‘No Frost at Night’ - CALL FOR PROPOSALS: An upcoming exhibition at the Babylon Gallery.

About

Babylon ARTS is seeking proposals from East-Anglian based artists and creative practitioners for five new commissions that respond to source material from ‘The Soham Weather Diaries’ archive.

The new work will be shown at the upcoming contemporary arts exhibition 'No Frost at Night',  The exhibition will form part of Babylon ARTS 2021 gallery programme, open to the public from 12th March – 5th April at the Babylon Gallery.

Five selected artists will be commissioned to create new work in response to a single weather diary from 1963, sourced from a collection of archival records known as 'The Soham Weather Diaries' which are currently held within the care of Heritage for All CIC. 

'The Soham Weather Diaries' are a series of handwritten journals which span from December 1962 – February 2018. Within each diary is a daily temperature reading and a personal observation on the way the weather both felt and looked in the town of Soham, Cambridgeshire on each recorded day. The diary’s author, Betty Mann, was a lifelong resident of Soham who took these readings right up until her death on 20th February 2018. 

'No Frost at Night' will be curated by Sid White-Jones during his time on the Babylon Young Curators programme.

"The exhibition will present audiences with ideas on how archival materials can be utilised within the context of contemporary art. 'The Soham Weather Diaries' are a wonderfully eclectic source of inspiration, each a unique time-capsule in its own right. I believe that this single weather diary from 1963 will provide a wealth of inspiration for artists and creative practitioners and hope that submitted proposals will offer unique and inventive interpretations of Betty Mann’s weather records."

- Sid White-Jones, October 2020.

The invitation to apply is open to both established and emerging East-Anglian based creative practitioners over the age of 18, including (but not limited to) artists, creators, designers, makers, performers and writers.

Commission Fee 

We aim to offer artists and creative practitioners five commissions of £500 each.

'The Soham Weather Diaries' 

Heritage for All CIC have extensive experience in preserving history and have digitised every entry from Betty Mann’s 1963 weather diary, all of which can be seen in the twelve images on this page.

Within their proposals, artists and creative practitioners are invited to explore and engage with Betty Mann’s 1963 weather diary or the themes that it presents such as; the weather, the East-Anglian big freeze, data entry, the passing of time and legacy.

Babylon Gallery exhibition space 

You can find a basic floorplan of the exhibition space at Babylon Gallery, as well as images of the space on this page. It may be helpful for submitting artists and creative practitioners to consider this space as we ask you to give an indication of the size and space needed for your proposed work in the application form. The gallery has exhibition lighting, plinths, a projector, a TV screen and some AV equipment.

Timeline 

• Submissions open: 12th November 2020
• Submissions close: 14th December 2020
• All applicants notified by: 23rd December 2020
• Exhibition Opens: 12th March 2021

* Please note that due to the unprecedented time, in relation to Covid-19 pandemic, the date and duration of this exhibition is subject to government and local authority guidance and our own risk mitigation policies. Every effort will be made to deliver this exhibition safely and enjoyably for all artists, visitors, volunteers and staff; however, we reserve the right to make changes, cancel or postpone this exhibition without notice. Submitting artists and creative practitioners will be notified of any changes as soon as possible.