TitleDescriptionDate
Echo-Morphed Mythologies
Open Call announcement (CLOSED)
16th October, 2022
CloseDe Tijdelijk Museum is pleased to announce a new Open Call entitled Echo Morphed Mythologies as a part of our 50 year jubilee. The
Open Call will be followed by a jury selection and a group exhibition, in which one chosen project will be be acquired for the permanent
collection of De Tijdelijk.According to Ovids Metamorphoses , Echo was a mountain-nymph who talked too much but whom amused and
entertained the Gods. Jupiter, the God of the sky, was at the time cheating on his wife Juno with other nymphs from the mountains, and
used Echo to distract his spouse. Juno was initially charmed by Echos chatter, but soon became suspicious. When she realised that she
was being fooled, she cursed Echo, who could now only repeat the last words of others and never compose another sentence of her own.
One day, Echo saw Narcissus, a beautiful warrior-God alone in the woods. She followed him day and night, until he one day sensed her
presence and screamed out Whos there?”. Whos there?” Echo replied. She finally emerged from the bushes and tried to embrace
Narcissus, who in shock that she was an actual being rejected her and threw her away. Heartbroken, Echo kept following Narcissus from
afar, until he one day bended over a pond in the forest to drink a sip of the water. As he saw his own reflection in the surface, he fell utterly
and totally in love. From this day on, Narcissus was unable to leave his own reflection, and neither ate nor drank, until he one day died. When
the other gods came to mourn his death, the body of the young warrior was gone, and in the place of his body a flower had emerged, the
one we today know as the Narcissus Lily. Echo slowly vanished too, until all was left was her voice. She is now forever hiding in the forests.
Metamorphoses , and the myth of Echo and Narcissus can be interpreted as a tale about reflections and replications, the relationship
between the observer and the observed, and of transformation from one form to another. It speaks of lust and rejection, self-absorption
and blind devotion. It can also be seen as a story about mechanisms of distance and isolation, and of the individual versus the collective -
the monologue versus the dialogue. What became of him, who got lost in the forest, and whom refused to indulge in anyone but himself? Or
of she, who devoted her last days echoing the admiration of a man lost in his own self image? Today we see Echo in algorithms and the
mimetic tendencies of the internet and new technologies, and Narcissus has become the name-giver of a personality trait used to
characterise whole generations and certain state leaders alike. We invite the participants of the Open Call to freely interpret the myth and
the concept of metamorphosis according to ones artistic practice, and to connect it to whichever theme one finds relevant and precedent.
The Open Call calls for projects that will challenge the beholder, pose new questions or present unpredictable perspectives - as well as
demonstrations of exquisite craftsmanship and artistic execution. The Open Call is aimed specifically for the proposal of new works, and
each selected participant will receive a budget (depending on the amount of selected applicants) to realise their project. The Open Call is
intended for designers and artists working and/or living in the Netherlands. A selection, made in collaboration between curator Elma Norine
and an independent jury committee, will be on show at the De Tijdelijk from September 2024.