Announcement of the art competition by MÜNZENBERG FORUM BERLIN 2017

MÜNZENBERG FORUM BERLIN announces an art competition in three categories – Film, Photography and Collage – for the second time. In each category, a prize money of up to 5.000 € will be awarded. A jury decides on its division among the winners.

This year’s motto is „What are the facts to you? If they do not know what to do with it!”

The motto refers to an issue of the 1924 edition of the magazine „Der Gegner“ (The Opponent) published by MALIK VERLAG, which was banned by censorship. At the same time, the title suggests the bridge to WILLI MÜNZENBERGs script “Propaganda als Waffe” (Propaganda as a Weapon), published in the Paris Exile in ÉDITONS DU CARREFOUR. In this he deals with the advent, the mechanisms, the spreading and the effects of the reactionary, nationalist and chauvinist propaganda of the Nazis.
The MALIK VERLAG was founded in March 1917 in the middle of the First World War by the brothers WIELAND HERZFRELDE and JOHN HEARTFIELD together with GEORGE GROSZ and developed until 1933 to the largest independent left publishing house of the Weimar Republic. With the fascist assumption of power, the three founders and the majority of the writers had to emigrate from Germany. Many books of the publishing house have been confiscated and destroyed in the book burning.
In times when facts and connections are denied, distorted, shortened or replaced by alternatives, the MÜNZENBERG FORUM BERLIN sees a special relevance of the work of the protagonists mentioned.

MÜNZENBERG FORUM BERLIN expects submissions, which deal with/ address today’s sociopolitical developments. Deadline for all categories is 18. September 2017.

Competition photography “Use Photography as Weapon”
The photo competition is aimed at all photographers in Germany and abroad, who have not yet completed their forty years of age on 01.04.2017.
Up to three individual images or a consistent series / reportage of up to 10 images can be submitted. Please send your images in digital form directly to foto@muenzenbergforum.de or via fileshare platform (for example, https://wetransfer.com/) by 18 September 2017.
The images must be submitted as high-resolution jpegs with an edge length (long side) of 3500 pixels. Please do not send PDFs! The application should also include: the title of the photos, the year of the creation of the pictures, an explanation of the work on a maximum A4 page with reference to the competition motto, a CV showing the artistic development.

Please note that there is an extra competition for collages!

Exhibition and Publication
The winning pictures as well as selected photos will be exhibited in the foyer of the FMP1 (Franz-Mehring-Platz 1, 10243 Berlin) from 1 November to 30 November 2017. In addition, the pictures will be published in a special publication of the daily newspaper `neues deutschland` and on the website of the Münzenberg Forum Berlin for documentation.

Competition film “Conquer the Film”-Prize
The film competition is aimed at all filmmakers in Germany and abroad, who have not yet completed their forty years of age on 01.04.2017.
A film with a maximum length of 30 minutes can be submitted.
Please send your film in digital form directly to film@muenzenbergforum.de or via fileshare platform by 18 September 2017. The film should have an HD resolution (720p or higher) with a 16: 9 aspect ratio. Desired file formats are mp4, wmv, avi and mov.

The application should also include: the title of the film and the release year, an explanation of the work on a maximum A4 page with reference to the competition motto, a CV showing the artistic development.

Exhibition and Publication
The winning films as well as selected submissions will be exhibited in the foyer of the FMP1 (Franz-Mehring-Platz 1, 10243 Berlin) from 1 November to 30 November 2017. In addition, the films will be shown during the awards ceremony and a Trailer will be published on the website of the Münzenberg Forum Berlin for documentation.

Competition collage “Take Newspapers, use Scissors”
The collage competition is aimed at all artists and designers in Germany and abroad, who have not yet completed their forty years of age on 01.04.2017.
Up to three individual works may be submitted. Please send high-resolution images of your works in digital form directly to collage@muenzenbergforum.de or via fileshare platform by 18 September 2017. Allowed are: any kind of (two dimensional) visual collage, i.e. image collage, photomontage. Excluded are plastic collages or montages and sculptures. The original works must be available for the exhibition period.

The application should also include: the title of the works, the year of the creation,
an explanation of the works on a maximum A4 page with reference to the competition motto, a CV showing the artistic development.

Exhibition and Publication
The winning collages as well as selected works will be exhibited in the foyer of the FMP1 (Franz-Mehring-Platz 1, 10243 Berlin) from 1 November to 30 November 2017. In addition, images of the works will be published in a special publication of the daily newspaper `neues deutschland` and on the website of the Münzenberg Forum Berlin for documentation.

GUIDELINES for the art competition in all three categories
1) The artists participating assure that they own the copyrights on the submitted works (text/lyrics, image etc.). Furthermore they asssure that no rights to the submitted works and used material are held by third parties and that, in cases where individuals or enterprises are shown, no individual rights or corporate rights are infringed upon.
2) The artists participating release the organizer of all liability claims by third parties concerning the violation of copyright issues mentioned in paragraph 1.
3) The organizer of the competition respects the image and exploitation rights of the participants. By submitting the works the participant guarantees the organizer to publish/ and use the images of the submitted works and to exhibit the works free of charge in the context of the competition and the following exhibition.
4) Submitted contributions and data are stored for the purposes of the competition. They will not be passed on to third parties. Participants who receive a prize money will be published on the web pages and social media channels of the organizer with their (artist) name and, if applicable, a web presence.
5) Post-submitted contributions can not be returned.
6) The legal process for the competition is excluded.

Data privacy agreement
Specified, personal participant data are stored, processed and used solely for the purpose of carrying out this competition and contacting the winners. This data is not passed on to third parties.
Further information about the competition will be available to interested parties in the coming weeks on www.münzenbergforum.de.