KEM SCHOOL 2024: OPEN CALL

We’re excited to launch the open call for Kem School 2024 - a queer-feminst educational program, performative process of learning & unlearning and a reflection on collective forms of resistance.

As part of the 4th edition we will once again invite participants to develop their individual artistic practices through collective and performative action.

The School’s program will focus on experimental social choreographies. We will endeavour to collectively imagine new tools for research and activism, adjacent to queer-feminist methodologies. We will consider the current crisis of agency and the need for a mobilisation of bodies and the search for new forms of collective resistance that result from it. How can we be together in times of crisis? What reparative strategies can we collaboratively devise? How can we practice collective care? We will touch upon dark ecologies, new materialism and queer quantum physics. Departing from the paradigms of atomised existence and artistic production, we will speculate about affirmative configurations of the future.

Kem School will provide an infrastructure for work and play, alongside a program of metheoring, workshops, seminars and other formats led by a fantastic group of artists and activists, such as Alicja Czyczel, Jagna Nawrocka, Liz Rosenfeld, Ian Kaler and Ania Nowak. Participants of the program will be invited to engage in developing methods of collective, critical and embodied knowledge production.

This year’s program will be divided into 4 blocks:

Block I: What are queer pedagogies? (led by Kem & Alicja Czyczel)

Blok II: Performative Ins, Outs and Ins (led by Liz Rosenfeld & Alicja Czyczel)

Blok III: Open rehearsal (led by Ian Kaler & Alicja Czyczel)

Blok IV: “Democracy, you’re breaking my heart!” (led by Ania Nowak & Alicja Czyczel)

Drawing from the experience of previous editions and in search of new ones, during the Kem School program we will collectively probe at questions such as:

How can we embody resistance through movement? What forms could queer schools and pedagogies take on? What bodies are considered socially valid and how can we defy those norms? What forms of community allow us to practice touch, awareness and multisensorial perception? How to touch movement? What is the meaning of art in times of crisis? What forms could somatic solidarity take?

PRACTICAL INFORMATION

WHO IS KEM SCHOOL FOR?

The 4th edition of Kem School will engage a group of 12-15 participants living or working in Poland. This group will be carefully selected through our open call process, into which we invite queer artists, performers, creaters, researchers and/or activists. The program is open to people with varying degrees of experience, both beginners and established, interested in further developing their practice through choreographic, performative and collective methodologies.

Participants should::

have sufficient knowledge of Polish and English in order to communicate in group exercises*;
Be available within the School timeframes (see below);
Have an interest in interacting with the public;
Have some experience or an active interest in working collaboratively in a group of people with different lived experiences;
Be open to experiment with a variety of embodied artistic practices and pedagogical formats;
Have an artistic practice or interest in expanded notions of choreography, performance, queer studies and intersectional feminism

*workshops will take place in both Polish and English. If you do not feel confident in one or both of these languages, we nevertheless encourage you to apply. Depending on the needs that emerge in the group, we will try to provide support with translations.

Kem School is not fully accessible to people with disabilities - working on providing accessible programmes is a lengthy process, which we are nonetheless currently engaged in. We encourage people with disabilities to apply - all applications will be considered separately and we will be searching for solutions to help you take part in this year’s school. If you would lke to consult with us before you apply, please send us an e-mail at school@kemwarsaw.com

There is no age requirement or professional or academic pre-requisites. Kem School is free of charge.

WHEN AND WHERE?

Block I: 18 - 21.07 2024
(Jasna 10 Świetlica Krytyki Politycznej, Warsaw)

Block II: 7 - 11.08 2024
(Teatr Cinema, Michałowice [Piechowice])

Block III: 20 - 25.08 2024
(TR, Warsaw)

Block IV: 12 - 15.09 2024
(Jasna 10 Świetlica Krytyki Politycznej, Warszawa)

During this time we will be implementing a creative research process, the effects of which will be a series of collectively devised activities and one open rehearsal, created in collaboration with Ian Kaler.

