CARETAKERS WANTED! Open Call for the project "Art and Soil Sciences in Dialogue”

6/7 May to 8 July 2022

Gallery of the Office for Academic Heritage of TU Dresden and Ursula Walter Galerie, Dresden

© he Rockbund Art Museum_Shangai_2017_Courtesy_The Rockbund Art Museum_Foto_Ray Stonada

The artist Asad Raza (*1974 in Buffalo, USA, lives in Berlin and New York City) has been invited to develop a participatory and interactive installation for the University Gallery of the Office for Academic Heritage of TU Dresden and the project space of Galerie Ursula Walter in the winter of 2021/22 for an overarching show on the theme of art and soil science, opening in April and May 2022.

In his artistic works, Asad Raza is interested in the connection and exchange between human and non-human beings who simultaneously create and inhabit their environments. The artist not only makes these experiential spaces accessible in his installations, but explicitly invites participation and sharing in them. For Raza, exhibitions are also activity zones in which he initiates a dialogue, also dissolving boundaries between the disciplines of art and science.

Raza's project brings together a group of "caretakers" who take on various tasks in connection with the installations in the University Gallery and the Ursula Walter Gallery: Interacting with visitors, communicating the work, and caring for the living trees.

We are looking for curious, communicative, attentive and enthusiastic people who live in Dresden and the surrounding area.

The specific tasks are as follow:

Taking care of the installation:

• measuring pH of the soil
• raking, adding and mixing materials according to the artist's instructions
• caring for the living trees such as watering

Visitor contact and educational mediation:

• sharing information with visitors about the installations and the process of renaturalizing the earth, as well as caring for the trees.
• offering soil to take with them

We’re looking for you!

• You convince with your communication skills and a friendly demeanor.
• Very good knowledge of German and English.
• Participants are not required to have any previous experience in the arts, or as performers.

Welcome to us!

• Offered is a performance-based payment on an hourly basis in the amount of gross 9.82 EUR/hour.
• Hours of participation are flexible, however a minimum of 6 working hours per week during the project period is preferred.
• Group interviews and an artistic introduction with Asad Raza and project participants will take place on April 5, 2022 (10am to 3pm).

If you are interested, please submit a short text (one paragraph) describing your motivation for participating in the project and briefly tell us about yourself in a few words.Please submit the motivation letter without your personal data.

Please RSVP by March 25, 2022 at and let us know the dates you would be available during the exhibition period (6/7 May – 8 July 2022).

 We look forward to receiving your application!

In cooperation with: Green Office, TU Dresden, tuuwi – TU Umweltinitiativ