First Cut (The Hague, NL) and The New Flesh (London, UK) have joined forces to curate an online screening series: Common(ing) Thread.
We have found a common ground in facilitating new questions surrounding the intersections between body, costume and society. We believe that subversive costume can expose and challenge the conventions of body politics. How is the (costumed) body recognised, understood and regulated?
We call for experimental video works that engage with the politics of costume, or how costuming practices can be read as a political act.
Artists and filmmakers are invited to submit their work to Common(ing) Thread.
Through our conversations we have outlined some areas that really excite us. We list them here to see if they entice you too, and spark a memory of a work you've made:
Have you approached costume in a different way? We, of course, want to hear from you too.
We are looking for a total of six moving image works to be screened through both of our websites in March 2022. The screenings will be arranged into pairs of artists. Each pair will consist of one artist based in the UK and one based in the Netherlands, matched by what we recognise as an affinity between their works. The pairs of artists will be invited to engage in a conversation (written exchange or spoken discussion) about their practices which will be made available to read/listen to alongside their screenings. These conversations shall remain archived on firstcut.nl and new-flesh.com respectively. We hope that this encounter will foster new professional and artistic relationships between artists and between countries.
Please fill in our submission form by Friday 4 February 2022, midnight. You will include the following information:
There is no restriction to time limit, date of production, country of production or premiere status. We do ask that artists are currently based in the UK or the Netherlands. Please ensure the film has English subtitles if there is dialogue in another language.
We are unable to accept files sent directly to us, but if your film is not publicly viewable please make a private link and don’t forget to include the password in the submission form.
Feel free to email us if you have any questions before submitting.
At this stage, we offer a symbolic screening fee of €35/£30. We are searching for funding, and will update on this page if the fee manages to increase! As artists, we asked ourselves what a beneficial exchange would be, and we hope that we can offer the beginning of a new artistic relationship between individuals in the Netherlands and the UK.
Open call:
16 January – 4 February
Decision by:
11 February
Artist pairs will be introduced and carry out conversations:
11 February – 10 April
Pair One online screening:
21 March – 27 March
Pair Two online screening:
28 March – 3 April
Pair Three online screening:
4 April – 10 April
First Cut is a platform for screenings and conversations around independent/radical/experimental films by emerging artists based in The Hague. First Cut calls for transformative films that stem from socio-political inquiries.
While The Hague is internationally branded as the city of Peace and Justice, First Cut welcomes audio-visual practices that question and expand this premise. First Cut aims to host artistic interventions and radical responses to our international society and its politics, bridging emerging artists and local communities in The Hague.
First Cut invites perspectives from multiple modes of production and backgrounds with which to read our political contexts and reshape a collective imagination. We especially encourage filmmakers with decolonial, feminist, queer and nonnormative perspectives to submit their films.
First Cut is founded by Cristina Lavosi, Hattie Wade, and Cyan Bae.
The New Flesh is an artist residency and platform to support early career moving image artists who employ experimental use of costume in their work. By facilitating a residency within Academy Costumes, one of the UK’s leading costumiers for stage and screen, The New Flesh offers artists the chance to explore the transgressive, revolutionary and radical nature of costume both historically and in society today.
The New Flesh was founded by Georgie Brinkman, and works in partnership with LUX and Berwick Film & Media Arts Festival, with financial support from Arts Council England.
Cremona, Vicki Ann. “Costume in carnival: Social performance, rank and status”. Studies in Costume & Performance, Volume 1, Number 1, 1 April 2016, pp. 77-96(20)
Cyrus, Jason (curator), Karin Jones, Gordon Shadrach, and Damian Jöel. History is Rarely Black or White (online exhibition), 2021-current.
van Drielen, Victor. “Dutch Police Will Start Questioning People for Wearing Designer Clothes.” Vice, 18 Jan. 2018.
Hann, Rachel, and Sidsel Bech. "Critical Costume." Scene 2, no. 1-2 (2014): 3-8.
Hann, Rachel. "Costume Politics." In Shared Space: Music, Weather, Politics: New Approaches to Scenography, edited by Branislava Kuburović and Sodja Lotker, 112-131. Prague: Arts and Theatre Institute, 2015.
Pantouvaki, Sofia et al. Critical Costume 2015; New Costume Practices and Performances, 25-27 March 2015, Aalto University, Helsinki.
Weinraub, Leilah, director. Shakedown. 2018.
