Critics of Color

Critics of Color Residency

Applications for the 2023 Residency are now closed.

The Critics of Color residency critics will have an opportunity, with the support of facilitators and mentors, to research and craft cultural heritage content. Participating critics develop up to three critical and creative pieces of content to be featured on Curationist. All Critics of Color residents become a part of the Curationist community, and their work informs and expands the metadata for images of art and artifacts they write about.

Curationist invites writers of color to apply to the Critics of Color Residency.

Three residents will be selected from the applicant pool. Each will engage critically with the digital artifacts in the Curationist collection. They will be supported by the Curationist editors and a digital archivist to research and write articles for Curationist.org. Critics will develop editorial features of at least 1,000 words to be featured on Curationist.org. Curationist promotes storytelling and curiosity into global cultural content through a social justice lens that is anti-racist, anti-colonial, feminist, queer, and anti-ableist. The Curationist team is committed to diversifying perspectives, counter colonialist cataloging, and to supporting Indigenous data sovereignty. The incoming Critics of Color will join the growing Curationist community. They will have the opportunity to learn about image rights and the open knowledge movement; be nurtured as writers by our experienced editorial team and special guest speakers; and be in community with the other Critics and Curationist Fellows. Critics will gain experience in online research, the editorial process, and metadata creation.

The residency appointment is for 6 months, March 2023 to August 2023. All Instructional workshops, editing, and group meetings are remote, and will take place online, via Zoom, Slack, Google Drive, etc.

Writers will be compensated a total of $3,000 USD for their participation and contribution.

Eligibility

The selected critics will be writers of color who have an interest in the history and contemporary context of cultural objects and materials. This residency is an opportunity for early to mid-career writers to engage with open access digital collections on Curationist.org and to have their writing expand and diversify cultural discourse. Critics of color are underrepresented globally in mainstream arts writing. This residency will amplify underrepresented voices in arts and cultural content, provide direct support to writers of color, and result in groups of articles that challenge dominant discourse or reveal invisible cultural narratives.

Applicants should:

• Identify as a member of a community of color in the US or abroad who traces their ancestry to one of the original peoples of Africa, Asia, the Americas, Oceania or Pacific Islands.
• Have demonstrated an engagement with cultures that are underrepresented in arts writing online
• Be able to dedicate up to 15 hours per month to writing, research, and workshops
• Write fluently in English
• Familiarize themselves with Curationist.org, including editorial features

Timeline

The application period for the 2023 Critics of Color residency was from January 4th to February 1, and the residency will take place from March 2023 through August 2023. Applications for 2023 are now closed.

Application

All applicants are required to respond to questions about their work and to submit the following materials and through the online form linked below:

• 1-3 writing samples totaling no more than 5,000 words. These can be published, unpublished, blogs, etc.
• Statement of proposed research interests of up to 350 words. Bear in mind that most cultural heritage objects available on Curationist.org are in the public domain, which means they date from before the 20th century. Please make sure your research interests align with this constraint.
• CV or Resume

Jurying Process

Applications will be reviewed by a panel of art writers, editors, and archivists on the Curationist team.

Contact

For questions regarding the residency, please contact community@mhzfoundation.org

Curationist is an ecosystem for collecting and sharing cultural materials from the Creative Commons and public domain. We aim to build connections and deepen cultural awareness by collectively framing the world we share.

This residency is possible thanks to a grant awarded by Allied Media through their Critical Minded program in support of cultural critics of color in the United States.