The University of Manchester, in collaboration with FutureEverything, seeking digital artists or artist collectives to create an open-access online digital artwork for their project on Fear and Belonging in Minority Buddhist Communities, funded by The Leverhulme Trust.
The project aims to investigate the role of fear in religious belonging and community formation, especially in contexts where a community is minoritized. The research draws on the life stories of lay members from two Asian minority Buddhist communities in the UK and Japan, analyzing how emotions shape people's negotiation, performance, and experience of belonging, along with the implications for the maintenance and renewal of religious communities.
The artist or artist collective will be part of the project team for two years, giving them an understanding of the overall project development. Their role will be to develop an online digital artwork in collaboration with the research team and Buddhist community members, which visualizes and explores the intersecting fears that shape members’ experiences of belonging. They will also be responsible for creating and delivering the artwork by the specified launch date, and working with FutureEverything on evaluation and documentation of the artwork.
The project provides a fee of £10,000 (around $12,700) for the artist, with an additional £28,500 (around $36,264) for production, including web or tech support. The artist will work remotely, with project meetings held online, and potentially some in-person meetings.
Applications are open to artists with at least 3-5 years of experience in digital art, an interest in knowledge and skills exchange with academics and communities, a readiness to engage with different worldviews and cultures, and the ability to manage their own budget and task list. Applications from artists or collectives familiar with the Japanese or Tibetan languages, or who belong to a minority community, are particularly welcome.
To apply, interested individuals or groups should send a CV/portfolio and an expression of interest to FutureEverything at info@futureeverything.org. Find more information on the FutureEverything's website.
