The open call element of our next Cultivate group show, Mixtape No.3, is very very much open at the moment. We do like open calls and we are very vocal about the open call policy and especially in terms of the cynical practice of charging and exploiting artists in terms of so called administration fees and demanding money just to open an e.mail from an artist, something we would never ever dream of doing.  As we do keep saying, the open call element of any group show is important to us, hearing from new artists is important (as is hearing from artists who have taking part in previous shows and events). We go into far more detail about all this on our Open Call page.  Mixtape No.3 will mostly feature artists we are already aware of, artists we have approached and invited to take part (or artists we are inviting right now), but do feel free to nudge us, we would guess that over two thousand artists have been involved in Cultivate exhibitions and events by now, it is sometimes difficult to keep up with everyone (we have a very big spreadsheet here in the studio), do nudge us and do feel free to make a submission if you feel you have something that fits. We are ery (very) picky and it really does have to be right but…. Do check out the previous Mixtape show, Mixtape No.2

We are inviting artists right now, artists we know already and have worked with before, artists we’ve spotted online or at shows. I did spend sometime going through the Working Class Artist database over the weekend, I am aware, as someone very much from a working class background how often finance means a door cannot be pushed open and that when one these galleries or curators (or alas, artists) charging a submission fee, whe nchalleenged, will say something like “oh what’s thirty quid?”, when quite often, to some people ten pound here, twenty quid there, another £30 over there is a lot and just can’t be done, what is thirty quid? Quite a lot to some people!  The Open Call element of Mixtape No.3 closes on Sunday January 29th, but please, if you can please don’t leave it until the last minute.

Mixtape No.3 will open online on Tuesday February 7th, once again hosted on our sister Organ website, the exhibition will be the first of a Cultivate Spring series of on-line show that will run from early February until the end of April with a number of carefully curated group shows, more Three x Three shows and the first of a series of solo shows that will open in the Spring, the first of which will me a multi media artist who has been showing regularly via our on-line shows in recent time, More about Melike and her solo show in a little while. We like the way the on-line exhibitions have gone over the last couple of years, we’ve found lots of positive, especially the fact that it takes us beyond those insular London bubble. (sw)