Are you a young Darwin artist looking for opportunities to show your work?
City of Darwin’s CITYLIFE Platform Youth Week exhibition may be for you!
Photo by Fiona Morrison
The CITYLIFE Platform consists of 10 large lightboxes installed across three sites in Darwin, at the Nightcliff Pool, Chinatown Carpark and Smith Street Mall. It offers artists a great opportunity to:
- Have their work professionally exhibited
- Be seen by a large and diverse audience
- Contribute to the creative activation of Darwin’s public spaces
- Grow their profile as an artist
- Get to learn more about the public art process
City of Darwin’s next CITYLIFE Platform exhibition will launch during Youth Week 2021. We are currently on the lookout for young Darwin artists who would like to exhibit.
Selected artists will:
- have their artwork professionally printed on PVC and displayed in a backlit, weatherproof display box 24 hours a day, seven days a week
- receive a licensing fee of $200 per selected work
- have their artist information including social media handles or websites displayed alongside their artwork
- learn how to write an artist statement through a workshop with a professional curator
- be featured in Council promo activities, launch videos and social media
Please note, we are looking for existing works only, there is no expectation that you create work specifically for this opportunity as there is no guarantee your work will be selected. If your work is not selected, Council will not keep your work on file or use it in any way.
Key Dates
| Applications open | Monday 8 February |
| Applications close | Sunday 28 February |
| Workshop + Briefing | Week beginning 8 March |
| Artist Biography Due | Week beginning 15 March |
| High Res Files of Artwork Due | TBD |
| Exhibition Opening | Sunday 18 April |
| Exhibition Ends | October 2021 |
| Collect PVC prints by | End of November 2021 |
FAQs
Is it free to exhibit?
YES! PLUS we will pay exhibiting artists an image licensing fee of $200 per work for the right to display their art in public for six months. All production and installation expenses are covered by Council.
Can Council use my artwork for other things?
The licence will also allow Council to use your artwork in any promotional activities associated with the CITYLIFE Platform project.
What’s the eligibility criteria?
CITYLIFE Platform’s Youth Week exhibition is open to young artists aged 12-25, who live, work or study in Darwin.
What kind of artwork are you looking for?
We are interested in all kinds artwork but would particularly love to see work that is a creative expression of who you are and what you’re interested in. Work that already exists in high resolution digital format is appreciated but we are also able to assist with professional photography of paintings and 3D works. The curator will be looking for work that is appropriate for public spaces, engaging for members of the public and will work alongside the other artworks they are selecting.
What format does the artwork need to be?
All artwork needs to be:
- portrait orientation and at a standard A4 / A3 / A2 etc aspect ratio (landscape and square format artworks won’t fit the lightboxes)
- if the work is already in a digital format it will need to be high resolution enough to provide a file that’s 1285 x 1850mm at 150dpi. If you’re not sure what this means, need some help or have questions contact the Arts and Cultural Development Officer at arts@darwin.nt.gov.au
What happens to the artwork at the end of the exhibition?
If you want to keep the PVC print, you can! You just need to organise to collect it with one month of the end of the exhibition.