Together with London’s Institute of Contemporary Arts, Dr. Martens have pledged a bold commitment to supporting the next generation of UK artistic talent at a time when it is needed most.  A total of £60,000, made up of seven individually commissioned grants, will be available to emerging artists working in film and moving image, with the winners set to make up the ICA’s annual Image Behaviour exhibition later this year.

Image Behaviour reflects the ICA’s crucial role in identifying new film talent. Previous participants include Derek Jarman, Steve McQueen and Matthew Barney, as well as more recent works by James Richards, Metahaven and Martine Syms. Together with Dr. Marten’s, who themselves have a proud history of supporting progressive culture in the capital, an open-call application process will establish the latest names to join the programme’s prestigious alumni. In conjunction with the screening, an online symposium of seminars and streams will explore the rapidly shifting place of moving image making in 2021.

With six grants of £5,000 and one of £30,000, as well as mentoring and support packages,   moving image artists of every conceivable background are encouraged to apply, even with no official training. Following twelve months of lockdown, this year’s competition will focus on supporting artists engaged in new approaches to art-making and visual presentation in the wake of the pandemic.  Each submission will be reviewed by an international jury, applicants must be UK-based and above the age of 16.

The open-call for Image Behaviour applications is now open and runs until 30 March. Find more information on the application process here and on previous exhibitions here.