Survival Strategies

Expressions of interest are invited for contributions to the forthcoming book:

Survival Strategies. How we make, distribute and teach art in the post-Pandemic landscape

Survival Strategies is the next instalment in a series of books from .PNG - the Parallax Network Group, which explore the impact of social urgencies on the conditions within which art is made and taught. This book proposes a collection of texts and visual essays that examine artistic survival in the post-pandemic landscape.

With the perspective of four years since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, this book invites reflection on the social upheaval and its lasting legacies for art and its networks. Contributions will explore the strategies developed by artists as they navigated the extreme conditions of enforced lockdowns and consider their ongoing impact. The book aims to shed light on the social and economic challenges that artists face after the pandemic, as well as stories of rebuilding and adaptation.

Contributions may include reflections on the lives of artists during lockdowns, their new sources of inspiration at home, and the impact of accelerated technological development on creativity. The editors are also interested in contributions, which represent the unique perspectives of a generation that began their artistic lives during the pandemic, with the post-pandemic landscape, shaped also by a complex array of geopolitical challenges, becoming their natural professional environment.

The book will develop from work in a preceding publication: On Care: A Journey into the Relational Nature of Artists’ Residencies.Survival Strategies will further explore evolutions in the way art’s networks of care and opportunity are formed and sustained post pandemic. Case studies that explore how artist-led initiatives that seek to provide opportunities for networking and collaboration have adapted are welcome.

Survival Strategies also aims to consider the lasting impact on the way that art is taught. In higher education Covid19 meant an upheaval of moving from face-to-face, studio based, engagement to the unfamiliar landscape of screen-based interaction. Contributions are invited which explore how and where changes have become cemented in the pedagogies and practices of artists in higher education and beyond.

The book’s ambition is to reveal the richness of experiences and include voices from both young and older artists, allowing readers to understand the challenges faced in this new reality. It aims to point to new horizons of artistic development shaped by perspectives, innovations, and survival strategies.

Survival Strategies is created as part of the research structures of the .PNG Parallax Network Group, carried out in close collaboration with the Academy of Fine Arts in Katowice, Chelsea College of Arts London, University of Bergen, Glasgow School of Art and the Film School in Łodź, as well as Dutch Culture | Trans Artis, Amsterdam and the Contemporary Art Centre Ujazdowski Warsaw. The focus on the diversity of artists' experiences will allow for comparison of situations in different contexts, enabling a comprehensive analysis of cultural transformation, challenges, and innovation.

The editorial steering group are interested in creative writing, visual essays, and art works for the page as well as essays, case studies, stories and written reflections.

Editorial Steering Group:

Patricia Ellis, Fine Art Programme Director, Chelsea College of Arts, UAL, London, England
Dr Katrine Hjelde, Head of Department, The Art Academy, Department of Contemporary Art, Faculty of Art, Music and Design, University of Bergen, Norway
Dr Pawel Mendrek: Head of Intermedia and Scenography Department, Academy of Fine Arts and Design, Katowice, Poland
Martin Newth, Head of the School of Fine Art, Glasgow School of Art, Scotland