Music & Performance residency

April – September 2015

Information for applicants

Bursary: £10,000 for six months (subject to tax and national insurance)

To celebrate the opening of the stunning new suite of Europe 1600 – 1800 galleries in spring
2015, the Victoria and Albert Museum is inviting applications from musicians, performers and
composers who wish to develop their practice through working with the V&A’s collections
(specifically objects in the new Europe 1600-1800 galleries) and engaging in the public
participatory programmes that the Museum runs.

The new Europe 1600-1800 galleries will include a significant number of objects relating to
music and performance. Many of these objects will be in displays devoted to music, while some
will be incorporated into other subjects. We are interested in UK-based practitioners such as
singers, musicians, sound artists, dancers, composers and theatre performers who work with
music.

The residency will take place in London over a six-month period from 13 April - 2 October 2015,
and will provide a bursary (taxable), payable monthly, which includes an allowance for
materials and equipment used in the Resident’s own work. A separate allowance is available for
public programmes and a team drawn from the Museum’s staff will provide support
throughout the project.

Studio space within the Museum is provided for the duration of the residency, however, this is
currently not publicly accessible. The Europe 1600-1800 galleries have a specially designed
space for performance and public engagement in a room called The Salon. We envisage that
much of the public engagement outcomes of the residency will take place here, in other parts of
the new galleries, and in other spaces around the Museum.

We are interested in practitioners who wish to work with the themes and objects that will
feature in the Europe 1600-1800 galleries (Information Pack to be found at the end of this
document), and who would also welcome the opportunity to actively work on projects with the
public. Applicants should have an interest in developing their practice, a good track record of

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producing and performing high-quality site-specific work, and a good working knowledge of
spoken and written English.

We will consider applications from small ensembles (maximum 5 people) as well as individual
practitioners. It should be noted however, that the bursary is a lump sum for the residency and
would have to be divided amongst a group. A lead practitioner must be identified, if a group
application is made.

Aims of the residency

• Enable the selected practitioner/s to draw upon the V&A’s collections to carry out
research, learn new skills and create new work
• Inspire public interest in creative practice, music and performance
• Offer professional development to the selected practitioner in public engagement
• Create links between the V&A’s collections, in particular the Europe 1600 – 1800
galleries, and contemporary music performance
• Undertake an imaginative project to engage the public (this could include workshops,
open studios, talks, presentations, master classes etc.)
• To engage visitors with our new Europe 1600-1800 galleries in creative and exciting
ways

Expectations

Residents will be expected to:

• spend a minimum of 40 days engaged in developing and delivering public-facing activities

• take inspiration from the Europe 1600 – 1800 galleries and objects within them to develop
creative and exciting performances and activities to take place within these spaces
• stage public-facing activities, workshops and performances in the gallery spaces, and also
present work in progress
• contribute to the process of dissemination on the V&A website and networks through film,
photography, blog posts and social media
• provide feedback for the purposes of evaluation as required

We would like live performance to be part of the outcomes for this residency. If you are not
applying as a performer specifically, please detail in your application how you would facilitate
the performance aspect of the residency.

Selection Criteria

Proposals should be dynamic, ambitious and inspiring – pushing forward the boundaries of
perception about creative practice. We are looking for an applicant who can adopt a range of

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different roles and who is keen to draw upon the resources of the V&A, in particular those in the
Europe 1600-1800 galleries, and to enter into a dialogue with the public.

Candidates must demonstrate:

• An interest in working in educational / community settings
• An understanding and desire to work with the public as part of their creative practice
• Ideas for innovative ways to respond to the V&A’s collections and Europe 1600 – 1800
galleries
• Experience of performing or facilitating performance by others
• Dynamic and inspiring ideas about how they would use this opportunity to develop their
practice and how they intend to meet the aims of the Residency
• Creative originality and professionalism in their work
• Sufficient fluency in English to operate confidently with English-speaking audiences and
Museum staff

Note: Art works (Works) created during the residency period at the V&A shall remain the joint
property of the V&A, any partners and the Resident. At the end of the Residency, the V&A will
transfer ownership of the Works to the Resident with the agreement of all Parties (the V&A, any
partners and the Resident). Work produced with the public as part of this residency is owned by
the V&A. The V&A shall have the right to reproduce the Works (for non-commercial purposes) in
agreement with the other parties in connection with the promotion of the Residencies subject
to crediting the Resident and the project in all material.

