Artists
Cement Fields has grown out of Whitstable Biennale, a festival of contemporary visual arts, and we define ourselves as a visual arts organisation. We often work with other art forms in an interdisciplinary way which is rooted in a visual arts practice.
We commission artists to create experimental and risk-taking new work, often working with place and people.
If you’d like to hear about opportunities please join our mailing list and follow us on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.
Early Career Artists
An important strand of our work is with early career visual artists, on projects and programmes that support their practice and career development.
We define early career artists as those who are in the first 10 years or their career, and/or have not yet had a major opportunity with a publicly funded arts organisation.
Whitstable Biennale is our major platform for commissioning new work with early-career artists, every two years. Other opportunities include residencies and commissions.
Open Programmes
Whitstable Biennale has an open-platform fringe programme, called the Whitstable Satellite, which attracts around 120 artists for each edition. We are unable to offer funds to take part in the Satellite, but we can provide support in the form of artists’ surgeries and information packs.
Estuary 2021, led in partnership with fellow arts organisation Metal, also supports an Associated Programme. Offering artists, community groups and cultural organisations around the Thames Estuary the opportunity to promote an event during the festival.
Submissions
The majority of our artistic programme is initiated and curated by our programme team. We work closely with partners, communities and external curators in the planning of our programme.
We also invite shortlists of artists to submit work to be selected by a panel, and stage open calls, which are always free to enter. To ensure you hear about all opportunities, join our mailing list and follow us on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.
If having seen our artistic programme you think your work, or an idea you have, has particular resonance with our work, you can email us or send us information in the post. Unfortunately, we do not have the resources to give feedback on unsolicited proposals.
Fair Pay
We are committed to making sure those who work in the arts are properly and fairly paid. We support the Paying Artists campaign launched in 2014, and the Exhibitions Payment Guide published in 2016.
Diversity and Equality
We work in the Thames Estuary, an area with a rich history connected to the global growth and diversity of London, and which includes some of the most socio-economically disadvantaged communities in the UK.
We are committed to transparency in our processes, and support Arts Council England’s Creative Case for Diversity. We acknowledge the structural inequalities in society which manifest in structural exclusion from the arts, and we actively strive to ensure that our programme reflects the diversity of contemporary society in the UK as a whole.