Elephant in the Room

Infrastructures of Signaling in the Art

Elephant in the Room is a project by Conflictorium - Museum of Conflict in India in collaboration with Stroom. It is the conclusion of our long-running program Our House, your Home.

The aim of Elephant in the Room is to initiate conversations on art infrastructures and the way open calls work within the art world. The result is a publication featuring around 70 artists and art writers from India who over the past four years have applied for, but have repeatedly been rejected for financial or other forms of support. In December 2021 Conflictorium issued a 'closed call' for applications, just asking for the name and contact details of the artists and writers, accompanied by two or more rejection letters. Conflictorium and Stroom see the project as a gesture of solidarity and at the same time a critical examination of how 'open calls' within the art world actually work. Can there be an open call that goes beyond the boundaries of its own network? How can we - as art and culture organisations - be more honest with the culture of so-called "open" calls?

Acknowledgments
Elephant in the Room is a collaboration between Conflictorium and Stroom Den Haag and is supported by Prince Claus Fund for Culture and Development, Mondriaan Fund and the City of The Hague.


Cover 'Elephant in the Room'
photo: design: Carmen Dusmet Carrasco