Payment

The Bursary is £10,000 for six months. It is paid monthly through the V&A payroll and is subject
to income tax and National Insurance. This fee is inclusive of travel costs within the UK during
the residency, living expenses and material costs for the period of the residency.

Additional budget will be available to support a programme of public activities with visitors to
the V&A

Studio

The Residency Studios are on the main site of the V&A in South Kensington. As mentioned
above, they will not be publically accessible, although access can be organised for groups of pre-
arranged visitors.

To apply

Applicants should apply online at the V&A’s website at www.vam.ac.uk/jobs where you will be
asked to submit a current CV and complete an application form.

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In addition to submitting your application online, please also upload eight images of past
work/performances with your application. They must be file size 70 dpi and no larger than 9 x
12cm (portrait or landscape), 340 x 255 pixels. These files should be saved as the name of the
Image (see below)
Within the folder, each image should be labelled with your name and number from 1 to 12
Digital images must be saved as JPEG files and should have the suffix. jpg .Please provide a
description of each image following the outline below:

• Image 1 (name of image – please save the file under this name)
• Title
• Year Made
• Description

Applicants must be available for this project from 13 April - 2 October 2015. The selection process
will be carried out by a panel of representatives from the V&A. Applicants will be short-listed
from the images and supporting information and those selected will be invited for interview.

Interviews will take place on Friday 5th December 2014 at the Victoria & Albert Museum, South
Kensington.

If you have any queries regarding the recruitment process, you can email us – [email protected].

Closing date for receipt of applications is midnight, on Sunday 30th November 2014.

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Guidance notes for Residency Programme applicants

The V&A only accepts applications in response to an Open Call for Proposals. Please do not
submit applications that are not in line with the advertised Call.

These notes are to help applicants to the V&A Residency Programme complete the online
application form on the V&A website. You should read these notes before beginning to
complete the form online. It is helpful to work on your application in Word, then cut and paste it
into the online application form. The online application is set out to help applicants structure
their applications to meet the essential criteria for the programme.

Before you start writing an application, it might be helpful to consider whether you are eligible,
and at the right point in your career to undertake such a commitment. Consider the following
points:

Is this residency right for you?

The V&A Residency Programme is public-facing and public engagement is the primary purpose
of this residency, so just over half your time would be spent working in this way. You will be
expected to work actively with visitors through educational activities. All Residents work with a
wide variety of audiences such as schools groups, families and community groups. You can see
the extent of the V&A’s Learning Programme on the website. If you don’t enjoy working with
the public, and are not comfortable sharing your work in progress through open studio sessions,
then this particular Residency is probably not for you. For this residency in particular we would
like live performance to feature. If you are not applying as a performer specifically, please detail
in your application how you would facilitate the performance aspect of the residency.

In which discipline do you work?

The V&A advertises for specific disciplines in art and design, for example, fashion design, digital
design, sound art, animation, photography, calligraphy, and in this case music and
performance. This is usually to link up with major exhibitions or strategic aims for the Museum.
If you do not work within the specified discipline, please do not apply.

Are you interested in the V&A collections and the Europe 1600 – 1800 galleries?
Are you excited about having behind the scenes access to collections, to have the opportunity to
study objects closely and to develop ideas around the Museum’s holdings? The V&A are keen to
hear proposals on re-interpreting and representing their collections and for the research
journeys you might wish to take. This residency is focussed specifically on the Europe 1600 –
1800 galleries, and so the objects and themes from this should be of interest to you.

Are you at the right stage in your career?

Unless otherwise stated, the V&A Residency programme is largely aimed at mid-career UK
based artists and designers who have worked independently for a number of years and have
substantial experience in working within the discipline stated. Are you at a point where you

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want to have some time and head space to focus upon a new direction in your practice, or
develop new skills that will support new work? Have you experience of working with small and
medium-sized organisations and think you are ready to work with a large institution like the
V&A?

Can you make the commitment?

You will want to make the most of the opportunity if you are offered a Residency. This is a full-
time residency and you will have full-time access to a studio at the Museum. It is understood
that you may have some teaching commitments and might need to continue with some
commercial practice while undertaking the residency. We hope that you will be at the Museum
for much of the working week, and often at weekends, for sessions or to lead learning activities,
while recognising that you need regular rest days within the working week as well as some
time off (we advise planning a week off mid-way through the residency).

