IOM projects is excited to present Kabayitos Microcinema as part of The Clemente’s Open Studios 2022, taking place on May 21 & May 22, 2022.

We are accepting experimental short film submissions with a maximum running time of 10 minutes. Our selection will be based on artistic expression and poetic form. Entries should be thought-provoking, unconventional, and original.

DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSIONS: MAY 12, 2022 https://artistsallianceinc.submittable.com/submit/224945/kabayitos-microcinema-experimental-short-film-program

Kabayitos theater is a petite, 41-seat micro-theatre in The Clemente. It has showcased the likes of Peter Nikl and Janie Geiser among many others. Historically used for puppet theater, it has always been open for experimental works, which inspired Clemente’s current and former residents Flavia Souza and Lili Chin to launch the first iteration of IOM projects: Kabayitos Microcinema in collaboration with David Pushkin, Gloria Zelaya, Liliya Lifanova and Selime Okuyan.

IOM projects is an artist platform whose mission is to regenerate space and provide agency for under-represented and overlooked works. We invest in projects that are motivated by truth, empathy, poetry, originality, and aesthetics. IOM means ‘a little’ in the international language Esperanto, which resonated with our humble beginnings. We hope to build a thoughtful art community to address topics that are critical and sensitive to our times.

The Clemente Soto Vélez Cultural & Educational Center Inc. is a Puerto Rican/Latinx multi-arts cultural institution that has demonstrated a broad-minded cultural vision and inclusive philosophy rooted in NYC’s Lower East Side/Loisaida. While focused on the cultivation, presentation, and preservation of Puerto Rican and Latinx culture, we are equally committed to a multi-ethnic / international latitude, determined to operate in a polyphonic manner that provides affordable working space and venues to artists, small arts organizations, emergent and independent community producers that reflect the cultural diversity of the LES and our City.

Artists Alliance Inc. is dedicated to launching, strengthening, and advancing the vision of emerging and underrepresented artists and curators through fully-funded residencies, paid exhibition opportunities, and commissioned projects. Rooted in the Lower East Side (a long-standing epicenter of creative experimentation and cultural diversity) and in NYC at-large, AAI cultivates art practices that challenge the way we experience ourselves, our communities, and our world. Through three initiatives—Cuchifritos Gallery + Project Space, LES Studio Program, Public Works—AAI aims to widen the audience for contemporary art and encourage public dialogue using art as a catalyst.