The Cultural Association Acquamarina is organising “The Brain Project – 2006”, the first international competition on visual digital art aimed at promoting and popularizing art in its most innovative aspects. Works in digital format will be admitted with no limitations in terms of artistic expression and its influence through the different techniques adopted (painting, photography, graphic design). However, they must be created by means of digital processing and sent via web.
The subject matter of the first edition is “Borders”, a topical issue, and provocative for those working and looking into the future. Despite its recent creation, visual digital art is part of the new media art and is therefore subject to constant evolution. This is why the works created so far, or being created now, can be considered temporary expressions of what will be defined as digital art in the future. A drawing by Leonardo Da Vinci has been chosen as the logo representing “The Brain Project – 2006”: it is the image of a horse, a symbol of creativity.
All the artists using this form of expression are therefore welcome to participate in the competition to bear witness of their artistic research and offer a comprehensive and far-reaching description of future developments in digital art. A panel of experts will select the thirty best works, analysing them from a creational, technical and consistency point of view. The panel’s verdict will be posted on the competition website as soon as it is known.
The selected works will be displayed at the Biblioteca Statale (State Library) in Trieste from 12th January to 10th February 2007 and in a virtual gallery on both the competition and the Cultural Association Acquamarina websites. They will also be published in the exhibition catalogue. 

								Annamaria Castellan
President of the Cultural Association Acquamarina

“The brain project – 2006”
International competition on visual digital arts

Notice of competition

1 – Object
Following an idea of Riccardo Baldassarri, the Cultural Association Acquamarina, 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, is launching the 2006 edition of the international competition “The Brain Project” on visual digital art. 

2 – Subject matter and technical requirements.
The subject matter of the first edition is “Borders”.
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 
The technical requirements are the following (see also the contest template file):
- 576X576 pixels
- file size must not exceed 250 KB (0,25 MB)
- JPG format
- RGB colour mode
- The name of the file must correspond to that of the participant (e.g. john_smith.jpg)
All the information requested in the form must be given, with the only exception of one’s personal website (if participants do not have one). In case participants fail to comply with this rule, his/her application will not be considered.

3 – Terms of participation
The competition is open to Italian and non-Italian digital artists. There is no subscription fee.

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

5 – Selection procedure
The 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 the competition catalogue, 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 website together with the author’s personal details.

6 – Selection panel
The selection panel is comprised of the following:
Prof. Edward Zajec, Syracuse University, Syracuse, New York (President of the selection panel)
Dr. Giulio Montenero, member of the panel, art critic, Trieste
Mrs. Alda Balestra von Stauffenberg, member of the panel – Artist’s talent scout, Berlin
Mr. Riccardo Baldassarri, photographer, member of the panel and founder of the competition, Trieste.
Mrs. Annamaria Castellan, President of Cultural Association Acquamarina, member of the panel, Trieste.
Works will be evaluated by the panel until and not later than 25th November 2006 in a specially dedicated section on the competition website. Each member of the panel will rate each picture from 1 to 10. 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 competition catalogue. The panel will also have the task of identifying which works will be posted on the competition website. The verdict expressed by the panel is unquestionable and unappealable.

7 – Application stages and deadlines
A – Works will have to be sent together with the application form by web and not later than 20th November 2006. The application form is to be found under the competition’s website www.thebrainproject.eu. Works sent later than 20th November 2006 will not be considered;
B – Notice of the selected works will be posted on the competition website and on the websites below on 30th November 2006;
C – The thirty artists selected by the panel of experts will be notified via e-mail by and not later than 10th December 2006. Their names will also appear on the competition website. The thirty selected artists will subsequently have to send by post their works in a CD-ROM in a high definition format (the files must have a high resolution). Their application form will also have to be included together with the application form duly signed and dated (declaration permitting the use of their works). The above mentioned material is to be sent 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.
The technical requirements for high resolution files are:
- 3500 X 3500 pixels, 254 dpi
- RGB colour mode
- .tif file format
- The name of the file must correspond to that of the participant (e.g. john_smith.tif)
A downloadable template file is available on the competition website www.thebrainproject.eu to clear any doubt.
A delay in posting the above mentioned material (CD-ROM, application form duly signed and dated  - declaration allowing the use of their works) will entail the exclusion of this artist’s work from the exhibition and the catalogue.
D – The selected works will be displayed at the State Library (Biblioteca Statale) in Trieste from 12th January to 10th February 2007, in the virtual art gallery on the competition website and on the competition catalogue.

8 – 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.

9 – 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.

10 – Acceptance of the competition’s rules
Participation in the competition involves the unconditional acceptance of all the rules described in the present notice and will be tacitly perfected through the application and the posting of the required material.

11 – 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 and posted on the following websites:

INFO:

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

Acquamarina – Associazione Culturale
            General Coordinator: Mrs. Annamaria Castellan
            mobile: +39 333 5403991 – e-mail: acquamarina.amc@virgilio.it

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

Application form

Cultural Association Acquamarina
Concorso The Brain Project - 2006
Casella Postale 1389
c/o Ufficio Postale TS 3
Piazza Verdi 1
34121 Trieste, Italy

The undersigned……………………………. born in…………………… on…………………....
permanent address………………………………………………………. zip code……………..
tel..………………………………………. …. mobile……………………………………………..
e-mail address…………………………………………………

requests that his/her application be accepted to participate in the international competition for visual digital art “The Brain Project”.

For this purpose the applicant:

1.	must be the sole creator of the work presented and hence own copyright and intellectual property rights thereof. He/She also accepts full liability for the content of the work.

2.	allows the Cultural Association Acquamarina to use his/her work for any kind of promotional activity, without this involving any kind of charge on his/her part or on that of third parties.

3.	will be mentioned every time his/her work is used by the Cultural Association Acquamarina.

4.	exonerates the Association from civil and criminal liability.

5.	accepts all the competition rules contained in the present notice.

6.	expresses his/her consent to the use of his/her personal details in compliance with Act 31/12/1996 n. 675.

Signature…………………………………………

Place and date…………………………………..