International Residencies
Most of the V&A Residencies are aimed at UK based practitioners, that is those currently living
and working (with a UK work permit) in the UK. The V&A aims to have one international
residency per year. If the residency is marked as an International Residency, then non UK
nationals or those living outside of the UK may apply. Successful applicants will need to apply
for a UK visa through the usual process, but the V&A will support an application.
For International Residencies, the V&A will cover the cost of one standard return air or rail fare
and some funds to pay for shipping of work. If you are chosen, the Museum will start early
conversations with you to assist you with finding accommodation if needed, but you would
need to pay the rent either out of your own funds or the bursary (including a deposit on the
property).

Application deadline
The online system will not accept applications after midnight on the date specified as the
closing date. The online application system is reliable, but do try to get your application
completed at least one day before the deadline. There is a risk that if there are a lot of people
uploading images at the same time, the system is more likely to experience problems.

Selection Criteria
Your proposal should be dynamic, ambitious and inspiring – pushing forward the boundaries of
perception about contemporary creative practice. We are looking for an applicant who can
adopt a range of different roles and who is keen to draw upon the resources of the V&A and to
enter into a dialogue with the public.

Completing the online form & how applications are considered

Your written application should be completed in line with the online application. You must
complete every section of the application. In your written application, you should address how
you propose to meet the aims of the Residency (listed above) by responding to the questions.
The questions that you will be asked to respond to are listed below with some guidance.

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The online application questions are listed below along with some guidance on how to
structure the content of your application.

Online Application Questions Guidance Notes

A Essential information
• Complete Personal Details This section is self explanatory, you should
• Supply names, contact details complete this including details of referees. Your
and relationship details for 2 referees should both be individuals who you
potential referees have recently worked with in terms of your art
• Ability to work in the UK practice / arts education experience.

B Experience Past Experience

1. Describe your creative practice and the The originality and quality of your work, and
thinking behind it. level of skills used to make the work including
your past exhibition / display / exposure record

2 Give details of any experience you have Your past experience of working with the public
of working in a community or as an artist or designer. An education
educational environment, or with qualification is certainly not expected, but some
working with the public. experience of working with the public is
desirable.
C The Residency The Residency (your proposal)
This section focuses on what you want to do at the V&A during the six month residency.
Show that you have undertaken some research into the collections, read the information
pack about the Europe 1600 – 1800 galleries, visited the web site, and possibly visited the
Museum to prepare for this application. Communicate why the collections of the V&A are
relevant to the project you are proposing.
1. Give details of how you propose to use Describe how this particular residency will help
this opportunity to develop your to take forward your practice. Discuss what new
practice. skills or research you would like to explore and
outline why you think this is the right time for
you to participate in this programme.

2 Give details on how you propose to This section should make reference specifically
respond to the V&A's collections. to the Europe 1600 – 1800 collections (as
detailed in the Information Pack below). You
should give a clear indication of how you think
you might work with these and other study
resources and how these will impact on your
work.

3 Give details of how you might to You should also propose ideas for hands-on

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 engage with the V&A's diverse working with the public, actively engaging
audiences (and those of any associated visitors in the Europe 1600-1800 galleries, and
partner organisations). enabling them to develop their own creativity.
Online activities are welcomed as well as
performances, practical workshops and
activities. The V&A has a wide and diverse
audience and so do consider the different
audiences that you might wish to work with.

4 Give an outline of how you envisage How will you communicate creative process
engaging the public with the process of using your practice? How will visitors experience
developing creative work. this?

D Additional Information
1 Any other information or skills that you Give details of any specialist skills that you have
think are relevant to this application. which may be relevant to the application.

2 Please upload a recent CV. Upload your CV, make sure this includes
information on your whole career, including
group and solo exhibitions, performances,
commissions, publications, your education,
teaching or community experience etc.

3 Is there any further information that If the application requests you to send films or
you think is relevant to this sound, you should add these files to a website,
opportunity? and then add the web links to this section with
brief outlines of what each file is.
Also include any information about languages
spoken, along with any further information you
think is relevant.
4 Please upload up to 8 images at 70dpi Ensure that your images are the right size. If you
with details of the image, materials upload images larger than 70 dpi, the panel will
used and date made. not be able to view them.

What happens next?

Applications are considered by at least three members of staff, and possibly a further external
maker / practitioner. This team will be made up of the Residency Co-ordinator, staff from the
Learning Department and a curator who is a specialist in the residency discipline.
Do include all the information you want the panel to see in your online application. Unless
otherwise stated, the panel do not visit websites or refer to information sent to them outside of
the application process. Shortlisting will take place within a few days after the application
closing date.

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Once a shortlist has been selected, unsuccessful candidates are informed by email and short-
listed candidates are invited to interview. Interviews take place on the day advertised in the call
for proposals, and would include a short presentation about your work and ideas for the
residency.