Kem School will take place in Warsaw, except for Block II during which we will travel to Michałowice (Piechowice). A portion of the costs related to this trip (travel and accommodation) will have to be covered by the participants (approximately 600PLN).

The whole program will around 120 hours. We plan to work 7 hours a day, with a lunch break. We ask you to take your availability during this time into consideration when applying.

HOW TO APPLY?

Fill in the open call application, which you can find here

If you have any questions, send us an e-mail at school@kemwarsaw.com

We await your applications until the end of the 13th of May < 3

We will publish the results of the open call by the end of May.

Yours,

Kem

***

This project is co-financed by the city of Warsaw within the framework of the project “JASNA 10: Społeczna Inicjatywa Kultury”

TR Warszawa, British Council and The Austrian Cultural Forum are partners of this project

Since 2021 Kem School operates as an invitation to collaborate on devising choreographic and performative tools and strategies that position artistic research and practice within the register of embodied experience and in relation to current socio-political conditions.
You can read more about our last edition here:

https://www.kemwarsaw.com/en/events/kem-school-2023-summary

Kem School 2023: Summary

For a summary of Kem School 2023, click here

OPEN CALL: KEM SCHOOL 2023

We’re excited to launch the Open Call for Kem School 2023 - the third edition of our collective study and unlearning programme in Warsaw!

During the programme, we will be developing participants’ individual and collaborative modes of working through performative action, experiments and queer-feminist methodologies. Kem School will provide the space for collective research and work, and a series of mentoring sessions, workshops, seminars and meetings in a variety of formats. The aim of the programme will be to facilitate the development of individual and collective practices in a caring, transdisciplinary environment. The participants will be invited to engage in developing methods of collective, critical and embodied knowledge production.

This year’s programme will be hosted and taught by our Kem School members, local artists/activists and our invited guests - Ania Nowak, Alex Baczyński-Jenkins, Maria F. Scaroni, Liz Rosenfeld and Agnieszka Polska, among others.

HOW TO TOUCH MOVEMENT?

This year’s edition will conclude the 3 year cycle, during which we collectively consider How to touch movement? We will invite participants to collectively develop performative and choreographic tools which will help situate artistic research and practice in forms of embodied knowledge in relation to current socio-political conditions. We will be working with the concept of worldmaking, which articulates a sense that many worlds exist simultaneously, each a continually rehearsed version of a shared reality. Worldmaking conveys that there are ways of imagining, building and inhabiting other worlds.

Drawing on the experiences of previous editions and in search of new answers, during this years programme we will considers such questions as:

How, in practice, can we embody resistance through movement? Which bodies are considered valid and how are they defined? What do we understand by worldmaking practices and what worlds do we want to make? How can we continue traditions, simultaneously producing new forms of generational knowledge? What forms of community allow us to practice touch, attentiveness and multisensory perception? Where can we search for alternative genealogies and ways of naming?

PRACTICAL INFORMATION

WHO IS KEM SCHOOL FOR?

Kem School 2023 will consist of a group of 12-15 participants who live or work in Poland. This group will be carefully selected through our open call process, into which we invite queer artists, performers, creators, researchers and/or activists. The programme is open to people with varying degrees of experience, both beginners and established, interested in further developing their practice through choreographic, performative and collective methodologies.

Participants should be able to demonstrate:

good knowledge of English and Polish in order to communicate in group exercises.*;
experience or active interest in working collaboratively within a group of people with different lived experiences;
an openness to experiment with and actively participate in a variety of embodied artistic practices and pedagogical formats;
an artistic practice or interest in expanded notions of choreography, performance, queer studies and intersectional feminism;
being self-directed and pro-active, developing one’s own research as well as finding shared formats of collective exchange;
interest in interacting with the public;
availability in the timeframes of Kem School (more information below).

*The programme will be led in Polish and English. Even if you don’t feel confident in your language skills, we still encourage you to apply. Depending on the needs that emerge in the group, we will try to provide support with translations.

