ARTIST CALL-OUTS
Opportunities for artists to work with SPILL on commissions, collaborative projects, artist development schemes and more.
IPSWICH CARIBBEAN ASSOCIATION COMMISSION
Applications are now closed. Thank you to everyone who applied.
SPILL Festival is looking for artists and/or creative practitioners with experience of creating community-centred artworks and/or heritage resources for a new project about the Ipswich Caribbean Association building (also variously known as the ICA and the Ipswich International Association) which formerly stood on Woodbridge Road. Those commissioned will work with a Steering Group and individuals and community groups associated with the ICA building, which was demolished in 2012, in order to explore its significant cultural and social impact, including its history, programmes, its architecture, and its importance to the many people and groups which used its services and facilities.
Depending on the nature and number of applications, we are able to offer either one large commission, or two smaller commissions. These opportunities are available to artists and creative practitioners working in any form or medium, provided their practice is rooted in community co-creation, but we are particularly interested in hearing from those who create installation, photography, video, writing or sound (including podcasting).
Alongside these new commissions, SPILL’s Artistic Director, Robin Deacon, will be interviewing a number of people who worked, volunteered and played key roles at the ICA building before it closed. This new collection of oral histories will gather and preserve memories of the past, and to open a discussion about the possibility for future spaces to fill the significant gap left by the ICA.
WHO YOU ARE
You have a strong connection to Ipswich, Suffolk and/or to Caribbean people and communities across the UK.
You have proven experience of working with people and communities to unlock their creative talents and ideas.
You have a genuine interest in community heritage and are passionate about using creative methods to share people’s knowledge and experience.
WHAT YOU WILL DO
You will work closely with the project Steering Group and representatives of the multiple Caribbean communities and organisations in Ipswich.
Through the high quality and professional standard of your commission and its delivery, you will create public outcomes which reflect and represent diverse experiences of the ICA.
FEES AND PROJECT BUDGET
We have two £3,000 artist fees available, but we may choose to award £6,000 to one practitioner whose project generates multiple outcomes.
Applicants are therefore invited to apply with an idea for a project with a single outcome which can be realised within 10 working days, or an idea for a project which generates multiple outcomes and can be realised within 20 working days. We expect this work will largely be undertaken during Summer and Autumn 2024, with completion around New Year 2025.
A small materials and travel budget will be provided.
To have a preliminary conversation about your proposal before applying, contact Artistic Director Robin Deacon (robin@spillfestival.com) or Senior Producer Helen Dawson (helen@spillfestival.com).
ABOUT THE FORMER ICA BUILDING
The building opened as a drill hall in 1911 at 15-17 Woodbridge Road, Ipswich. Operated by the Ipswich Caribbean Association from the 1970s, it functioned as a space for music, martial arts, eating and conversation for many years. The building was closed in 2010, and was demolished in 2012. A car park currently occupies the former site. View the site on Google Maps
Many in Ipswich have expressed their desire for such a venue to be revived: https://www.suffolklive.com/news/suffolk-news/bring-back-ipswich-caribbean-hub-6202003
A wonderful summary on the history of the Ipswich Caribbean Association by Imani Sorhaindo (one of the project’s Steering Group members) can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AbeoNzgtDII
Suffolk Black Community Organisation recorded the impact of the closing of the ICA on its members through the ICE project. Now held at the Hold, this material also has some accounts which could inform artist commissions: https://www.suffolkarchives.co.uk/collections/getrecord/GB173_HD3099
WHY ARE WE DOING THIS?
One of the most significant projects of the 2023 SPILL Festival was Olivier Grossetête’s Monumental Constructions where we built a 16m tall replica of Ipswich’s historic Wolsey Gate (and an imagined college building around it) completely out of cardboard boxes and tape. When we asked the people of Ipswich for their suggestions for the building to be constructed, the large number of responses citing the ICA building told us that this was a much missed building which deserved a project which would not only highlight its great history, but the great loss borne by the communities who used it.
HOW WILL THE COMMISSIONS BE SELECTED?
Our Steering Group will be selecting the commissions from applications received according to the following criteria:
How well the proposed projects tell the stories of the ICA building in a way that is exciting and appealing to a general audience
How well the proposed projects incorporate and reflect the voices and contributions of Ipswich’s Caribbean communities
How exciting, unique or inspirational the proposed project is
How feasible the project is
STEERING GROUP MEMBERS
Chris Cumberbatch
Robin Deacon
Marcus Harris-Noble
Franstine Jones
Imani Sorhaindo
The Ipswich Caribbean Association project is being funded by Historic England’s Everyday Heritage grant programme, celebrating working class histories.
