B-SIDE OPEN CALL - ARTIST COMMISSIONS

That Other Place – A Portland Fair

Portland once had a Fair — a real one — full of colour, noise, sweets, rides, and the brief suspension of reality. We’ve been rummaging through local resident and Fairground owner David Palmer’s archive of photos and memories from the Fair, which ended in 2001, and it’s clear it meant a lot to the Island. The famous Portland Fair was a hugely popular event, an annual event for more than 200 years.

It was part childhood rite, part magical interruption to everyday life. But we’re not here to rebuild or reinstate the old Fair plank-by-plank.

In 2026, we want to reawaken the experience of it — in a stranger, twistier, sideways sort of way. Think of it as a Fair on a parallel Portland: familiar but off-kilter, a place where weird echoes, alternate histories and “what ifs” come out to play.

That Other Place is a mirror-Island, a near-twin, a parallel universe that looks like Portland… until it doesn’t.

We’re inviting artists to help us slip between these two worlds.

What We’re Looking For

We’re excited by proposals that:

• Stretch, twist, bend or lovingly prod reality
• Play with the idea of a parallel or “other” Portland
• Invite people in — to interact, wander, reminisce or get delightfully lost
• Respond to the Island’s stories, landscapes, communities and quirks
• Make imaginative use of site, space, or atmosphere
• We are open to work in any medium – visual artists, performers, sonic explorers, digital conjurers, community weavers, installation-builders — all welcome.

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 underrepresented in the arts.

How to Apply
See website for all information and to download the full brief. Applications must be made via Curatorspace.