Kem School is not fully accessible to people with disabilities - working on providing accessible programmes is a lengthy process, which we are nonetheless currently devoted to. We encourage people with disabilities to apply - all applications will be considered separately and we will be searching for solutions to help you take part in this year’s school. If you would like to consult with us before you apply, please send us an e-mail at school@kemwarsaw.com

There is no age requirement or professional or academic prerequisites. Kem School is free of charge.

WHEN AND WHERE?

This year’s Kem School will not be taking place in one extended period of time, as it has to date, but will materialise via 4 separate gatherings throughout the year. The dates of the 4 meetings are as follows:

Block I: 8-11th of June, 2023

Block II: 6-9th of July, 2023

Block III: 18th of August - 1st of September, 2023

Block IV: 28th of September - 1st of October, 2023

During this time we will be implementing a creative research process, the effects of which will be a series of collectively devised activities and one public choreographic performance, produced with the mentorship of Maria F. Scaroni.

Kem School classes will be taking place in Warsaw. We plan to work for around 7 hours a day. The programme also includes a field trip outside of Warsaw, an evening film programme (SOFT KISS CLUB) and participation in Dragana Bar.

The whole programme will take approximately 170 hours. We ask you to take your availability during this time into consideration when applying.

You can find more information about our previous editions here: https://www.kemwarsaw.com/en/events/kem-school-2022-summary

HOW TO APPLY?

Fill in the open call application, which you can find here

If you have any questions, send us an e-mail at school@kemwarsaw.com

We’re waiting for your applications until the end of the 8th of May <3

Yours,

Kem

Kem School is co-funded by the Capital City of Warsaw, as part of the “JASNA 10: Social Cultural Initiative”

Goethe Institut is a partner of the project

Kem School 2022: Open Call

We’re excited to launch the Open Call for Kem School 2022 – the second edition of a collective study programme taking place in Warsaw.

This year’s 8-week programme is devised to develop the participants’ individual and collaborative modes of working through performative action, experiments and queer-feminist methodologies. Kem School will provide the space for collective research and work, and a series of mentoring sessions, workshops, seminars and meetings in a variety of formats. The aim of the programme will be to facilitate the development of individual and collective practices in a caring, transdisciplinary environment. The participants will be invited to engage in developing methods of collective, critical and embodied knowledge production.

This year’s Kem School programme will consist of two complementary and mutually nourishing parts: How to touch movement? and Choreographies of Alliance. Kem School participants will take part in both strands of the programme.

How to touch movement?

The first part of Kem School 2022 will invite the participants to collectively develop performative and choreographic tools which will help situate artistic research and practice in forms of embodied knowledge in relation to current socio-political conditions. We will be working with the concept of worldmaking, which articulates a sense that many worlds exist simultaneously, each a continually rehearsed version of a shared reality. Worldmaking conveys that there are ways of imagining, building and inhabiting other worlds.

Choreographies of Alliance

The second part is a series of meetings with artists and activist groups that draw from queer-feminist practices, and whose encounters can result in the development and rehearsal of reparative strategies against oppressive, patriarchal, heteronormative, racist systems of power.

We understand the term ‘choreography’ not solely in relation to the practice of dance, but as a way of manifesting relations between intimacy, body materialities, sensations, society, and environment. Choreography is also a conscious engagement with movement as marked by regimes of race, class, gender, sexuality, and ability. Using choreographic tools, we would like Kem School to be a platform for rehearsing methods of politically conscious attention, non-normative bodily grammars, and collective responsibility.

Kem School actively acknowledges the ongoing systemic violence against minoritised and racialised bodies and communities. Kem School actively supports and celebrates histories and practices of pleasure, joy and solidarity that thrive in resistance to this violence.

