This is an odd one: a residency in an adapted 1950s American Airstream (this) in Margate as part of the Kent Cultural Baton, a project to create a mobile residency centre that journeys around Kent engaging with local places, stories, sights and people to 'reveal the hidden'.
The Margate residency will take place on selected dates between 16 April and 27 May 2011, and will offer the resident artist(s) 'space and time to explore and respond to ideas of "place", through their own creative practice discovering what they see as the "hidden Kent" and unearthing or creating stories from a range of sources that speak of Kent’s places, people and folklore' – either to create a new piece of work or to conduct research. It's very open: the organisers are interested in hearing from individuals or companies, from the UK or abroad, in any artform. The budget for proposed projects is £3000.
There are two excellent entry points here for circus artists. The first is that the residency in Margate is at Dreamland, an old 1920s amusement park which is in the process of being restored but in the meantime lies in a creepy state of semi-dereliction – and the connection between circus and funfair is easy enough to sell. The second is that the language with which the Baton project describes its purpose – revealing 'worlds within a
world' – is a really good match for the language of new magic and the idea of 'the real within the real'. (Also Kent has been active recently in developing circus as an artform. So do it.)
There's more information about the project and application process here. Deadline for proposals is 4 April 2011.