Call for applications for Culture Utopias artist residency opens!
Culture Utopias is the title of a residency that aims to create a collaborative and courageous space of action in which artists, cultural managers, activists and citizens from Romania, Poland and Ukraine can reflect on the challenges Europe has faced in the last decade. Offered jointly by the Gabriela Tudor Foundation (Bucharest), the Wroclaw Institute of Culture (Wroclaw) and proto produkciia (Kiev), the dual residency is first and foremost a safe space for exchange and collaboration. Together with the partners, we proceed from the assumption that change begins in interaction.
The residency is divided into two three-week slots. The stay in Bucharest (I. Part) will focus on formulating a jointly developed project concept. The stay in Wroclaw (II. Part) will consist of testing the created ideas, concepts and scenarios.
You must submit your applications by December 5, 23.59 (CEST), and the results will be announced at the end of December 2023. Participants will be selected based on the quality of the application, project proposal and interest in the Culture Utopias residency. The selection decision is final, and participants will not receive any feedback. The selection will be made by a jury consisting of representatives of partner institutions.
Stages of residency
—> Bucharest, 3 – 30.06.2024 – 1st residency slot
The Bucharest residency will take place at AREAL | space for choreographic development (www.arealcolectiv.ro), and will be mentored by Cosmin Manolescu, a senior cultural expert and dance artist with over 20 years of experience in initiating and developing artistic residencies in Romania and abroad.
—> Wroclaw, 15.08 – 15.09, 2024 – 2nd residency slot
The residency in Wroclaw will take place at the premises of the Wroclaw Institute of Culture (Barbara, Klub pod Kolumnami and Apartamenty na Solnym) and will be mentored by curator Paulina Brelinska-Garsztka experienced in projects, processes and interdisciplinary approaches to culture based on artistic research.
—> What’s Next? – Ukraine, 2024 – final presentation
The results of the developed final project will be presented at the end of the final residency in Wroclaw, and, if the situation allows, at the final event of the What’s Next? project in Ukraine in November 2024.
The themes of the residency include the following:
- the creation of a safe place to undertake reflection on the (post)war in Ukraine and the (post)catastrophe in Europe.
- Incubation of new ideas about European multidisciplinary cooperation and reflection on the title “cultural utopias” of the future.
- scenarios for a safe space of cooperation.
Who can apply for the residency?
We are looking for courageous participants who are interested in reflecting on the new realities of today’s Europe, seeking answers and imagining a future cultural world in which we would like to live, despite problems, crises and borders. We encourage adults, citizens of Romania, Poland and Ukraine to apply. Dance creators, visual artists, cultural researchers, curators, cultural managers, activists, people representing the broader environment of culture and art.
We also encourage people with a child/family member to apply (an additional fee of 250 euros will be offered) and/or with some professional experience with a particular interest in cross-sector/participatory approaches.
What might the residency work look like?
Participants are not required to submit a specific project for the residency, but during the first part of the residency, participants will be required to develop/work on a collective art project.
The residency focuses on collaboration, innovation, engaging in reflection and research on a post-pandemic and hopefully post-war future. Participants can focus on conducting their own research, collaborating with the local community, developing participatory practices, formulating activities that foster the exchange of practices and knowledge sharing.
Interested persons are invited to send their applications:
Fill out the form available at this link.
Send bio or resume, photos, links to videos and portfolio/press file (for artists only).
What do the organizers offer?
Train/bus transportation from participants’ cities to Bucharest and Wroclaw and Ukraine.
Accommodation in a shared rented apartment with your own room.
Salary of 1500 Euros (gross including per diems) for the residency in Bucharest.
A fee of 1000 Euro (gross including per diems) for a residency stay in Wroclaw.
Coverage of travel, accommodation and per diems for the presentation of results in Ukraine in November 2024 (to be confirmed, depending on the war situation).
In case of participation with a family member, an additional 500 Euros will be paid (to cover childcare, per diem or travel costs) for both stays.
Coaching and mentoring support in Bucharest and Wroclaw.
Safe space for discussions, meetings, rehearsals and research – 8 hours a day.
Local cultural and welfare program (optional, depending on participants’ needs)
The residency is part of the project “What’s next? Safe cultural multi-spaces for multidisciplinary reflection on (post)war and (post)crisis European identity,” a project created in partnership between zusa (Germany), MitOst (Germany), MUSIKTHEATERTAGE WIEN (Austria), proto produkciia (Ukraine), Wroclaw Cultural Institute (Poland) and Gabriela Tudor Foundation (Romania).