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Music & Performance residency
Europe 1600 – 1800 Information Pack

Europe 1600-1800
Opening 2 May 2015 (media preview: 29 April 2015)
Europe 1600-1800 has been made possible thanks to a lead gift from the Heritage Lottery Fund, and a
number of other generous donors have also committed their support.

Seven galleries are being transformed for the redisplay of the Museum’s unrivalled
collection of 17th- and 18th-century European art and design. A major project in the
V&A’s ongoing redevelopment programme, the galleries will continue the story begun
in the Medieval & Renaissance Galleries, and will complete the restoration of the entire
front wing of the Museum. The displays will present 1,100 spectacular examples of
textiles and fashion, painting and sculpture, ceramics and glass, furniture and
metalwork, prints and books, including a number of important new acquisitions. On
show will be some of the most magnificent works held by the V&A, many made by
Europe’s finest artists and craftsmen for the period’s most discerning leaders of taste
such as Louis XIV, Marie Antoinette, Catherine the Great and Napoleon.

Four large galleries will introduce the story of this period in chronological sequence,
alternating with three smaller galleries that focus on specific activities: collecting in the
Cabinet, discussion and the gathering of knowledge in the Salon; entertainment and
performance in the Masquerade. In addition, three period rooms will invite visitors to
imagine life in the personal spaces of the time: a 17th-century French bedroom, Madame
de Sérilly’s cabinet and a mirrored room from 18th-century Italy.

The displays will demonstrate how France succeeded Italy as the undisputed leader of
fashionable art and design in Europe from the second half of the 17th century. They will
also show how – for the first time ever – Europeans systematically explored, exploited
and collected resources from Africa, Asia and the Americas as part of an increasingly
global cultural market.

For some key objects in Europe 1600-1800, please see the following links:

http://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O17204/neptune-and-triton-figure-group-bernini-
gian-lorenzo/
http://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O18973/the-ommeganck-in-brussels-on-painting-
alsloot-denys-van/

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http://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O82550/lomellini-ewer-and-basin-ewer-and-basin-
tavarone-lavazzo/
http://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O101773/air-hanging-charles-le-brun/
http://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O74665/writing-cabinet-kimmel-michael/
http://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O494297/figure-of-european-unknown/
http://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O52864/armchair-sene-jean-baptiste/
http://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O1134859/banyan-and-waistcoat-unknown/
http://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O1161012/nature-la-nature-figure-group-boizot-
louis-simon/
http://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O111424/panelled-room-rousseau-de-la/

Music and Performance in Europe 1600-1800

The new Europe 1600-1800 galleries will include a significant number of objects
relating to music and performance. Many of these objects will be in displays devoted to
music, while some will be incorporated into other subjects. We are also devising a
mobile music trail as part of the digital interpretation.

Gallery 7: Music
This display will explore how dancing and playing a musical instrument were essential
courtly skills and an integral part of a noble education. Ballets were regular
entertainments at European courts, performed by rulers and courtiers as well as
professional dancers, while the emergence of opera at the beginning of the 17th
century dazzled audiences with virtuoso singers and scenic marvels.

Example object from this display:

http://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O58899/octave-spinet-unknown/

Gallery 5: Performance
This display will show how operas, often staged to celebrate weddings and other
dynastic events, reinforced political ideologies through their plots and impressed
audiences with their complex stage machinery. It will also explore the rise of new kinds
of instrumental ensembles, which paved the way for the development of the orchestra.

Example object from this display:

http://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O186384/h-beard-print-collection-print-galli-
bibiena-ferdinando/

Gallery 2a: Commedia dell’arte

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This display will focus on commedia dell’arte, an improvised form of theatre that
captured the audience of audiences, artists and designers across Europe. Featuring a
repertoire of stock characters, identified through their costumes and masks, it was
performed in the open air and also at court. Artists and manufacturers responded to its
popularity, creating works of art inspired by its characters, especially in porcelain.

Example object from this display:

http://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O341812/figure-group-kandler-johann-joachim/

Gallery 1: At Home
This display will focus on life and entertainment in a wealthy, fashionable home in the
late 18th century. Music-making was a means of displaying accomplishment and taste,
and musical instruments were decorated in the latest fashionable style. Salons and
assemblies (assemblées) provided relatively informal occasions for amateur and
professional musicians to perform the latest works by fashionable composers in front
of their cultured peers.

