Museum of Design in Plastics residency call

MoDiP is the only museum of design in plastics and has recently received prestigious designated status by Arts Council England. Plastics regularly receive a negative press with the many benefits that this material group brings to support modern life often overlooked.

We are offering a residency programme which can bring fresh insights to communicating the value of plastics. We are particularly interested in practitioners working in the areas of semiotics, linguistics, ethics, design strategy or communication design. But applicants could equally be a sustainability lead or behaviour expert or someone working in other disciplines that might not normally engage in this debate. We want someone who can explore this topic through innovative ways and bring new perspectives.

We are looking for a resident who can draw upon MoDiP’s collections to carry out research and create new work that supports communication and widen understanding around the benefits of plastics, challenging the language being used around such materials and offering fresh perspectives that is in line with the museum’s mission. The residency should include elements of research, public engagement and public communication. It could also involve AUB’s recently opened Innovation Studio.

The MoDiP Residency is an open call for practitioners to work with the Museum of Design in Plastics. The Museum has a comprehensive website which includes details of its exhibition programme, documentation and images of around 11,000 objects, and other resources relating to plastics and design www.modip.ac.uk.

The residency will take place at MoDiP, Arts University Bournemouth. The timing and length of the residency is negotiable but must be concluded by 30 September 2022.

MoDiP will provide a £7,000 bursary and support costs towards realising resources that can be widely disseminated. These could be in the form of creative outputs including short films, or written guidelines but primarily something that can be shared beyond the university via MoDiP’s website www.modip.ac.uk.

Application

Applicants should have an interest in exploring the value of plastics and a good track record of producing high-quality work. Applications for the bursary should be submitted as an expression of interest to the museum via email on modip@aub.ac.uk. This should be no more than one side of A4 and include the following:

Project outline

• Aims and objectives
• Methods/methodology
• Indicative budget
• Timeframe

We intend for the resident to be able to visit the museum for research trips. Groups may apply as well as individuals.

The deadline for this open call is 22 April 2022 and expressions of interest should be sent by email to modip@aub.ac.uk.

Selection

Shortlisting will take place in late April with interviews scheduled to take place in early May. The successful applicant will be required to develop a more formal proposal prior to the project commencing.