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Exchange Residency EUROPALIA at Tabakalera

Tabakalera, EUROPALIA and MORPHO are delighted to continue their collaboration in 2025 with an international residency exchange. The arts festival EUROPALIA supports the participation of one artist from Belgium going to Tabakalera in the Basque Country for a three-month residency, in the framework of EUROPALIA ESPAÑA.

In exchange, MORPHO will host one artist from Spain and one artist from the Basque Country in Antwerp in the Fall of 2025. These opportunities were made possible by The Consortium of Museums of the Valencian Community and Cultura Resident and Tabakalera and the Basque Institute Etxepare, respectively.

Period

The residency for the Belgian artist in Donostia-San Sebastián, Basque Autonomous Community, lasts for 3 months, from 28 September until 21 December 2025.

For whom?

  • This call is open to artists living in Belgium (residents and nationals).
  • You are a visual artist, possibly with a transdisciplinary approach.
  • You want to focus on artistic research and the development of your work in the company of peers.
  • You are welcome regardless of age, ethnic-cultural background, gender diversity, neurodiversity, and more. See the accessibility guide at the bottom of this page.
  • There is only room for 1 adult. You are welcome to contact us in advance to discuss your personal situation.

Tabakalera offers

  • Accommodation with private double bedroom and bathroom in the Hotel One Shot Tabakalera House, placed in the building of Tabakalera, with a small working area in the bedroom with internet access with WiFi. The accommodation will also give access to a shared kitchen and living room.
  • An individual studio space between 12.5sqm and 50sqm, with basic furniture, a nearby water supply, electrical power, lighting and internet access with WiFi. The studio will be assigned taking into account the characteristics of the selected project.
  • Access to all resources of Tabakalera as well as to the collections and resources of Medialab.
  • A programme of studio visits and an open studio presentation.
  • Artistic guidance and practical assistance from the staff.

Financial support

Up to 500 euros round trip travel costs are covered. The residency also provides a 1,000 euros monthly fee and up to 500 euros project/production budget.

Selection procedure

How to apply?

  • Follow the online info session with Ane Agirre, (Head of contemporary art Tabakalera), Caroline Dumalin (Artistic director MORPHO), Dirk Vermaelen (Artistic director EUROPALIA), Elsa Duhaut (Project coordinator Visual arts EUROPALIA) and ask your questions. Sign up here.
  • Fill in the application form here (in English).
  • Do you have additional questions? Ask them via opencalls@morphoantwerp.be.

Selection criteria

  • The match between the artist’s needs and what the residency offers.
  • The impact the residency is likely to have on the development of the artist/project.
  • Projects offering a pronounced interest in EUROPALIA festival’s thematic focus and/or the experimental use of Tabakalera’s Medialab are particularly welcome, but it's not required.

Jury

The applications are collectively selected by a jury including members from the teams of EUROPALIA, Tabakalera and MORPHO.

Save the dates

  • Online info session: April 4, 2025 at 10am
  • Application deadline: April 20, 2025
  • Announcement of results: May 15, 2025

About MORPHO

MORPHO is an artist-focused development organisation for visual and multidisciplinary work in Antwerp. It manages fifteen studio buildings and an international residency programme, advocates the place of artists in the city to policymakers and gives visibility to their presence to a wider audience. MORPHO’s main premises are located behind Antwerp Central Station and Zoo, in the director's house of a former biscuit factory (residency) and a former Dominican monastery (studios). The monastery site is shared with Kunsthal Extra City. MORPHO has been funded by the city of Antwerp since 2007 and by the Flemish government since 2022.

About Tabakalera

Tabakalera is the centre for contemporary culture located in the former tobacco factory of Donostia/San Sebastián. Since its opening in September 2015, it has pursued two main goals: the support of artistic creation, and making it accessible to a wide audience. In its 38.000sqm, Tabakalera hosts different cultural institutions and programmes, such as the San Sebastian Film Festival, Basque Film Archive, Elias Querejeta Film School or the Kutxa Foundation. Tabakalera pursues its mission of supporting production and dissemination through the artists in residency programmes, commissions, exhibitions, film and education programmes, a medialab etc. Tabakalera, as a centre of creation, develops a residency programme, to support artists, creators and cultural agents. This programme's main aim is to provide support and assistance to artistic processes, both at a conceptual and production level.

For further information:

About EUROPALIA and EUROPALIA ESPAÑA

EUROPALIA is a multidisciplinary arts biennial which takes place across Belgium, starting each time from a country or a specific focus. This autumn, EUROPALIA is once again dedicated to Spain, exactly 40 years after a first edition in 1985.

From 8 October 2025 to 1 February 2026, EUROPALIA ESPAÑA will showcase a multidisciplinary programme that unites heritage and contemporary art forms to offer fascinating perspectives on themes that connect and challenge us all. It kicks off with the main exhibition Goya (1746-1828) (Bozar, 8 October 25 - 11 January 26), one of the masters of Spanish art, whose modern sensibility is more topical today than ever.

His Caprichos, Disparates and Desastres de la Guerra [Caprices, Disparities, Disasters of War], three titles and terms that encapsulate Goya's critical and visionary spirit, also inspired EUROPALIA ESPAÑA's programme as a whole and allow it to connect the past with the present, the local with the global. It unfolds in themes that are alive in Spain, but from a broader perspective concern us all, one of them being water. Water is associated with abundance and fertility, but also with leisure and recreation. Historically, water has been at the centre of geostrategic issues. It has acted as a pathway for expansionism, as a perilous route for migration and, under the impact of global warming, a force urging us to reconsider our way of inhabiting the world.