Example object from this display:

http://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O58877/piano-florez-francisco/

Gallery 2a Activity Area: The Masquerade

Gallery 2a Activity Area: The Masquerade

Masquerades, meaning dances and entertainments associated with the traditions of
the Venetian carnival, were popular throughout mainland Europe by the late 18th
century. The participants disguised themselves by donning a simple mask or full
costume, often based on a theatrical character. This gave them an opportunity to hide
their identity and to act in ways contrary to convention. It allowed for some fluidity of
movement across social strata and sexual divides.

The V&A has commissioned a large-scale digital interactive experience which will allow
visitors to engage with the Masquerade in an exciting and immersive way, evoking
something of the drama and intrigue of this form of entertainment.

Music Trail
The Europe audio guide, delivered via visitors’ own smartphones, will include five
music tracks, each one linked to a specific object

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Areas of note in Europe 1600 – 1800

Room 4, The Salon

The Salon is a place of ideas as well as objects. In the 18th century the word ‘salon’
meant a large reception room. It also meant a gathering of distinguished and
interesting people. In Paris, particularly, intellectual women held regular salons to
which they invited special guests. Our salon will be peopled by eighteen busts.
Conversations in the Paris salons were wide ranging. They touched on literature,
science, travel, art, economics, politics and what it meant to be a modern person. They
were shaped by, and contributed to, what we now call the Enlightenment. This was the
intellectual movement that dominated much of 18th-century thought. It set out to
understand the world through reason and the gathering of knowledge.
The greatest achievement of the Enlightenment was the Encyclopédie, published
between 1751 and 1772. Two volumes of the Encyclopédie will be on display in this room,
in the corner between the windows. Alongside them will be a computer interactive
showing how the Encyclopédie relates to objects in the Europe galleries. In another
corner will be a facsimile version of another important book, showing religious
practices all around the world.
In the middle of the room you will find The Globe, an installation by the Cuban art
collective Los Carpinteros. It will have seating inside and will be used as a venue for
groups and museum activities.

The Globe and The Salon area will be one of the best places for performances within
Europe 1600 – 1800. The Globe has seating for 29 people.

Room 2a

This room will be divided into two parts. One end is dedicated to a display about John
Jones, the army clothier who bequeathed his collection of 18th-century French fine and
decorative arts to the Museum in 1882. Jones’s bequest still forms the nucleus of the
displays in the Europe galleries. Next to a bust of John Jones, will be a cased display
with objects from his house at 95, Piccadilly.

The other part of the gallery is called the Masquerade. Here you will find small displays
on the improvised theatre known as commedia dell’arte, and on the art and fashions of
Venice in the mid 18th century. At this time Venice was one of the key destinations on
the Grand Tour. It was particularly popular during the annual Carnival period, when
Venetians and visitors disguised themselves with masks, cloaks and elaborate

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costumes. There will be a Masquerade interactive film in which you will be able to
experience the carnival for yourself: follow the story from a ball, through the gambling
hall or ridotto, and out into the piazza.

Finally, this area will include an oval mirrored room from northern Italy. Although we
don’t know what function it originally served, this would have been an atmospheric
and intimate space, especially in flickering candlelight.

Although not as ideal as The Salon, this room may be a potential space for
performance.

Room 6, The Cabinet

In the 17th century, a Cabinet meant a small, secluded room; a private museum; and a
piece of furniture in which precious objects were kept.

The objects in our cabinet will be typical of those found in princely collections. They will
include paintings, sculptures, small carvings, enamels and precious metalwork. Many
of these refer to the natural world, or incorporate rare materials such as ivory, amber
and nautilus shell. Some of the objects and materials came from distant parts of the
globe. All were meant to be handled, examined and discussed. This bringing together
of science and art, knowledge and investigation, was typical of 17th-century collecting.

There will be an activity table where visitors, and especially families, can explore these
concepts. There will also be a catalogue by a Danish collector called Ole Worm on
display. The engraving of his cabinet, crammed with shells, fossils, stuffed animals and
strange antiquities, is one of the defining images of 17th- century cabinets.

Throughout the gallery, the labels will include quotations from Samuel Quiccheberg, a
scholar who devised a way of classifying and arranging collections.

There is no space for performance within this space, but it may inspire a performance
idea that could take place elsewhere.

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Fig. 1
Mock-up of The Globe within Room 4, The Salon

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 Fig. 2
Plan of Europe 1600 – 1800 suite of galleries.
The suite will be on basement level, in the south west corner of the Museum. Room 4, The
Salon, is highlighted in purple

Exhibition
Road

Cromwell Road

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