The residency is really good if you require solitude and a pretty self-driven. The resources available in terms of recording equipment and studios are plentiful and really helpful. The living quarters are lovely. The township of Struer is quiet and quaint and takes some getting used to, but there is a nice park walk not too far from accommodation. There was helpful financial support. Communication needs a bit more work. The collaboration offered with Bang & Olufsen, though it took a lot of negotiation on the presenters part, ended up being really wonderful and we made good connections with staff.
Denis and Leo are amazing. The food, nature, peace and colors, everything was beautiful.
It’s hard to rate MXX residency program based on a scale, because when immersed in Igatu life just happens and the boundaries between living and producing kind of makes no sense. Living in Igatu for the residency allows us to think about the role of art in our lives and experience other ways of existence. Igatu is a place where all boundaries get mixed up, and that’s the beauty of it. Although it’s not easy to get to MXX (airplane, bus and taxi, in my case), it’s worth the effort. The Chapada Diamantina and its surroundings are gorgeous, both in terms of culture and nature.
I had an amazing experience there, the nature is unique and inspiring. The coordinators where very helpful and the network of local people and exchange of local knowledge was really special.
Many activists like dance, yoga, massage, poetry, cook… all them experiences make us in one incredible environment of creativity.
Benefits: cultural heritage, nature environment and all relationship with the comunity of Igatu- one special little city in Chapada Diamantina.
The residence is placed in a wonderful and inspiring landscape in Brazilian inland, but it is isolated and far from any big town. The accommodation and working spaces are not amazing, maybe lacking the sophistication you would find in the big cities, but the hosts were more than happy to provide anything at their hands to make things easier. the spirit of intense collaboration and creative freedom is something I will always remember from this period. I have developed many works and projects but not many significant contacts in the art world context apart from my colleges from residence and the hosts.
ARV.IVishovgrad, Bulgaria
It should be mandatory as an artist to live and work in this quiet rural setting. I strongly recommend this magical and homelike place, where you live side by side with other artists and the locals.
Unfortunately, the main positive outcome was the documentation (I took care and paid for it myself) and writing a solo exhibition in my CV. The rest was a very bad experience overall : absolutely no support, lack of communication, no organisation, and no respect of basic safety regulations (as an example : They requested me to unbuild my installation under 0 degrees at 10pm on a 5 meter ladder, after "realising" they were renting their space the morning after for a sextoys company, while the unbuilding was scheduled a few days after. it is, unfortunately, not a bad joke.) It was also not a residency as presented, but just the space being empty for me to install and show my work for 48 hours.
Great studio space to work!
CASALethbridge, Alberta, Canada
The studio is well-equipped for ceramic artists. You will want to bring your own clay and glazes though, as there is no ceramic supply store in Lethbridge. There is a Michael's walking distance from Casa, and materials can be purchased at the University Store if needed as well. The community at Casa was fantastic and very welcoming! I loved getting to know all the studio users, and the staff at Casa was incredible as well.
The residency provides comfortable accommodations, spacious studios, and access to a variety of print and fabrication shops — all under one roof. The cohort is a thoughtful curation of artists across disciplines who commune over meals and occasional outings. Memphis is a wonderful city to inhabit. I would recommend bringing a vehicle if possible as it unlocks a lot of the city to you; however, the center that hosts the residency is robust and has mostly anything you might need for basic living needs.
I made some long lasting friends! We each had so much space, it was in this old industrial warehouse and it was light and gorgeous and the location (Het Hembrugterrein) was soo beautiful and inspiring :) Only downside I can think of was it was quite cold in the space when I stared in March and I needed a hot water bottle. Its a free residency, I was already living in Amsterdam so it didn’t cost me anything. Chafik and Aleksandra were very generous and helpful. I have very special memories from Dooresidency and would highly recommend it to anyone.
This residency is expensive offering little to no scholarship unless you are in grad school and your affiliated institution is paying for you. The administration and mentorship of the program offers little to no support for projects as well as dealing with conflict in discussions. Can and should do better with conflicts that occur when all participants are international both internal and external.
This residency offers an invaluable opportunity to have many relationships with early-career artists in unpredictable ways, leading to develop life long friendships and connections. I was able to work in studio, receive mentorship from established artists, and be supported to do self-directed experiments. I was given practical advice on the challenges of being an artist including many examples of different lifestyles. This residency was able to meet the needs of disabled and neurodivergent participants. A con or pro is that this residency is very social but you can have solitary moments.
The residency is still in the beginning stages, so a lot of aspects can still be improved greatly. Such as paying the artist a fee or providing them a budget for materials.
Amazing location to create, not for career advancement.
Benefits: interdisciplinary relationships with writers-in-residence. I did not foresee how formative this would be, and it was really wonderful to engage with humans caught in the written word.
Challenges: getting there from Western Canada was a bit difficult. It was also a bit confusing to apply as a duo, and we ended up both having to be accepted independently, and then halving our time onsite. C'est la vie.
Practical Advice: prepare for all season of weather. Don't forget to go for walks! The studios on the North side of the river are MUCH nicer... with the exception of Church.
Costs vs. Gains: it's important to understand that all your meals will be covered by the Residency fees. We spent almost no money on anything (besides materials) while we were at VSC.
The follow up meeting were very useful. Specifically the one that the Delfina curator chose.
Not financially funded, the location was beautiful but very far away from the city and cold. Overall nice but very independent.