Contemporary And (C&) facilitates in collaboration with ARTS.BLACK a three-day Critical Writing Workshop for young art critics based in Detroit and in Germany. The workshop is one format of the C& project “Show me your shelves – Libraries as places of encounter », which is part of the initiative „Deutschlandjahr USA 2018-19″. It will take place at Room Project, Detroit from 26 to 28 November 2018.

• Deadline for submission: Monday, 15 October 2018.
• Interested candidates should submit a CV, a one-page letter of motivation and/or a writing sample (1000 words max.) to info@contemporaryand.com.
• A maximum number of 12 applicants will be accepted. Four spots are available for applicants from Germany.
• The invitation is open to young art writers in the very early stages of their career.

The project “Show me your shelves! Libraries as spaces of encounter” focuses on presenting African Diaspora cultures and lifestyles in Germany and the US. The idea and vision of the project is to reflect coherences of Black history and present-day life between Germany and the US.

The C& Critical Writing Workshop aims to:

• Facilitate the circulation of knowledge and experience among participants
• Discuss arts reporting and critical writing practice particularly to attract a younger audience
• Provide the tools of how to write reviews, comments and essays within a given timeframe
• Mediate how to pitch topics to different media platforms
• Give insights into the processes of editing
• Link participants to a network of arts journalists contributing to C& with the possibility of publishing on C& online.
• Developing ideas for a C& Special Print Issue for “Show me your Shelves”. This Special Print Issue will exclusively contain contributions by the workshop participants.

Tutor of the Workshop
Taylor Renee Aldridge, Detroit based writer and independent curator. In 2015 she co-founded ARTS.BLACK, a journal of art criticism from Black perspectives

The editors in chief Julia Grosse and Yvette Mutumba will be present and talk about their practice at C&.

Eligibility:
The participants should:

• Have first journalistic/writing experiences in the cultural field. Senior writers with long-term
  experiences will not be accepted.
• Be interested in a focus on visual arts.
• Be fluent in spoken and written English.

About C&
Since 2013 Contemporary And (C&) is an art magazine and a dynamic space for the reflection on and linking together of ideas, discourse and information on contemporary art practice from diverse African perspectives. C& is funded by Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen (Institute for International Cultural Relations, ifa).

About ARTS.BLACK
ARTS.BLACK is a journal of art criticism from Black perspectives predicated on the belief that art criticism should be an accessible dialogue – a tool through which we question, celebrate, and talk back to the global world of contemporary art.

About the project
The project “Show me your shelves – Libraries as places of encounter » is part of the Year of German-American Friendship 2018/19. This initiative is funded by the German Federal Foreign Office, implemented by the Goethe-Institut, and supported by the Federation of German Industries (BDI) with the goal of highlighting the decades-long foundation of common values and interests between the two countries.