Throughout the duration of Kem School we will ask questions such as: How to embody resistance? What counts as a body and which bodies matter? What do we mean by world-making practices, and what type of worlds do we desire? How can we forge new and mobilise past intergenerational knowledge? What forms of togetherness do the practices of touch, attention and multisensory perception allow us to organise? What archives can we access to draw alternative genealogies and forms of naming?

Public engagement

During the 8 weeks of Kem School, we will develop a process of research and creative production resulting in collective public activities and a sonic archive in the form of podcasts created by the participants.

PRACTICAL DETAILS

The second edition of Kem School will welcome a group of 12-15 participants residing or working in Warsaw. The participants will be selected in a two-stage open call recruitment process which is open but not limited to artists, activists, choreographers, cultural workers, dancers, performers, filmmakers, and writers.

The programme is open to candidates with diverse levels of experience (those just starting and those with already established practices), who are interested in further developing their artistic practices using choreographic, performative and collective methods.

Who is it for?

The participants should be able to demonstrate:

knowledge of English and Polish to a degree allowing for communication in group activities*;
experience or active interest in working collaboratively within a group of people with different lived experiences;
an openness to experiment with and actively participate in a variety of embodied artistic practices and pedagogical formats;
an artistic practice or active interest in expanded notions of choreography, performance, queer studies and intersectional feminism;
being self-directed and pro-active, developing one’s own research as well as finding shared formats of collective exchange;
interest in interacting with the public;
availability in the timeframes of Kem School (more information below).

* The programme will be led in Polish and English. Even if you don’t feel confident in your language skills, we still encourage you to apply. Depending on the needs that emerge in the group, we will try to provide support with translations.

There is no age requirement or professional or academic prerequisites. Kem School is free of charge.

When?

25.07-15.09.2022

Kem School will take place in Warsaw. We are planning to work together Monday to Thursday, for approximately 6 hours a day. Additionally, we will spend two weekends on pleasurable activities – such as trips and spending time together (exact dates to be confirmed).

The duration of the entire programme will be approx. 190h. Please take your availability into consideration.

How to apply?

The application process closed on May 23rd.

For questions, email julia@kemwarsaw.com.

***

“Choreographies of Alliance” is a project realised by Kem Foundation with funding from the Aktywni Obywatele programme – National Fund financed by the EEA Financial Mechanism.

“How To Touch Movement?” is funded by the Capital City of Warsaw, as part of the “Centrum Jasna” programme.

2021

Kem School 2021: How to touch movement?

Social choreographies, performance and queer feminisms as world-making

Kem is excited to launch a new study programme in August 2021.

KEM SCHOOL

Kem School is a new study programme taking place in Warsaw and initiated by Kem. This study programme is devised to facilitate the development of personal practice as well as collective modes of working, through experiments and reflections on social choreography, performance and queer feminist methodologies. Kem School is established in response to the local need for alternative art education that facilitates research, processes and self-organisation.

HOW TO TOUCH MOVEMENT? SOCIAL CHOREOGRAPHIES, PERFORMANCE AND QUEER FEMINISMS AS WORLD-MAKING

23 August - 03 October 2021

This year’s inaugural 6-week long edition of Kem School is titled How to touch movement? Social choreographies, performance and queer feminisms as world-making.

World-making articulates a sense that many worlds exist simultaneously, each a continually rehearsed version of a shared reality. World-making conveys that there are ways of imagining, building and inhabiting other worlds. The first iteration of Kem School will invite participants to collectively develop tools and choreographic strategies that situate research and art practice within our embodied experience, and our immediate and transnational socio-political conditions.

We understand the term ‘choreography’ not solely in relation to the practice of dance. We understand choreography as a way of manifesting relations between intimacy, body materialities, sensations, society, and environment. Choreography is also a conscious engagement with movement as marked by regimes of race, class, gender, sexuality, and ability. We would like Kem School to be a platform for rehearsing methods of politically conscious attention, non-normative bodily grammars, and collective responsibility.

