Buffer Fringe Festival - Open Call for Performance Artists

The Festival

Buffer Fringe Performing Arts Festival showcases new and experimental work by local and international artists, challenges physical and artistic barriers, and creates opportunities for artists to meet and exchange ideas. It questions preconceived ideas of the performing arts, the relationship between artists and audience and shines a new light on arts and society. The festival favors innovative work, artists who take risks in their work and constantly look for new ways to express themselves.

The Festival’s programming offers both local and international artists a platform to showcase their work and is organized in a way that artists can meet and interact both amongst themselves and with the audiences in a true celebratory spirit of multiculturalism and peaceful coexistence. Taking place in a divided country, Buffer Fringe Festival assumes more responsibilities than an arts festival taking place elsewhere. It is one of a kind in Cyprus and the world.

Festival Theme “Breaking Point”

In an increasingly divisive world and an environment of social upheaval, we are looking for artists and artist groups who not only engage in a rigorous critical-aesthetic discourse to explore the limits of their art forms, but for performances exploring a socio-political narrative and expressing the urgent matters of our times.

For this year’s edition of the festival, we particularly welcome performances that deal with the concept of a “Breaking Point”, exploring the theme on a broader social, global, or very intimate and personal level.

«Breaking Point»
The point at which a situation becomes critical,
the point at which an entity gives way under stress, or the
point at which something loses its force or validity.

We are looking for all forms of experimental performance work and physical- visual- and devised- theatre formats, which can contain (but are not limited to) drama, music, dance, acrobatics, installation/visual art and other cross-disciplinary elements. We are particularly interested in participatory, durational and/or site-specific formats. While we accept performances in all languages (surtitles in English must be made available), we also encourage work that does not exclusively rely on language.

Support:

Buffer Fringe 2018 is offering a fee of up to €800 plus airfare and accommodation[ii], an opportunity to meet other artists, access to all other performances and parallel events of the festival, share your experience over social and networking events and an opportunity to expose your work to other international festival directors. A selection of 2-3 festival performances – selected by a committee of local and international performing arts professionals – will be given the opportunity to tour around Cyprus (and/or internationally to a selected European Partner Festival) as part of the Festivals ‘Buffer Fringe on Tour’format.

Parameters / Requirements:

Duration between 30’ to 70’ minutes (Exceptions are durational and/or Loop performances)
Minimal Technical Requirements and works that are adaptable to unusual venues/stages (Please supply a technical rider and fill out the section ‘Production Details’)
If language is used, English subtitles must be available for the performance

Selection Criteria:

· Work will be selected by an artistic committee composed of artists, curators and professionals from within the field of the performing arts and the artistic director of the festival.
· Preference will be given to work which sheds new light on current socio-political themes and in particular resonates with the festival’s theme “Breaking Point”.
· Selections will favor innovative work – in content, style and media type – and artists who take risks in their work in search of new ways to express themselves.
· Special focus is given to work that challenges the relationship artist/audience relationship and work that reaches across disciplines.

Applications must contain:

Filled out Application Form (in English).
> Download Application form here
Video Link to the full documentation of the performance
(If languages other than English or Greek or Turkish are used, the documentation must be subtitled OR accompanied by a full script in English)
A description of the work to be performed (max. 300 words)
Short description of the work’s relevance to the theme “Breaking Point” (max. 300 words)
A bio of the artist or company (max. 300 words)
A technical rider