Open Call: Research & Development Opportunities 2026

b-side invites proposals from artists working in any medium for a site-responsive Research & Development opportunity as part of b-side 2026.

Fee: Up to £2500

Deadline: 9th February 2026

We’re excited by proposals that get curious, investigate, and gently disrupt ideas of otherness, oddness, “Islandness”, queerness, using the Isle of Portland as a place of inquiry — to question, listen, and imagine. We welcome approaches that map questions, encounters, and generates research, shared as part of an evolving body of work.

This is a process-led opportunity that offers time and space for exploration within your practice. The Research & Development period will run from April 2026 to March 2027.

About the Theme — That Other Place

That Other Place is a strand of b-side’s wider curatorial framework, Common Lands, which considers the Isle of Portland as a microcosm through which to explore our relationships to land, locality, and community. Under Common Lands, previous festivals have explored: This Land — Portland’s natural and built heritage, and, Who Do We Think We Are? — identity and migration. We are now inviting artists to explore another strand of Common Lands; ‘That Other Place’ — It explores identity, belonging, imagination, ecology, queerness, and transformation. It asks what happens when the land we are standing on — socially, politically, emotionally, imaginatively — no longer feels like it’s working.

  • What does That Other Place mean to you?
  • How do we inhabit spaces of transition or uncertainty?
  • What identities, stories, or ways of being have been overlooked, misread, or othered — and how might they be reclaimed, celebrated, or reimagined?

We invite artists to respond to That Other Place in ways that feel speculative, playful, or meaningful within your practice.

Who can apply?  

Anyone! We welcome proposals from artists at any stage in their career. b-side values diversity and is working to make the application and commissioning process accessible to all and welcomes proposals from those currently under-represented in the arts.

How to apply  

Applications must be made via CuratorSpace (see link below)

The application will ask for:

  • A proposal describing your R&D idea and how it relates to That Other Place
  • A short statement about your practice (portfolio, links, CV if relevant)
  • Any initial thoughts on participation, approach, or engagement
  • A sense of what you’d need to make it happen (timelines, research support, access needs)
  • A budget outline
  • Images or links to previous work

You may apply in written or video/audio format.

Download the full brief below

Apply on Curatorspace using this link https://www.curatorspace.com/opportunities/detail/research-and-development-opportunity/10168

 (NB You will need a Curatorspace account to use this portal, this is free and can be set up very quickly).

Applications must be made via the Curatorspace portal, you can download the full brief below.

APPLY HERE