The Imagination Museum
Co-commission 2026-27
Sep 2026 - Apr 2027
Event details
With the Horniman Museum and Gardens and Trinity Laban
Supported with funding from the National Lottery through Arts Council England, the Horniman Museum and Gardens and Trinity Laban, The Imagination Museum dance and heritage network is pleased to announce a £6000 co-commission for a London-based dance artist/s to create an original work in response to the collections of the Horniman Museum and Gardens in London.
The selected artist/s will work collaboratively with participants from Trinity Laban’s adult and community dance programmes who will perform in the finished work. Final performances will take place in April 2027, on-site at the Horniman, including using some of the new areas in the Horniman Gardens (weather-dependent).
In addition to the £6000 fee, the artists will receive:
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Producing support from co-commission partners and The Imagination Museum team e.g. links with groups, support accessing space for rehearsal.
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A choreographic assistant to support weekly rehearsal sessions as needed.
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3 online artist coaching sessions (with creative movement practitioner/researcher and dance/museums specialist Sara Wookey).
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Film/photographic documentation of the work-in-progress and final celebration performances, to be arranged and paid for by The Imagination Museum.
The fee is inclusive of whether you apply as an individual or as part of a collective. We are unable to cover additional travel or accommodation costs.
Eligibility
Co-commissioned artists will:
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Work primarily with dance / movement as part of their practice. We welcome applications from artists working within all forms and genres of dance, who use a range of choreographic processes.
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Have an established choreographic practise of at least 5 years, currently creating dance work within the professional and/or community sector, with experience working site-responsively.
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Be over 21 and able to work in the UK, registered as self-employed with a UTR number.
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Have experience working with a broad range of adult community groups with diverse needs and abilities and a solid understanding of best practice, supporting participants to contribute to development of a project and ensuring their thoughts are heard and reflected in the project content.
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Have an up-to-date Enhanced DBS Check already in place, Public Liability Insurance (limits of indemnity minimum £2 million), solid understanding of safeguarding and the importance of creating a positive empowering environment conducive to participants’ mental health and well-being.
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Be professional, friendly, organised, with experience managing relationships with multiple kinds of partners and responding to a range of sites.
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Be willing to feed into overall project evaluation to ensure learning from the project can be shared more broadly.
The Imagination Museum, Horniman Museum and Garden and Trinity Laban are committed to creating a culture in which diversity and equality of opportunity are promoted actively and in which discrimination is not tolerated. We welcome applications from dance artists of global majority heritage, who identify as LGBTQIA+, D/deaf, disabled, neurodivergent and groups of people who have been traditionally under-represented in the arts.
Application process: Applications will be made through the Imagination Museum Website https://imaginationmuseum.co.uk/london-callout-2026/
The deadline for stage 1 applications is 15 May 2026.
There is an online information session on Monday 11 May, 12 – 1pm.
Book your place here Zoom Q&A for Artist Commission, with Trinity Laban and The Horniman Tickets, Monday, May 11 from 12 pm to 1 pm GMT+1 | Eventbrite
Dates
Please note that the schedule for the project may be subject to change.
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13 Apr 2026 |
Announcement of artist callout |
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11 May 2026 12-1pm (with 30 minutes time for additional questions at the end, for anyone who would like to stay) |
Online lunchtime Q&A with the Horniman Museum and Gardens/Trinity Laban, via Zoom An opportunity for interested artists to hear more about the co-commission and ask any questions. Please book your place here to receive the Zoom link when it is available. The online sessions will also be recorded and made available via the Imagination Museum website. Make sure you join The Imagination Museum here and follow the network on socials (Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheImaginationMuseum and Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/imaginationmuseum/) if you want to be notified when the recordings are available. |
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15 May 2026 at 5pm |
Stage 1 deadline for submitting Expression of Interest |
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By 4 Jun 2026 |
Selected artists will be invited to make a Stage 2 application Further information will be provided about the questions being asked at that stage, and what the panel are looking for in artists’ responses. |
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19 Jun 2026 |
Stage 2 application deadline |
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16 Jul 2026 |
Interviews for shortlisted artists, in person at the Horniman Museum and Gardens. Further information about scheduling will follow. We will provide interview questions in advance, information about the venue and how to get there, and who will be present on the interview day. Shortlisted artists invited to interview will receive a fee of £100 + travel expenses. |
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By 24 Jul 2026 |
Deadline for informing selected artist/s |
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Sep/Oct 2026 |
Commissioned artist/s meeting with partners and finding out more about the Nature + Love project, including the collection and new outdoor spaces; initial exploratory workshop/s with community groups, or representatives of those groups. Note that ‘Day of the Dead’ event at the Horniman on the 31st October will be a good opportunity to see the spaces being used in a similar way to the Spring Fair. |
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w/c 11 Jan – w/c 22 Mar 2027 |
12 weeks or equivalent main creation/rehearsal period Participating community groups would meet weekly on a week day but we will also add in some weekend additional extended rehearsals. |
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Dates tbc |
Final rehearsal on-site (provision will be made for outdoor/indoor options for rehearsals as necessary) |
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Apr 2027 |
Celebration performances, part of Spring Fair |
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End of Sep 2027 |
Documentary films and final evaluation completed |
Contact
If you require any further information please contact the Imagination Museum manager@imaginationmuseum.co.uk