilst adhering to the government guidelines on social distancing (perhaps consider how you might use the view points available to you, such as windows, gardens or balconies?)
• As well as having a physical presence, we will also need photographs and/or recordings of the work to share more widely with the hope that this will inspire others
• The artwork must be available on the day of the scratch night on Wednesday 15 April

For full details and to apply, please visit the Shoot Festival website. If you would like to receive the application in another format to meet your personal requirements or have any questions, please contact the team by emailing shootfestival@gmail.com.