FIRST EMAIL

Thanks for your email and interest in 798 ICAF! We have some great opportunities for artists, designers, authors, illustrators, educators and creative people from all over the world to get involved with both in China and from your own countries. So, I’ll tell you a little more about 798 ICAF then we can discuss how you might be involved.
 
The main projects we’re working on now are:
 
·      798 International Children’s Art Festival (798 ICAF)
·      China Children’s Book Expo (CCBE)
·      Art+798 Online Arts Education Platform (Art+798 Online)
·      Art+798 International Art Education Centre (Beijing)
·      The Book Cellar (Beijing)
 
798 ICAF is China’s biggest children’s art festival, held annually and based in the world-renowned 798 Art District in Beijing. You can check out last year’s ICAF video here and our Facebook page here. Over the course of the festival, children are encouraged to explore creativity using a variety of media with guidance from established and emerging artists from all over the world. Our mission is to build an intercultural learning platform for children to explore art, enjoy creativity and have the opportunity to exhibit their work. For 798 ICAF, we’re looking for artists and performers who can run arts workshops, build participatory installations or perform at our festivals and events in cities across China. Funding is available for flights, accommodation and a daily artist fee.
 
In collaboration with the long-established Beijing Reading Festival, we also organise China Children’s Book Expo (CCBE), a cultural event and industry expo open to all. The 2015 CCBE (May 28 – June 1, 2015) incorporated 798 ICAF (Arts Festival) and CCBE (Book Expo) on the same site! We invite children’s book authors, illustrators, storytellers, performers, publishers and industry professionals to attend and get involved with interactive workshops, seminars, lectures, exhibitions, and a whole host of other activities as part of a very family-focused Children’s Book Expo. Please find the CCBE website here. We’re accepting applications from children’s book publishers, authors and illustrators from around the world who have something to share in China’s vast and growing children’s publishing market. While the expo is geared towards families, we’re also putting together a program of interactive and informative conferences, seminars and workshops for industry professionals. For CCBE 2016, we’re working with authors, illustrators, storytellers, publishers and performers to host activities for children and their families at the expo, either on-site or through a variety of multimedia content. CCBE 2016 will run for 10 days in mid-July.
 
Having already organised festivals and events in cities across China, including Beijing, Shenyang, Quanzhou and Wuhan, we’re continuously expanding to more cities across China. In addition to live events and festivals, we’re now setting up the Art+798 Online Arts Education Platform, which offers children the opportunity to learn from artists and creative professionals all around the world, throughout the year! Students across China are able to login from the comfort of their own homes and participate in arts workshop series taught by creative professionals around the world via live video streamed workshops or pre-recorded video tutorials. There’s funding available for visual artists and designers to plan and lead regular art & design workshops, to be taught through video from the comfort of their own homes or studios. We’re also looking for people around the world to create short “Art Inspiration” video clips, introducing arts & culture from around the world. It could be a museum or gallery tour, an introduction to some of your own favourite artworks, insight into what inspires you to make art or a glimpse of your own culture’s traditions.
 
Art+798 isn’t just online classes however, in January 2016, we opened our very own Art+798 International Art Education Centre in the heart of Beijing’s renowned 798 Arts District. We have arts workshop spaces, a performance and events space, dance studio with small stage, exhibition space for children to put on shows of their own work and an artist studio for international artists to undertake teaching residencies! We’re working with artists, art teachers and arts education professionals from around the world to develop our Art+798 International Art Education Centre arts programme. We’re always looking for more creatively-minded artists and educators to lead workshops and courses in our arts centre, either on-site or through pre-recorded video tutorials and live video streaming. For artists already based in Beijing or China, this centre could be an excellent opportunity for regular collaboration. We’ll also be looking to connect with schools, arts centres, theatres, museums and galleries overseas to embark on an interactive and collaborative program of special online arts education events, creating a fantastic link between our centre in Beijing and the rest of the world.
 
Finally, in 2016 we’re opening the Beijing “Book Cellar”, which will operate as both bookshop and library, with events on a wide variety of topics programmed throughout the year for adults and children. For this Book Cellar, we’re sourcing a wide variety of books and publications from publishers and distributors all over the world, to offer visitors a vast book collection from which to peruse and buy. The Book Cellar store also offers artists and designers from around the world a space to sell their art and design work. We’re seeking publishers and distributors as sources of good-quality books for this vast book collection. We’re also looking for partners in Beijing, China and overseas to work with on a wide-ranging program of talks, lectures, workshops and other events, both on and offline in the Book Cellar. Artists and designers will soon be able to apply to sell their work in the store of the Book Cellar.
 
For all of these projects, we’re constantly looking for more international artists, illustrators, children’s book publishers, designers, children’s authors, arts educators and other creative people to work with. We have plenty of opportunities for people from all over the world to get involved, with funding available to support their work. You could find yourself invited to China to perform or lead workshops on-site at 798 ICAF or CCBE, engaging with Chinese students throughout the year teaching your own art workshop series through Art+798 Online Arts Education Platform, networking with Chinese publishers at CCBE, selling art and design work in the Book Cellar store or spending a month in the heart of Beijing’s art scene as a Resident Teaching Artist at our Art+798 International Art Education Centre!
 
For more information about the projects you’re interested in, please see the attached “Art+798 FAQ’s”. To apply, simply complete the relevant sections of the attached “Artist Introduction” application form and send it back to us! (Text in red should be deleted and changed to information about you. Please follow the format given in the application form as closely as possible.) 

There are 3 parts to the application, please make sure to fill out all sections:
Personal Information (about you!)
On-site festival workshop proposal
Online workshop series proposal

If you’re already based in China and have some ideas for one-off event ideas in our arts centre, you can fill out the “Art+798 Special Event Proposal”.
 
For more information on our various projects and how to apply, please see the attached Art+ 798 FAQ’s document. The next deadline for submissions is March 15th, after this date, we’ll be selecting the next round of artists for the 798 ICAF Online Arts Education Platform. I recommend getting your application in early so you can be considered for upcoming festivals and events in China!
 
I look forward to hearing back from you soon about your workshop ideas. Any questions you’ve got, let me know!
 
Thanks very much,

For further informations, please don’t hesitate to contact me
itsminamina@yahoo.com