Tilling Roots and Seeds XXI: Open Call

This project is based on the assumption that climate change is a cultural problem that affects all living beings on the planet. There is no single solution, but diverse sectors and participants should unite and collaborate to tackle climate change. in this sense, artists and cultural operators have a pivotal role in this process.

Art can help to see farming not just as a means of producing food, but as an aesthetic and spiritual approach to life and therefore generate the cultural shift needed for producers and consumers to transition to a sustainable food system.

Open Call

Focus Areas

The project seeks to illuminate the critical connection between planetary health and the evolution of our food systems, particularly in the context of the climate and biodiversity crisis. We encourage applications that integrate scientific and statistical data to offer fresh perspectives.

We are looking for artists or collectives that delve into:

• new narratives or rituals regarding food production and consumption
• agroecology and other systemic approaches to agriculture
• transdisciplinary collaborations between disciplines aimed at better imaging the future of food;
• food production as a practice of care
• experiment practices of re-enchanting the world connected to the care of the land
• techno-agrarian society

Residencies

TWO Residencies 6-WEEK RESEARCH RESIDENCIES – MENTORED BY KILOWATT,
will take place in collaboration with 2 organizations Azienda agricola Selvello and Azienda il Poggiolo committed to regenerative agriculture, ecology and creativity. The applicants should choose one location. Accommodation in each location, along with travel and subsistence expenses, will be covered up to a maximum of € 1600 for each residency.

Italy Residency Application form

ONE Residency 6-WEEK RESEARCH RESIDENCY – MENTORED BY QUO ARTIS,
will take place in the Barcelona area and will be developed in collaboration with the following urban and rural horticultural organizations Ferrer Sustainability, Tectum Garden Glòries, Fundació Catalunya La Pedrera – Horts de Sant Benet and Contorno Urbano-Ecological & Cultural Centre. Each selected artist or collective will receive a total grant of € 6000 gross broken down as follows: Artist Fee: € 2000 gross and Research Grant: € 4000 gross. This funding is dedicated to cover the costs associated with the research process, including materials, and other essential expenses incurred during the residency.

Spain Resedency Application form

Production Grant

ONE PRODUCTION GRANT – MENTORED BY QUO ARTIS,
in addition to the produced artwork, the author(s) of the selected proposal will participate in the Summer School of the Resilienze Festival and the capacity-building workshop in Barcelona, and will present the produced artwork at Ars Electronica Festival in September 2025. Travel, subsistence and accommodation for the three activities will be provided. Production Grant – finished work by: June 2025.

The selected artist will receive a total grant of € 8000 gross broken down as follows: Artist Fee: € 2000 gross and Production Grant: € 6000 gross.

Funding dedicated to covering the costs associated with the creation and realization of the proposed artwork.

Production Application form

More details for the Residencies and Production grant:
https://tillingrootsandseeds.eu/open-call-tilling-roots-and-seeds/

About the project

Tilling Roots and Seeds is an international cooperation project between Ars Electronica (AT), KILOWATT (IT), University of Barcelona (ES) and Quo Artis (ES) as lead partner and co-funded by the Creative Europe Programme of the European Union.

Tilling Roots and Seeds aims to enhance European cultural cooperation and capacity for artistic research and practice on the topic of the plant biodiversity crisis and sustainable food system in Europe.

The project also supports the role of art as a tool to awaken a critical understanding of climate change that sheds light on how humans generate and affect it through the current food consumption systems. The project assumes that innovative solutions require the engagement of those involved in farming and food production as well as the voice of communities, as innovation can derive also from traditional knowledge.

The overall objective of Tilling Roots and Seeds is to find collaborative ways to discover, regenerate and narrate the work of the farmers in every aspect, by working in a way that is interconnected and in harmony with the natural world and respectful of future generations.

This project builds upon the lessons learned through the EU funded project Roots and Seeds XXI. It further expands the capabilities and opportunities of the EU creative sector to contribute to fight the biodiversity crisis and the environmental degradation of our times and opens up opportunities for artists to collaborate with the scientific and farming sectors to imagine future sustainable scenarios. It also transfers knowledge and disseminates good practices and results to the cultural and scientific sector as well as to the general public. In this second phase, the project will also engage food consumers, particularly young people, and promote mental, emotional, and physical well-being of current and future generations.

Objectives

• TO EXPERIMENT transdisciplinary collaboration between artists, researchers, local growers and consumers, to understand the relation between climate change and agriculture.
• TO BUILD capacities on climate change and sustainable food through art and creativity, building on the ability to connect with nature.
• TO RAISE awareness and disseminate artistic practices that tell positive stories about future sustainable food scenarios.

Credits

Previous Roots & Seeds Open Calls

Roots and Seeds XXI: Biodiversity Crisis and Plant Resistance