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Photograph of a peak district landscape with a rocky outcrop to the right

Roam: call for artists

Animate Projects invites expressions of interest from animation artists based in England to take part in our early career programme, Roam.

As with our previous projects PLANTING and Mortal, we will work with three early career artists as they undertake a period of research to develop a film in relation to a particular context or theme.

For Roam, we are pleased to be working with the campaigning organisation Right to Roam to support artists to produce new work in response to their vision of “a future countryside in which people not only enjoy the physical, mental and spiritual benefits of nature but serve as its guardians too”.

Since 2021, Right to Roam has been organising peaceful trespasses into some of the vast areas of countryside from which the public are currently excluded. Led by botanists, ornithologists, astronomers, dancers, singers, citizen scientists, outdoors specialists and poets.

Access to nature is essential to our physical and mental health and without a connection to the natural world we’re less likely to care about it and unable to act to protect it. Yet we’re excluded from much of what surrounds us.
 
There’s a right to roam in only 8% of England, much of it in remote areas of mountain, moor, heath and down, rather than the places the majority of us live. Many of the access rights and freedoms we have taken for granted are under threat. Over 49,000 miles of historic paths have disappeared from the official maps. 32,000 rights of way have been blocked or obstruced.

The artists will be guided by conversations with Right to Roam organiser Jon Moses.

With production and editorial support from Animate, the artists will produce short, animated, single-screen films. The films will be shown at a public event, online and on Instagram.

There is a £4,000 fee for each artist to cover all production costs and fees. Some additional travel expenses and creation of deliverables will be covered.

The deadline is noon, Thursday 29 May 2025.

This opportunity is open to early career animation artists resident in England with the right to work in the UK. Students in any formal education at the deadline are not eligible.

To apply
Please follow this link to read the guidelines and submit your application through CuratorSpace.

We ask for:

If you would prefer to record a 2-3 minute video or voice memo rather than send a cover letter, please send a link to the video on Google Drive or Vimeo or another platform.

If you have any questions, please contact us through CuratorSpace.