Ապագայի Ապագա / The Future of Future / Geleceğin Geleceği

Open Call: ԱԱ / FF / GG

ԱԱ / FF / GG is a research and production project led by Anadolu Kültür in collaboration with the curatorial team of Ruben Arevshatyan, Kevser Güler, Marina Papazyan and Armen Yesayants. 

The project seeks to bring together a select group of artists whose practices make way for the multiplicity and fluidity of Armenia and Turkey’s many conditions, positions and identities. We invite applicants who are interested in engaging with the artistic and social genealogies of both countries, traversing their loaded histories and extending along their shared futures. 

Artists in both countries are facing a paradigm shift as the world is going through an unprecedented change, living with a dire sense of witnessing “history”, or better “being part of a global historical event” as though a crisis were an interruption to the usual passing of time. While many of us are more than familiar with interruptions, perhaps best illustrated by the closed border cutting through the physical, political-historical, cultural and psychological territories on both sides, there might still be other ways of envisioning futures and accounting for the pasts and presents we have yet to encompass.

Could we establish a common critical discourse capable of generating futurities beyond the current projections that suppose mutual exclusion? What are the forms and tactics artistic practices can take in constituting futurities — reparative, provocative, unhinged or otherwise? What kind of futures could be organised based on already existing collective/community practices, knowledge and experience sharing? How can one talk about (the) future(s) today, in terms of openness, plurality and diversity? How can conceptions of the “future”, utilized at countless moments in history with various intentions to the point of eroding their potential, be reshaped? The Future of Future? Failing Futures? Funny Futures? Future Fatigue? The name of the project originated from our conversations on the complexity of questions regarding the future in Armenian, English and Turkish. ԱԱ / FF / GG is an invitation to multiplying and unpacking these questions together.

ԱԱ / FF / GG wishes to propose a gathering plateau for artists whose approaches are invested in conceiving futures in relation but not limited to discourses on togetherness, separation and segregation; new and old forms of sociality and solidarity; diverse community-building practices and past, present and future technologies. Our main aim is for the project to serve as a ground to reflect on and embody ways of being together, as this seems to be ever so pervasive and undeniably urgent.

To be formed through the conversations within the research and production phases of the project, ԱԱ / FF / GG anticipates unfolding as gatherings, workshops, public programmes and exhibitions in different formats in Istanbul, Yerevan and another city in Europe, and materialising in online platforms and a publication to be released by the end of the project.


How to Apply:


ԱԱ / FF / GG will accept applications from artists who are from Armenia or Turkey, and currently live either in one of the two countries or in Europe.

The participants will be selected based on their project proposal and previous work, and are expected to commit to the project in terms of their presence at meetings and with the production of (a) work(s) that will be a part of the exhibitions. Artists who reside outside the countries’ capital cities and who are at the beginning of their artistic careers are highly encouraged to apply. 

To apply, you can fill out the online form. This form will include:

• Information about the applicant

• CV (in PDF or Microsoft Word format)

• Project proposal (in PDF or Microsoft Word format, and including sketches and draft images, if possible)

• Portfolio (in PDF format, 25 MB max). The portfolio should include at least 3 examples of previous practice. This can be in the form of images, text and links to video/sound works, or a combination.

• Each file name must include your surname and first name.

The deadline for the applications is September 1, 2020.


About the Process:


You can apply in Turkish, Armenian or English. The committee, which will be composed of the curators and the coordination team of the project, will be making the selection of the participants. In total, 14 artists will be selected, observing the balance for the two countries. The list of participants will be announced on the website of Anadolu Kültür at the end of September, and the selected applicants will be contacted. 

After announcing the selected participants at the beginning of September 2020, workshops and meetings will be organised in Autumn and Winter, 2020. During the meetings and workshops, translation facilities will be provided. All the expenses for the meetings and workshops will be covered by the project budget. Participants are expected to attend one local meeting and two international workshops in Armenia and Turkey. The programme and the exhibitions will unfold and take shape by the anticipated interaction and engagement between participants, hoped to be sparked by the workshops and the meetings. During this process and throughout the research and production phases, the participants will be supported by the curators and the projects’ coordination team. The project’s budget will cover the costs of the production of new works. The detailed schedule will be announced in September in relation to the international travel restrictions and public health. 

You can contact Kubilay Özmen (project coordinator) with your questions at [email protected].


The project is supported by Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.