Kem School will offer mentoring, alongside a curriculum of seminars and workshops, for the participants to develop their practice in a nurturing, transdisciplinary environment. The programme will be developed in part by the participants themselves, with the intention of rehearsing modes of collective, critical and embodied knowledge, questioning the very notion of what a school is and can be.

Throughout the duration of How to touch movement? we will ask questions such as: How to embody resistance? What counts as a body and which bodies matter? What do we mean by world-making practices, and what type of worlds do we desire? How can we forge new and mobilise past intergenerational knowledge? What forms of togetherness do the practices of touch, attention and multisensory perception allow us to organise? What archives can we access to draw alternative genealogies and forms of naming?

Some of the visiting artists, choreographers and thinkers who will give workshops and talks as part of the programme are Alex Baczyński-Jenkins, Wiktor Bagiński, Ligia Lewis, Ewa Majewska, Ania Nowak, Natalia Sielewicz, and Will Rawls.

PROGRAMME DETAILS

This first edition will welcome 8-10 participants who live and work in Poland. The programme is open but not limited to artists, activists, choreographers, cultural workers, dancers, performers, film-makers, and writers.

There is no age requirement and professional or academic prerequisites. What the programme requires is an interest in developing your artistic practice that draws from choreography, performance and collaboration.

Who is this school for?

Participants should be able to demonstrate:

good knowledge of English and Polish in order to communicate in group exercises;
an artistic practice or active interest in expanded notions of choreography, performance, queer studies and intersectional feminism;
experience or active interest in working collaboratively within a group of people with different lived experience;
being self-directed and pro-active, developing one’s own research as well as finding shared formats of collective exchange;
experience or active interest in interacting with members of the public;
an openness to experiment with and actively participate in a variety of embodied artistic practices and pedagogical formats.

Costs: The programme is free of charge.

We do not cover accommodation, transportation and living costs.

Time: 23 August - 03 October 2021.

Venue: All participants should be able to move to Warsaw for the duration of the programme (pandemic conditions depending). The programme will be taking place across venues and partner institutions, including Jasna 10, Warszawska Świetlica Krytyki Politycznej,

Language: The programme will be held in Polish and English.

How to apply

Complete the online application form by 10.05.2021. We will contact shortlisted candidates for the second stage of application (Zoom meeting). Final participants will be announced beginning of June 2021. In case of technical difficulties with the application contact us at julia@kemwarsaw.com

Personal data protection:

If you have completed the form, you are interested in the Kem School program. In order to send you information and materials, it is necessary for us to be able to process your personal data provided in the form. So please give your consent. You can withdraw this consent at any time. Giving this consent is voluntary, the lack of it will prevent us from providing you with information about the program.Since we will process your personal data, you should read a some information, including about your rights in this connection. Therefore, we ask you to read the information available at the link before sending us your data. By submitting the application, you consent to the processing of personal data in accordance with the information provided.

Accessibility

Most of the venues used are unfortunately not wheelchair accessible. Kem School is unable to cover costs of translation into Polish sign language. Please email julia@kemwarsaw.com for any accessibility enquiries.

Partner Organisations

Kem School is an invitation for trans-institutional collaborations in Poland and internationally. Kem School seeks to provide a much needed pedagogical space for practice, research and organising, through strengthening the informal connections between art organisations, activists, and cultural workers, into more sustainable sharing of resources. We believe this mode of working creates a much needed common ground from where we can openly support each other and build engagement and solidarity across communities.

Kem School is programmed by Alex Baczyński-Jenkins, Ola Knychalska, and Kasia Właszczyk, in consultation and collaboration with Katarzyna Słoboda and Julia Morandeira.

Kem School Co-ordinator: Julia Celejewska. Social Media and Translation: Tosia Leniarska. Graphic designer: Alex Goluk.

This project is realised by Kem, as part of Krytyka Polityczna’s ‘Centrum Jasna’ program and is financed by the Capital City of Warsaw, in cooperation with Allianz Kulturstiftung

The inaugural edition of Kem School (2021) is generously supported by Helena Czernecka.