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Residency

PhotoKTM 5 Residency @ Jatayu Vulture Restaurant, Kawasoti

18 Jan – 3 March 2023

Update: 2nd Jan 2023

We are happy to announce the PhotoKTM5 Residency participants!

Photo: Rajesh Lama

Ajay Narsingh Rana is a wildlife, nature and adventure photographer and videographer. Ajay also writes about nature and conservation on his blog prakritinepal.com as well as for local print media.

Ajay leads mountain bike trips across the Himalayas, works as a Wilderness First Responder for outdoor events, teaches Wilderness First Aid, works as an Elite National Mountain bike Commissaire for mountain bike races, and is a consultant for mountain bike events and outdoor programs. Ajay has also worked as a Coach for the National Cycling Team in Nepal for almost a decade.

Photo: Rene van der Hulst

Hillside Projects is an artistic collaboration between Emily Berry Mennerdahl and Jonas Böttern based in Stockholm (SE). Situated within a conceptual framework their work explores tales of disappearances in the natural world and the interrelated socio-political narratives and existential questions that arise through these tales. Their work encompasses site-specific installations alongside lens based works, text, sound, publications as well as walking and performances in different formats.

Jonas Böttern (b.1977 Sweden), completed his MFA in Fine Arts at Konstfack – University of Arts, Crafts and Design, Stockholm in 2016 and has since participated in several postgraduate courses in public art, sound and publishing. Böttern is on the board for the Nordic Art Association and most recently has taken part in residencies and exhibitions at, amongst others, Röda Sten konsthall (SE), Bonniers konsthall (SE), Clark House Initiative (IND) and Dazibao, Montréal (CA).

Photo: Courtesy Artist

Nilanjana Nandy (b.1979) is an artist and educator. She draws, makes artist-books and sets up installations for people to collectively experience and exchange ideas. She is interested in gender-based issues, the impact of patriarchy in everyday situations, and in shaping young minds through canonical understanding of concepts. Her art making and teaching practices inform and impact each other.

She has a MA (Painting) from Faculty of Fine Arts, MSU, Baroda. She has been part of artist in residence program at Pepper House Residency, Kochi Muziris Biennale, Sandarbh & Black box Project, Khoj Studios. Her project COVER-UNCOVER was part of Five Million Incidents supported by Goethe Institut & Raqs Media Collective. Her work was presented in exhibitions like Critical Constellations by FICA, Bartered Collections by Mumbai Art Room & CONA & Sarai Reader 09

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CALL FOR APPLICATIONS!

!!Applications Closed!!

PhotoKTM in collaboration with Jatayu Vulture Restaurant and Bird Conservation Nepal (BCN) is pleased to invite lens based artists and educators for a 6-week residency based in Kawasoti, Nawalparasi.

Jatayu Vulture Restaurant is a community managed vulture restaurant. It is located in Kawasoti in Nawalparasi district in the buffer zone area of Chitwan National Park and was established in 2006. The estimated vulture population in Nepal in the 1980s was over one million. In the early 2000s, it was drastically down to around 20,000. Nine species of vultures are found in Nepal, among which four species – the white-rumped vulture, slender-billed vulture, red-headed vulture and Indian vulture – are listed as critically endangered, and others as highly threatened. The drastic decrease has been mainly attributed to the use of diclofenac which is used to treat animal disease. The Government of Nepal banned the use of diclofenac in 2006. The same year, Dhan Bahadur Chaudhary, a Kawasoti local, responded to the critical situation by establishing the first vulture restaurant and named it Jatayu Restaurant. This effort was supported by an organization called Bird Conservation Nepal (BCN). Jatayu buys old cattle such as cows and other livestock which have become an economic burden for the farmers and takes care of them until they die of natural causes. Then the carcass is fed to the vultures. The number of white-rumped vultures have significantly increased since 2014, largely thanks to Jatayu’s efforts. Learn more about Jatayu here.

PhotoKTM invites one lens based artist and one educator to spend 4 weeks in Kawasoti learning about vultures, community managed conservation models, resilience, loss and possibilities of regeneration at large. We invite applications from both individual artists as well as artist-educator duos. Participants can work independently but are highly encouraged to work collaboratively. The residency is designed to be a research residency and participants are not required to produce new work, but are welcome to share their findings and process during the opening week of PhotoKTM from 24 Feb – 2 March if they choose to do so. The residency will start in Kathmandu on 18th Jan 2023 where participants can settle in and prepare for 3-4 days, move to Kawasoti for 4 weeks and return to Kathmandu leading up to the opening week of PhotoKTM.

Important Dates

Application deadline – 20 Dec 2022

Selection announcement – 28 Dec 2022

Residency participants arrive in Kathmandu – 18 Jan 2023

Participants travel to Jatayu in Kawasoti – 21 Jan 2023

Residency at Jatayu in Kawasoti – 21 Jan – 20 Feb 2023 (30 days)

Participants return to Kathmandu – 20 Feb 2023

Rest + pre-opening prep in Kathmandu – 21 – 23 Feb 2023

PhotoKTM opening week in Kathmandu – 24 Feb – 2 March 2023

Participants depart – 3 March 2023

Eligibility

Artists working with photography, video or other lens based mediums who are interested to learn more about and engage with community conservation models are invited to apply
Educators interested in working with artists and creating more diverse teaching/learning engagements are invited to apply.
Applications are open to individuals as well as artist-educator duos
Residency is based in Kawasoti, Nawalparasi so participants should be prepared to live in the field in a semi-rural community for the full month
This residency is best suited for practitioners who have an advanced level of their craft and who are interested to work in collaborative ways
The residency is open to artists from anywhere in the world. Artists and educators from South Asia are encouraged to apply
Queer, indigenous and Adhivasi practitioners are encouraged to apply
Basic conversational English is required

Support

Participants will be provided single-room accommodation for a total of 45 days in both Kathmandu and Kawasoti
Participants will be provided a daily stipend of NRs. 1000/day for meals and local transport
A small research and production budget of NRs. 50,000 will be provided, which should also cover any materials in the field as well as for the open house
Participants will be provided a shared space to showcase research findings and process for an open studio during the opening week
On-going research and logistical support from the festival team as well as Jatayu Vulture Restaurant and BCN teams will be provided
Participants are required to make their own travel arrangements to and from Kathmandu and arrive in Kathmandu by 17 Jan 2023. Participants are welcome to extend their stay beyond 3 March 2023 at their own expense
Local travel (by tourist bus) to Kawasoti from Kathmandu and back will be provided

How to Apply

To apply for this residency, please send us the following to submissions@photoktm.com with the subject line Residency Application;

An updated CV (2 pages max)
A short biography (150 – 200 words max)
A letter of motivation stating why you would like to participate in this residency and what you wish to get out of this experience. (2 page max)
For visual artists: your portfolio of 15 – 40 images that represent your work, along with detailed captions or 3-5 links to video files on youtube or vimeo, and/or additional supporting materials that demonstrate your practice and interests as PDF files. Additional supporting material should not exceed a 4-page PDF (not compulsory).
For educators: samples of teaching/learning activities and projects or curricular material that you have developed in the last 5 years. You are welcome to include photographs and video links of activities, and additional supporting material that demonstrate your practice and interests as PDF files. Additional supporting material should not exceed a 6-page PDF (not compulsory).

Kindly rename all documents with your first name and the title of the document (Example:Meha _CV, Meha_Bio, Meha_Motivation Letter etc)

Please send all required application material in one email to submissions@photoktm.com with the subject line Artist Residency Application

Kindly ensure your email does not exceed 5MB

Application Deadline

20 December 2022

In collaboration with