Artwork by Daeun Lim
Open call organised by
F
First Cut (The Hague, NL) and The New Flesh (London, UK) have joined forces to curate an online screening series: Common(ing) Thread.
We have found a common ground in facilitating new questions surrounding the intersections between body, costume and society. We believe that subversive costume can expose and challenge the conventions of body politics. How is the (costumed) body recognised, understood and regulated?
We call for experimental video works that engage with the politics of costume, or how costuming practices can be read as a political act.
Artists and filmmakers are invited to submit their work to Common(ing) Thread.
Through our conversations we have outlined some areas that really excite us. We list them here to see if they entice you too, and spark a memory of a work you've made:
Have you approached costume in a different way? We, of course, want to hear from you too.
We are looking for a total of six moving image works to be screened through both of our websites in March 2022. The screenings will be arranged into pairs of artists. Each pair will consist of one artist based in the UK and one based in the Netherlands, matched by what we recognise as an affinity between their works. The pairs of artists will be invited to engage in a conversation (written exchange or spoken discussion) about their practices which will be made available to read/listen to alongside their screenings. These conversations shall remain archived on firstcut.nl and new-flesh.com respectively. We hope that this encounter will foster new professional and artistic relationships between artists and between countries.
Please fill in our submission form by Friday 4 February 2022, midnight. You will include the following information:
There is no restriction to time limit, date of production, country of production or premiere status. We do ask that artists are currently based in the UK or the Netherlands. Please ensure the film has English subtitles if there is dialogue in another language.
We are unable to accept files sent directly to us, but if your film is not publicly viewable please make a private link and don’t forget to include the password in the submission form.
Feel free to email us if you have any questions before submitting.
At this stage, we offer a symbolic screening fee of €35/£30. We are searching for funding, and will update on this page if the fee manages to increase! As artists, we asked ourselves what a beneficial exchange would be, and we hope that we can offer the beginning of a new artistic relationship between individuals in the Netherlands and the UK.
Open call:
16 January – 4 February
Decision by:
11 February
Artist pairs will be introduced and carry out conversations:
11 February – 10 April
Pair One online screening:
21 March – 27 March
Pair Two online screening:
28 March – 3 April
Pair Three online screening:
4 April – 10 April
First Cut is a platform for screenings and conversations around independent/radical/experimental films by emerging artists based in The Hague. First Cut calls for transformative films that stem from socio-political inquiries.
While The Hague is internationally branded as the city of Peace and Justice, First Cut welcomes audio-visual practices that question and expand this premise. First Cut aims to host artistic interventions and radical responses to our international society and its politics, bridging emerging artists and local communities in The Hague.
First Cut invites perspectives from multiple modes of production and backgrounds with which to read our political contexts and reshape a collective imagination. We especially encourage filmmakers with decolonial, feminist, queer and nonnormative perspectives to submit their films.
First Cut is founded by Cristina Lavosi, Hattie Wade, and Cyan Bae.
The New Flesh is an artist residency and platform to support early career moving image artists who employ experimental use of costume in their work. By facilitating a residency within Academy Costumes, one of the UK’s leading costumiers for stage and screen, The New Flesh offers artists the chance to explore the transgressive, revolutionary and radical nature of costume both historically and in society today.
The New Flesh was founded by Georgie Brinkman, and works in partnership with LUX and Berwick Film & Media Arts Festival, with financial support from Arts Council England.
Cremona, Vicki Ann. “Costume in carnival: Social performance, rank and status”. Studies in Costume & Performance, Volume 1, Number 1, 1 April 2016, pp. 77-96(20)
Cyrus, Jason (curator), Karin Jones, Gordon Shadrach, and Damian Jöel. History is Rarely Black or White (online exhibition), 2021-current.
van Drielen, Victor. “Dutch Police Will Start Questioning People for Wearing Designer Clothes.” Vice, 18 Jan. 2018.
Hann, Rachel, and Sidsel Bech. "Critical Costume." Scene 2, no. 1-2 (2014): 3-8.
Hann, Rachel. "Costume Politics." In Shared Space: Music, Weather, Politics: New Approaches to Scenography, edited by Branislava Kuburović and Sodja Lotker, 112-131. Prague: Arts and Theatre Institute, 2015.
Pantouvaki, Sofia et al. Critical Costume 2015; New Costume Practices and Performances, 25-27 March 2015, Aalto University, Helsinki.
Weinraub, Leilah, director. Shakedown. 2018.
Artwork by Daeun Lim
Open call organised by
