Call for Graphic Designers | CCP, ECF Project Publication
About the Project
As part of the Confronting Colonial Pasts, Envisioning Creative Futures (CCP, ECF) Project (2018-2025), the project partner institutions in Namibia and Germany are in the process of developing a publication about the project. The CCP, ECF project is, to date, the largest collaborative research, exhibition and restitution project in which cultural belongings have been returned from Germany to Namibia.
The project which is funded primarily by the Gerda Henkel Foundation and co-funded by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) and the Heinrich Böll Foundation, is a collaborative project between the Ethnological Museum in Berlin, the Museums Association of Namibia, the Global Heritage Lab of the University of Bonn, the National Museum of Namibia, the Directorate of National Heritage and Culture Programmes in the Ministry of Education, Arts and Culture, the University of Namibia, the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation and the National Art Gallery of Namibia. The project has also received substantial support from the German Lost Art Foundation and the Fashion Council of Namibia.
The project was guided by numerous-multi-stakeholder workshops and engagements which resulted in the development of exhibitions at the Humboldt Forum and the National Art Gallery of Namibia, the establishment of the Museum of Namibian Fashion in Otjiwarongo, Namibia, collaboration with community researchers and contemporary artists in Namibia, training workshops facilitated by Namibian heritage, arts and culture professionals and teaching and research at the University of Namibia.
The Selection Process
We have decided to decolonise the publication process itself. As such, this is not a typical call for a quote and graphic concept, which is often unpaid. Instead, we are initiating a three-step process.
Step 1: First, we invite designers to express their interest by submitting their portfolios. Following this, we will create a shortlist of candidates.
Step 2: During the week of February 17–21, 2025, shortlisted designers will have the opportunity to participate in a Q&A session with the editorial team. This session will provide an overview of the project and our ideas for the publication.
Step 3: Next, shortlisted designers will be invited to submit a design sample along with a quote and a graphic concept sketch. This work will be remunerated. Based on these submissions, we will select the designer for the project.
The graphic concepts or idea sketches will be evaluated according to the following content-related criteria and credited towards the offer price:
- The overall artistic quality of the design idea and fit with the content of the project (40 points)
- The originality of the creative approach (30 points)
- Realisation of design ideas concerning issues of postcolonial provenance research, decolonial approaches in curation, and issues of care and restitution of cultural belongings (30 points)
We would like to actively participate in the development of the publication, offering extensive support and facilitating an exchange of ideas. Therefore, please also take into account the time required for
- Five two-hour workshops
- and optionally state your hourly rate for any further consultation appointments that may become necessary.
The Publication
The publication will be an anthology that reflects the various phases of the project as well as the different perspectives and experiences of the more than 40 contributors. It will offer theoretical and practical insights into collaborative provenance research, restitution, and an artistic and communal re-engagement with cultural belongings by cultural practitioners, museum staff, researchers, and communal knowledge keepers. The publication, thus, speaks to the decolonial turn in museum practice and critical museum studies and targets academics, students, heritage enthusiasts, and practitioners, providing impetus for future projects on the joint research, curation, and return of cultural belongings from colonial contexts. The publication is planned in English with supplementary parts in Namibian languages (Khoekhoegowab, Otjiherero, and Oshikwanyama) and German. Therefore, its design is envisioned to reflect the multi-perspectivity and multi-vocality of the project in a creative, sensitive, and innovative way.
The publication will encompass approximately 400 pages. Due to this volume, selected shortlisted designers will be kindly asked to prepare a quotation and sketch of the concept for the graphic design of the publication for two alternative formats:
Format 1:
- A book with approximately 400 manuscript pages of 3,100 characters each and approximately 100 illustrations (full colour, 34 full-page, 34 half-page, 32 quarter-page)
- Format 24.5x28.5 cm
- Design and typesetting of the multilingual edition
Format 2:
- Slipcase with 4 booklets (publication parts)
- Approximately 100 manuscript pages of 3,100 characters per booklet
- The approximately 100 illustrations (full colour, 34 full-page, 34 half-page, 32 quarter-page) should be evenly distributed throughout the four issues
- Booklets with softcover and slipcase as hardcover
- Format 24.5x28.5 cm
- Design and typesetting of the multilingual edition
Submission and Inquiries
We look forward to your expression of interest by 12 February 2025
Email addresses: info@museums.com.na
Copy in: lrunden@uni-bonn.de
Please feel free to send any questions and queries you may have to the email addresses above.
Click here to download the full call.
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