school of commons open call 2023

Call for projects! School of Commons (SoC) is looking for groups and individuals who would like to conduct their research and practice as a part of the SoC community and informal study programme from May 2023 - February 2024.

What is School of Commons? School of Commons is an informal study programme dedicated to the development of self-organised knowledge and alternative methods for learning, located at the Zurich University of the Arts, but taking place mostly online. Within SoC, we hope to establish a community of practitioners in which reciprocal exchange, experimentation and openness, peer learning, and a friendly atmosphere are the main ingredients. As such, the content and position of SoC is heavily defined by its community.

SoC endeavours to enact and explore alternative and experimental methods for collaboration and exchange, as well as the critical evaluation and exploration of how knowledge is produced and shared, by learning with and from our peers and others in related fields. At the core of SoC is the maintenance of relational practices and a process-oriented approach. SoC works inwardly in these ways, but also outwardly too, by organising events to make the work and practice of participants public, including workshops, exhibitions and performances.

The learning environment that SoC aims to facilitate and encourage is self-directed, experimental, collaborative, non-hierarchical, and welcomes those who engage with these notions in different ways and wish to expand their research and practice by multiplying it towards others. Through its programme, SoC creates a carefully curated network and environment of people. Participants are typically practitioners and researchers who define themselves as: artists, musicians, designers, dancers, architects, linguists, publishers, programmers, mathematicians, and scientists. However, we actively encourage applicants from various, diverse backgrounds to allow for a richly diverse cohort of participants.