OUR MISSION
Undiscovered Countries is a Brooklyn-based peer incubator of new and developing interdisciplinary art. We present subversive and accessible work by artists lacking conventional support to foster a diverse, engaged community.
ABOUT US
Undiscovered Countries was founded in September of 2012 with our Infinite Festival, an ongoing variety-show style showcase of new and developing live art, performing first monthly, then every other month. For over eleven years, Undiscovered Countries has presented over 80 consecutive monthly or bimonthly showings at various New York venues, including Goodbye Blue Monday, Brooklyn Fireproof, Bizarre Bushwick, The Tank, City Reliquary, Starr Bar, and as a Judson Arts Company in Residence at Judson Memorial Church. Over two hundred emerging artists have worked with Undiscovered Countries to produce their in-development works, which have gone on to full productions at places such as Ars Nova, Dixon Place, The Tank, Tom Noonan’s Paradise Factory, Theater for the New City, the Chicago Fringe Festival, wild project, and the PIT. The Blast Off Development Lab (est. 2017) brought together artists from wide-ranging disciplines to create new, uncharted works in active conversation with each other over a four month session, culminating in a public showing tailored to each artist’s needs. In the pandemic we began hosting our Infinite Festival on Zoom, and expanded to outdoor venues in NYC during the warmer months.
The Infinite Festival continues in our twelfth season as a summer festival series in backyard residency at City Reliquary. Our multidisciplinary artists work in standup, theater, music, film, performance art, poetry, movement, and everything in between. Our print division, founded in 2015, publishes fiction and visual art by early-career writers and artists, currently in the form of our newly-launched zine, available at our Infinite Fest shows.
Our most recent initiative, Undiscovered Countries Mix Tape (est. 2022), brings artists together for an evening of new performances each responding to a favorite song in a given musical genre, for a celebration of pop songs as emotional touchstones and tools for generative art making. In the upcoming show, a multidisciplinary slate of artists will each create a live performance work remixing and interpreting a favorite song in a given genre — in this case, Boy Band/Girl Group!
In 2024, we’re looking to launch Second Drafts, a place for artists to create a further draft of their work through meeting deadlines, peer feedback, and a final showing. With this lab we hope to apply the iterative, play-based collaborative principles we’ve honed in eleven years of presenting first drafts of works to the revision process, diving deep into craft together. 2nd Drafts Lab provides a group environment to refine and deepen bold, risk-taking work in conversation with pieces in other mediums.
We’re looking to raise $6,000 for our 2024 season of programming, which will include the Infinite Festival, Mix Tape Volume II, and the newly-launched Second Drafts.
Budget Transparency:
Your donation will go directly to our programming and operations costs as laid out below!
Infinite Festival shows cost approximately $2,000 per year to present with the following budget:
- $75 for tech support
- $75 for photography at a discounted friend rate
- Artist compensation: $20 per artist, typically 8-10 artists on lineup - $200
- Zine compensation: $20 per artist, 5 artists - $100
- Zine printing: $115
Mix Tape Volume II will cost approximately $2,000 with the following budget:
Artist compensation: $50 per artist
Venue Staff: $570
Tech fees: $200 per person
Photography fees: $200
Set fee: $200
Second Draft Lab will cost approximately $2,000 with the following budget:
Snacks: $20/meeting
Peer panel fees: $50/ day
Artist pay: $200 per artist
Tech fees: $75