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Graphic design by Stan Van Rompaey

Development Residency Rituals for the Living Present

MORPHO presents Rituals for the Living Present
Open call for residencies: February 2024 – June 2025
Application deadline: September 1, 2023

MORPHO is now welcoming applications for Rituals for the Living Present, a residency programme that invites artists to consider the present-day meaning of rituals, their role in different (art) societies and how they may be reinvented.

Rituals have the symbolic power to bring people together and induce in them a strong relationship to the world. Rituals can be exercises in attention or ‘temporary techniques for feeling at home’ (according to Antoine de Saint-Exupéry in his novel Citadelle).

With this call, we do not propose a strict theme, but rather a larger spirit that guides our thinking during the upcoming residency period. We encourage applicants working within the expanded field of visual arts to tell us how they see or practice rituals as a resource for art and community.

For whom?

The call is mainly open to artists living in Antwerp, of any age and active in any medium, who want to develop and professionalize their work during a longer stay. We will select 9 artists in total. Duos or collectives may apply.

Artists based in Flanders and Brussels are welcome to apply too, but should be aware that accommodation is not provided for the local residencies. Therefore, you should be motivated to commute, because we expect a certain presence and engagement.

Period

The residency period is 5 months. There are 3 cycles between which you can choose:
• Cycle 1: 01.02-30.06.2024
• Cycle 2: 01.08-31.12.2024
• Cycle 3: 01.02-30.06.2025

What we offer

• Artistic guidance and practical assistance from the staff (during working hours)
• A programme of studio visits, field trips and workshops (we meet once a week)
• An individual work space in a former monastery with garden (ranging between 20-35 m²)
• Use of the shared residency house (including a kitchen, living room and library)
• Access to a network of fabricators (we don’t have any production facilities ourselves)
• Online presentation of your work (with a portrait specially made for the occasion)
• Free entrance to most exhibitions and events at Kunsthal Extra City (with whom we share the monastery site)

Financial support

We pay a €1,000 monthly fee, either by invoice (incl. VAT) or as wages under Collective Labor Agreement 329.01, so you can obtain or maintain the art work certificate and build social rights.

Presentation opportunities

Residents are encouraged to share their work during their stay in the lively ritual of a dinner, which brings together art and people beyond conventional presentation formats. Read more about our Table Sessions here.

Selection procedure

How to apply?

• Motivation letter (approx. 300 words) stating your desired residency period, ideally providing more than one option
• Project proposal (approx. 300 words) giving us a sense of how you want to use this time and space
• Portfolio of realised works and artist CV

Please submit all files in that order and in a single PDF (max. size 10MB, 10 pages, in English) to info@morphovzw.be, with the subject ‘Open call Development Residency’.

Selection criteria

• The artist’s motivation aligns with what the residency offers
• The project benefits from the residency community and context
• The residency is an added value for the artist’s practice

Jury

Applications will be reviewed by the four members that will make up MORPHO’s artistic council in 2024-2025:
• Dušica Dražić (Artist and Curator, Co-Founder at Out of Sight and Producer at wpZimmer, Antwerp)
• Mekhitar Garabedian (Artist, Antwerp)
• Bas Hendrikx (Curator at KANAL-Centre Pompidou, Brussels)
• Marlie Mul (Artist, Brussels)
• Sorana Munsya (Independent Curator and Psychologist, Brussels)

More questions?

We will organise a guided tour of the residency on Friday 18 August at 3.30pm, so save the date. Further information can only be requested at the abovementioned e-mail address. Please always note your mobile number. The results of the call will be announced in mid-October 2023.