During Para Site’s 25th anniversary year in 2021, held under the 25+25 vision that honours the communities built over the past quarter century and commits to the foundations of the next, we are delighted to announce the 29 recipients of the NoExit Grant for Unpaid Artistic Labour—Philippines:
The recipients of the grant will each receive 20,000 HKD for unrestricted use. Recognising the severe and ongoing impact of the pandemic in the Philippines and on its art scene; the long, profound, and often unacknowledged connections between Hong Kong and the Philippines; as well as the urgent need for international solidarity, in particular in close vicinities, Para Site organised the 2021 edition of NoExit Grant for Unpaid Artistic Labour directed entirely to artists in the Philippines at the same amount and conditions as the first edition of the grant in 2020, which was dedicated to artists in Hong Kong.
The 2021 edition also continues the spirit of the previous edition, acknowledging the precarious nature of artistic labour where, also prior to the pandemic, crucial parts of the artistic production process went unpaid and unacknowledged. Different from most kinds of financial support for which recipients are required to deliver set outcomes, the NoExit Grant for Unpaid Artistic Labour—Philippines wishes to provide a small but unique and necessary contribution at the crucial (yet often uncompensated) phase in artistic practice that allows thinking to flourish, outside of daily stress and without the pressure to produce, functioning in a way like an artist residency without travel.
The 2021 NoExit Grant for Unpaid Artistic Labour—Philippines also expanded its eligibility to include, beside visual artists, curators, writers, filmmakers, and choreographers.
The grantees were selected through open call by a jury composed of Cosmin Costinas (Para Site Executive Director/Curator, Hong Kong), Celia Ho (Para Site Curator, Hong Kong), Eisa Jocson (choreographer and dancer, Philippines), Moira Lang (filmmaker and writer, Philippines), and Gary Ross Pastrana (visual artist, Philippines).
The grants this year are made possible by an anonymous donor, with three additional grants supported by Jam Acuzar, Mara Coson, and Mercedes Zobel.