Regional Lead Designer-Curators for  Hello Stranger The curators of the SBTD’s National Exhibition Project 2023, Kathrine Sandys and Lucy Thornett, would like to invite expressions of interest for designers, applying as individuals or collectives, to design and curate a regional event space within the network of the national project. These events will take place in Spring 2023. Concept The national exhibition project, titled Hello Stranger, is about welcoming designers, makers and audiences back to reconnect and catch up on the state of performance design.    Hello Stranger emphasises responsivity, openness and change in the context of multiple overlapping paradigm shifts. As the world emerges from the pandemic and faces up to climate crisis, legacies of racism and inequality, global conflict and the continued impact of new technologies on our lives, we face a changed landscape for performance design and scenography. As design thinking emerges as a valuable approach to solving problems (or is critiqued as a tool of capitalism), how are performance designers responding and adapting to the key challenges of our times? How has our artform changed in response to a changing world? What voices have been missing from the conversation? Form The Hello Stranger regional events will emphasise discourse and exchange, presenting live discussions, presentations, workshops and/or performance, taking place within a designed event space hosted in a public area of a local venue with a public-facing remit. The selected designer-curator(s) will work closely with the national curators, local host venue and regional Higher Education Institution partner with a design or production course, to curate and deliver the event(s). You will lead in recruiting participants in response to key regional concerns, organise your events/workshops/presentations and identify and apply for local funding opportunities. The national curators will work with you in securing the local host venue partner and HEI.    The lead designer-curator(s) should have a strong connection to their region through, for example, living or creating work within the region. However, we acknowledge that many designers will work across a number of different regions and are open to designers identifying and defining local connections in different ways. Hello Stranger is envisaged as a diverse representation of the specific local contexts out of which performance design is created. As such the lead designer-curator(s) will have a large degree of creative autonomy over their regional event, while also being supported through the process by the national curators and the network of design-curators created. The national curators will establish workshops and meetings throughout to hold and support the network. We are seeking lead designer-curators/collectives for the following regions: Scotland North East North West Yorkshire Northern Ireland Midlands East Midlands Wales South West East of England London South East We are also open to proposals for additional spin-off regions or regions within regions, not listed here. Please send a one page expression of interest to hellostranger@theatredesign.org.uk outlining the following: Which region you are applying to lead and your connection to this region Whether you are applying as an individual or collective A short biography Your interest in and suitability for the role Your ability to respond to local concerns within your region and mobilise a network of local participants Any initial suggestions of suitable National Portfolio Organisation venues you are already connected with or wish to form a relationship with We welcome EOIs from emerging as well as established designers, and particularly encourage under-represented designers to apply.    Further calls for participation in other aspects of Hello Stranger, including the central project organisation, publications, funding and Prague Quadrennial 2023 will follow at a later date.