Transparent

We are pleased to announce our collaboration with the Open Data Institute (ODI), a non-profit company that aims to build a world where data works for everyone, on Transparent, a development programme for early career animation artists.

Transparent will be an exciting opportunity for artists to engage with the research and activities of the ODI, and to converse with its experts on their work on what transparency means in relation to our data. We are inviting artists to submit expressions of interest via Curatorspace. Three artists will be chosen and then supported to create short, animated films that will be shared at a public event, online and on social media in 2027.

We will be holding a zoom webinar all about the project on 15 May at 11am, where we will set out the brief for this project as well as answering any questions from attendees.

Timeline

• 5 May 2026 – Call for Artists goes live – Link to Curatorspace Opportunity
• 15 May 2026 – 11-11:30 am, video briefing session about the project on Zoom (please sign up here)
• 10 June 2026 – deadline for submissions at noon
• 30 June 2026 – inform artists of the result of their application
• July 2026 – initial online meeting with Animate, ODI and artists
• July – August 2026 – R&D, treatments submitted, pre-production
• September 2026 – January 2027 – production
• February – March 2027 – post-production, delivery
• April – July 2027 – live launch event, films shared online, online talk

Check out our previous early career commissions: Roam, MORTAL & PLANTING

Image: ‘Constant Washing Machine’ by Blast Theory, launch event. Photo: Melanie Pollard. Constant Washing Machine is commissioned by Data as Culture at the ODI as part of the University of Sheffield FRAIM project, funded as part of the Bridging Responsible AI Divides programme under UK Research and Innovation, Arts and Humanities Research Council.