The transdisciplinary research and cultural project Global Prayers - Redemption and Liberation in the City – a project jointly executed by the Haus der Kulturen der Welt and the Europa-Universität Viadrina, funded by the Forum Transregionale Studien and conducted in collaboration with metroZones – invites interdisciplinary artists and scientists (artistic researchers) to apply for the project Global Prayers - Case Study Berlin.

The deadline is April 15, 2011.

Although Berlin is often called the ‘capital of atheism’ - see, among others, Peter L. Berger - religion and the religious are becoming increasingly visible social and socio-political issues here as well. (Case in point: the campaign and referendum Pro Reli, Berlin 2009.) The project Global Prayers looks into new religious movements and their impact on the transformation of the city and the urban in a number of the world’s metropolises. Within this context, it also investigates the role and significance of new and current religious practices, movements and communities in urban everyday life in Berlin.

We seek to fund artistic/scientific research that focuses on these new practices and on manifestations of the religious in urban space. We are not looking for work that adds new facets to familiar debates like the discussion of Islamization or the controversies surrounding the building of mosques. Rather, studies should explore and “seismographically” examine the following questions: Which religious practices can be found in Berlin outside of social and media discourses? In which milieus and social environments or urban spaces can religious formations and transformations be observed in the city? Which specifically urban forms of religious practice can be found in public space, in the city’s courtyards, or in its various social institutions? What do these religious spaces look like; how do they overlap with the city’s secular spaces? Which types of spatial and individual transformation can be found – or staged - here?

This call for proposals is specifically looking for submissions proposing interdisciplinary projects that aim to approach the above-mentioned questions by means of artistic research and exploration. Consequently, it is aimed at interdisciplinary artists as well as at scientists employing artistic methods. Team and tandem projects are very welcome. The project can take the form of an audio-visual observation, an artistic/scientific exploration, or a performative intervention. Any of these should contain a component of reflection on, and documentation of, the urban context as well as of the role of the researcher/research team.

One or two projects will be chosen from the submissions. The total funding amount available for research, realization and documentation of Global Prayers - Case Study Berlin is € 10,000. The finished projects will be made available to the public by way of events and/or publications coming out of the overall Global Prayers project.

Applicants are asked to submit a brief project outline of about two pages, a CV, references to realized projects, and a relevant sample of previous work in German or English language.

Please send your application to: berlincaseglobalprayers.info

In case you would like to submit other non-digital material (e.g. DVDs, photos, publications), please send it to:

Global Prayers - Case Study Berlin
metroZones
c/o metrogap e.V.
Lausitzer Str. 10
10999 Berlin

Application deadline (postmark): April 15, 2011

Successful applicants will be notified by June 1, 2011.

FURTHER INFORMATION

Global Prayers is a transdisciplinary, transregionally comparative research and cultural project that examines and discusses the transformation of cities through religious movements. It focuses in particular on the global boom of new urban religious communities that have emerged across different religions and denominations and different types of states and cities to become a central feature of urban societies. The project aims to combine different scientific and cultural methods of research and production and to employ new modes of knowledge generation and presentation.
The Global Prayers project will bring together a number of interlinked studies by academics and artists working in, respectively, Lagos, Rio de Janeiro, Istanbul, Beirut, Mumbai, Jakarta, London and Berlin, as well as along the transnational routes between these cities.
The central questions will be discussed and the research results presented to the public in a number of forums: at international workshops and symposia taking place in the project cities, at Global Prayers Theme Days scheduled to take place at the Haus der Kulturen der Welt, at art exhibitions at the Neue Gesellschaft für Bildende Kunst (Berlin) and the Camera Austria (Graz), and in a number of publications. This approach aims to instigate, and to create a transregional network for, public discussion of the topic of ‘global prayers’, a key social phenomenon that has huge implications for the future.

Website: www.globalprayers.info/research/cities/berlin/case-study-berlin/
Contact: berlincaseglobalprayers.info