Notice of competition

1 – Object
With the support of the Regional Committee for Education, Culture, Sport and Peace of the autonomous region Friuli Venezia Giulia and the Credito Cooperativo del Carso, and with the cooperation of the Ministry for Arts and Culture and the State Library in Trieste, the Cultural Association Acquamarina is launching the 2007 edition of the international visual digital arts competition “The Brain Project”.

2 – Terms of participation
The competition is open to Italian and non-Italian digital artists. There are no limitations in terms of artistic expression (painting, photography, graphic design), provided that they are produced or completed by emans of computer devices. Participation is fee.

3 – Terms of exclusion
Members of the jury, members of the organizational secretariat, the persons who wrote the notice of competition and the attached documents are excluded from participating in the competition.

4 – Subject matter and technical requirements
The subject matter of the competition is “Attraction”.
Each participant can send only one digital image by accessing the special form under the “join the contest” button on the competition website www.thebrainproject.eu

Technical requirements:
- 1000X1000 pixels, full square size
- file must not exceed 750 KB (0.73 MB)
- .JPG format
- RGB colour model

The name of the file must correspond to that of the participant (e.g. john_smith.jpg)
The thirty artists selected by the jury will be requested to post their work on the competition website (FTP) in a high resolution format and to meet the following requirements:
- 3500 X 3500 pixels
- tiff or .psd file format (no levels)
- RGB color model
Works carrying the names or initials of the artists will not be accepted.
All the information requested in the form must be given, with the only exception of one’s personal website, unless participants have one. In case they fail to comply with this rule, his/her application will not be considered.

5 – Application stages and deadlines
A – Works will have to be sent to the given e-mail address together with the application form by and not later than 23rd October 2007. The application form is to be found under the competition’s website www.thebrainproject.eu Works sent later than 23rd October 2007 will not be considered;
B – The thirty artists selected by the jury will be notified by 31st October 2007. They will be requested to post their work on the competition website (FTP) in a high resolution format and to meet the following requirements:
- 3500 X 3500 pixels
- tiff or .psd file format (no levels)
- RGB color model
Artists will have to send a signed declaration permitting the use of their works to the following address: Acquamarina – Associazione Culturale - Concorso The brain project – 2006 – Casella Postale 1389 – c/o Ufficio Postale TS – Piazza Verdi n. 1 – 34121 – Trieste - Italy.
Should the organising committee be unable to contact one or more participant(s) or should any of the participants fail to send their work in a high definition format together with a copy of the signed declaration permitting the use of their works, he/she will be excluded from both the exhibition and the exhibition magazine and be replaced by other participants ranked after number 30. A downloadable template file of the declaration is available on the competition website.
C – Notice of the selected works and of the absolute winner will be given on 23rd November 2007 at the inauguration of the exhibition. A list of the selected works and the name of the winner will be posted on the competition website and in a virtual gallery on 24th November 2007.
D – The works selected will be displayed at the State Library (Biblioteca Statale) in Trieste from 23rd November to 5th December 2007, in the virtual art gallery on the competition website and at any other venues where the organising committee will intend to mount exhibitions for promotional purposes.
E – 1000 copies of the exhibition magazine will be published.
F – The 30 selected artists will receive one copy of the exhibition magazine free of charge, provided that they collect it in Trieste either at the Association’s head office – by previous agreement – or at the inauguration at the State Library. A copy of the exhibition magazine can be requested via e-mail and be sent against reimbursement of shipping costs.

6 – Selection jury
The selection jury will be comprised of:
Riccardo Baldassarri – photographer, member of the jury and founder of the competition, Trieste.
Annamaria Castellan - President of the cultural association Acquamarina, Trieste
Emanuela De Marchi - film director, president of “Mismas eventi”, working in the show and training business - Milan
Antonio Giusa - curator of “Spilimbergo fotografia “- Udine
Riccardo Paci - winner of “The brain project 2006” edition – artist and computer engineer- Florence
Tatjana Rojc – literary critic – Univeristy of Udine
Alessandro Rosada - gallery manager - Trieste
Roberto Salbitani - photographer - Rome

Works will be evaluated by the jury until and not later than 26th October 2007 in a specially dedicated section on the competition website that they can access from their PCs. Each member of the jury will rate each picture from 0 to 10. On 27th October the organisational staff will then proceed to calculate the total rating and thus identify the thirty best works which will be displayed at the State Library (Biblioteca Statale) in Trieste and published in the exhibition magazine. The jury will also be in charge of identifying the works to be posted on the competition website. The verdict expressed by the jury is unquestionable and unappealable.

7 – Selection procedure
Works reaching the secretariat will be analysed and evaluated by a panel of technical and art experts. The thirty pictures obtaining the highest rating will be displayed at an exhibition and published in a design book, of which only one thousand copies will be released. All other pictures, if considered worthy of attention by the selection panel, will be published on the competition website www.thebrainproject.eu .
Running alongside “The brain project” 2008 exhibition – displaying the works of the 30 winners – there will be a parallel exhibition dedicated to the artist obtaining the highest rating in the 2007 edition. A short monograph about him/her will be published in the exhibition magazine, 10 copies of which will be provided to him/her. He/she will also be invited to be a member of the jury.

8 – Deadlines
- 23 October deadline for posting of pictures;
- 26 October deadline for selections;
- 27 October identification of the 30 best works and of the absolute winner of the competition;
- by 29 October notification of the results of the competition;
- by 31 October posting of files in a high resolution format on the competition website;
- 23 November inauguration of the exhibition and presentation of the exhibition magazine;
- 24 November posting of both the names of the 30 works selected and of all the works participating in the competition as well as of the ones selected in the virtual gallery on the competition website.

9 – Ownership and copyright policy
Participants will own copyright and intellectual property rights of the selected works.
The Cultural Association Acquamarina reserves the right to use the selected works for any kind of promotional activity. The name of the artist will always be mentioned, without this involving any kind of charge on his or her part or on that of third parties.

10 - Liability
As creator of his or her work, each participant in the competition accepts full liability for the content of the respective work, thus exonerating the Cultural Association Acquamarina from any responsibility.

11 - Acceptance of the competition rules
Participation in the competition involves the unconditional acceptance of all the rules described in the present notice of competition. Acceptance of such rules will be tacitly confirmed through the application and the posting of the required material.

12 - Circulation of the notice of competition
The present notice of competition is subdivided into eleven points. It will be circulated through the press by means of a press conference.

INFO:

Competition website: www.thebrainproject.eu
e-mail: info@thebrainproject.eu

Acquamarina – Associazione Culturale
General coordinator: Annamaria Castellan
mobile: +39 347 2350025 – e-mail: acquamarina.amc@virgilio.it

Press Office: Maurizio Bekar – www.bekar.net - bekar.net@operamail.com