Hidden Door has launched a new initiative to support recent visual art graduates who have been denied the crucial opportunity of a physical degree show due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Graduate Support Network supports emerging artists across Scotland who graduated in 2020 or 2021. The network will provide paid opportunities to exhibit work both online and at future Hidden Door Festivals, plus the chance to take part in a range of collaborative projects and residencies, social events and networking opportunities.
Whilst Hidden Door is best known for its annual festival, the charitable arts organisation is also committed to supporting emerging creative talent all year round, providing a platform for showcasing work and supporting collaborative projects.
Maria, a recent graduate now working with Hidden Door to establish the Support Network, said:
“A creative education, which relies on seminars, specialist facilities and most importantly, a degree show, is simply not transferable to online platforms. We have been denied a pivotal opportunity to present our work to the wider world. The Graduate Support Network initiated by Hidden Door is a crucial and timely occasion to bring graduates together, outside of the remit of art schools. It’s an exciting moment for Scottish students to be granted the freedom to make work and be part of a support network committed to providing a platform for emerging creatives across the country.”
Download the Graduate Support Network brochure or see more details below.
Through the network, we will provide artists with the following opportunities:
For Hidden Door 2021, we created paid opportunities for nearly 30 graduates to exhibit work in a huge warehouse in Granton, just over the road from our main festival site.
As we plan to return to a full 10-day festival in 2022, we will be able to accommodate a broader range of works and creative projects, offering paid opportunities for recent graduates to develop their practice in a festival setting.
Also see our main call for visual art proposals.
Hidden Door is constantly developing its use of digital platforms to create opportunities for emerging creative practitioners beyond the annual festival. Paid opportunities will be available for graduates to share their work with a new and expanding audience throughout the year through participation in live streams, digital residencies and online features.
We are looking for graduate artists interested in interdisciplinary collaborative projects that will be developed throughout the year and showcased at Hidden Door 2022.
Hidden Door will support artists and enable them to meet and connect with one another through physical events and digital platforms.
There will also be extra opportunities… we hope to connect artists with opportunities beyond the work of Hidden Door itself, and will help to match graduates with partner organisations and projects.
To be considered for these opportunities, please complete this online survey to submit your details.