Open Call: The Catcher of the Eye. SMCK On Reel reshapes aesthetics and promotional strategies at Romanian Jewelry Week 2023

Stories are remembered and retold, while unconnected images fade away. A reel / film / video is a row of moving images that build up a fascinating narrative worth watching. It is an eye-catcher.

SMCK On Reel attracts jewelry VIPs and customers, and creates a new space for promotional strategies. Videos are easy to produce, to present, to screen, to understand, and to love.

Jewelry and other objects star in SMCK On Reel. They reveal the concepts and ideas of their makers.

SMCK On Reel, the first video festival inspired by jewelry and wearable art, addresses artists, designers, crafters, curators, educators, gallerists and art professionals.

Submit your video for SMCK On Reel at Romanian Jewelry Week - National Library of Romania in Bucharest, 4 – 8 October 2023.


Civilization Rebooted
Let’s imagine that our way of life is no longer viable or wished for; either because the conditions are too tough, too dangerous, too unethical to bear - i.e. war, environmental catastrophe, misery, homelessness, social unrest, sanitary restrictions etc - or because the model of life that worked well for many generations: birth - socializing - study - work - conform - consume - accumulate - retire is no longer attractive or sustainable.

This year's SMCK On Reel festival is titled “Civilization Rebooted”. It addresses the very meaning of life, as well as the role of conceptual, performing or ornamental art in a world obsessed with fear and agony, trapped in the continuous concern of escaping imminent dangers; and yet, yearning for change, for love, for renaissance, for political participation, for social justice and equality, for democracy, for new values expressed by new aesthetics, generating new shapes, new materials, new preciousness.

The SMCK On Reel festival focuses on the question: "If we reject our civilization because it has failed to make us happy, how will we be able to shape a new one? “


Participation

Create and send your video, reel or short film based on a personal narrative, story or statement that reflects the title/topic of Civilization Rebooted. Accepted videos will be screened during Romanian Jewelry Week, 4 – 8 October 2023 at the National Library of Romania in Bucharest.

In addition, all videos will be presented on the SMCK On Reel website. SMCK On Reel / Civilization Rebooted at Romanian Jewelry Week will also be featured in SMCK Magazine issue #9 coming out in October 2023.

Individual artists, initiatives or groups working in the field of jewelry art, object, performance, fashion, textile, applied arts or crafts, are welcome to apply. Videos can be filmed with professional video equipment or simply with a mobile phone. What matters is the story or message.

More than 100 international jewelry artists, designers, art institutions and collectives participated in SMCK On Reel 2022 and 2023 – in Munich, Vilnius, Bucharest, Leipzig, Hamburg, Timisoara (European Capital of Culture), Melitzazz Festival, Greece. They have created amazing video short films - artworks in their own right.


Categories / Options

1st Category: Artists, Designers, Crafters
Submit a video (max. 3 minutes – in exceptional cases longer) you made in the last three years, along with a short biography and weblink.
Participation fee: 90,00 euros. No application fee is charged. See technical details below.

2nd Category: Institutions, Galleries, Art & Design Schools
Submit a video (max. 3 minutes – in exceptional cases longer) you made in the last three years, along with a web link.
Participation fee: 140,00 euros. No application fee is charged. See technical details below.

3rd Category: Help! I wish to participate, but I do not know how to shoot a video!
During a weekend ZOOM group workshop - 8 hours altogether - you will learn to write a script that reflects your style and concept, as well as technical tricks and visuals that will help you create an outstanding video.
Group of minimum 4/maximum 8 participants. Participation fee (workshop and Bucharest ROJW screening): 250,00 euros, payable in one or two installments.


How to Apply

1. Video
• Make sure that you have sent us your original video file (not only the video link).
• The video file should be in the highest possible resolution (1920x1080px / 1080x1080 etc. / HD). We accept the video formats: mp4, mpeg4, m4v, mov.
• Your video needs to have a title (usually at the start) and the film credits (usually at the end of the video). Film credits may contain the artist's name, assistants, sound/music, and website link...

2. Statement & Bio
• Please send us a short statement/text about your video with a maximum of 120 words.
• Please also send us a (very) short bio with a maximum of 120 words.

3. Photo(s)
• Send us a minimum of one photo/maximum of up to 4 photos of your jewelry work for SMCK Magazine and the SMCK On Reel website.
• The photo(s) has/have to be of good quality and in high resolution.
• Along with your photo(s), please send the captions, including title, year, category (brooch, necklace, etc.) material, technique of the work - plus the name of the photographer.
 
 
Send your application to: magazine@smck.org

Attachments smaller than 20MB can be sent directly via e-mail. For files larger than 20MB, please use any file-sharing service (WeTransfer etc.). Please try to compile the requested material in one file.

 
Deadline for submissions is Sunday 6 August 2023.

LINKS:
SMCK On Reel Open Call
SMCK On Reel triple edition at ROJW
SMCK On Reel at Romanian Jewelry Week in Timisoara 2023
SMCK On Reel at Romanian Jewelry Week 2022
Romanian Jewelry Week interview with Christoph Ziegler and Loukia Richards