Free Research Residencies

Atelier Mondial

Basel, Switzerland

Atelier Mondial is an international and interdisciplinary artist residency program in Basel, Switzerland, hosting guest artists from partner institutions worldwide in its seven studios for stays typically lasting three to six months. It provides live-in studios, stipends for living expenses, and opportunities for open studios and exhibitions at Salon Mondial. The program also offers grants to regional artists from Basel, South Baden, and Alsace for residencies abroad in fields like visual arts, literature, fashion & textiles, dance & performing arts, and curation.

Bamboo Curtain Studio

Taipei, Taiwan

Bamboo Curtain Studio (BCS) is an independent arts organization in Taiwan that has operated for over 25 years, hosting 6-8 international artists per year for 1-3 month stays. The residency emphasizes site-specific work, environmental art, and cross-cultural exchange, welcoming visual artists, performing artists, curators, and professionals from various creative disciplines.

Capacete

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

CAPACETE is Brazil's oldest artist residency program, founded in 1998 in Rio de Janeiro by Helmut Batista, operating as an independent, discursive platform for researching and documenting aesthetic, social, and political processes in Brazil and South America.[1][2][5] It integrates residents into the local context through seminars, talks, workshops, and exchanges, with programs lasting typically 3 to 12 months.[1][3][8] The residency emphasizes interdisciplinary approaches, intercultural exchange, and community involvement, including 8 hours weekly maintenance of the space.[2][4]

CCA Tashkent

Tashkent, Uzbekistan

The Centre for Contemporary Art (CCA) Tashkent offers fully funded 8-week artist residencies welcoming emerging and established artists, writers, and researchers from around the world to engage with Uzbekistan's cultural heritage and local communities. The program runs three times annually with four to five participants per cohort and includes opportunities for cross-cultural collaboration, public engagement, and exhibition of final work.

Cove Park

Helensburgh, United Kingdom

Cove Park is an international artist residency centre on a 50-acre rural site overlooking Loch Long in Argyll, Scotland, near Helensburgh, hosting national and international artists, writers, researchers, and creative practitioners across all art forms and career stages.[1][3] The program supports research, experimentation, development, and production of new work in a supportive environment with communal facilities and events.[1][2] Residencies vary from funded opportunities with stipends and housing to self-funded stays, typically lasting 2-4 weeks.[1][2]

FLORA ars+natura

Bogotá, Colombia

FLORA ars+natura is a non-profit contemporary art space in Bogotá, Colombia that specializes in the relationship between art, nature, and the body. The residency program hosts international and Colombian artists for stays ranging from 2 months to a year, providing studio space, accommodation, curatorial mentorship, and opportunities for collaborative practices and cultural exchange.

Fogo Island Arts

Fogo Island, Canada

Fogo Island Arts is an international residency program founded in 2008 that invites professional contemporary artists, curators, writers, filmmakers, musicians, designers, and thinkers to live and work on Fogo Island, Newfoundland, Canada, fostering creation, research, and connections around themes of sustainability, ecology, economy, and belonging.[1][2][3] Residents stay in saltbox houses within local communities, with access to individual studios in scenic locations, and are expected to engage publicly through presentations or workshops.[1][2] The program, part of the Shorefast Foundation, supports a range of disciplines and has specific opportunities like the fully funded 6-8 week Newfoundland and Labrador Artist Residency.[5]

Künstlerhaus Büchsenhausen

Innsbruck, Austria

Künstlerhaus Büchsenhausen is a postgraduate center in Innsbruck, Austria, for production, research, and exchange in visual arts and art theory, offering a Fellowship Program that supports artistic and theoretical projects through residencies.[1][2] The program provides fellows with apartment studios for living and working, a monetary award, production budget, travel support, and access to multimedia-equipped project spaces, fostering exchange with experts and public presentations.[1][3][5] It targets visual/media artists, critics, theorists, and curators for typically five-month stays, combining residency benefits with non-university research opportunities.[2][3]

Les Récollets

Paris, France

Les Récollets is an 80-unit furnished international residence in Paris's 10th arrondissement dedicated to hosting established researchers, scientists, and artists from around the world. The center provides accommodation with hotel-like services and fosters interdisciplinary creative exchange among residents from diverse fields. It serves as a space for artists and researchers to develop specific projects while engaging with Paris's cultural institutions and community.

Matadero Madrid

Madrid, Spain

The Centre for Artists in Residence (CRA) at Matadero Madrid in Nave 16 offers multidisciplinary residencies for artists, musicians, educators, and cultural agents, providing workspaces, resources, and time for research, experimentation, and reflection away from market pressures.[1] Residents share facilities like auditoriums, editing rooms, kitchens, and workshops, fostering a community with team support, mentors, and public events such as Open Days three times a year.[1] Programs like El Ranchito provide international residencies with studios, living allowances, and production support, connected to Matadero's cultural ecosystem.[3]

NTU Centre for Contemporary Art Singapore

Singapore, Singapore

NTU Centre for Contemporary Art Singapore is a research-oriented, studio-based residency programme that has supported over 210 artists, curators, and researchers since 2014. The programme provides fully-funded residencies with curatorial support, enabling multiform creative processes and facilitating interdisciplinary knowledge production. Residents become active contributors to the Centre's cultural life and develop public programmes including talks, workshops, open studios, screenings, and performances.

Palais de Tokyo – Le Pavillon

Paris, France

The Palais de Tokyo – Le Pavillon (also known as Pavillon Neuflize OBC) was an artist-in-residence program and research lab at Palais de Tokyo in Paris, directed by Ange Leccia from 2001 to 2017, hosting over 130 international emerging artists.[1][4] It offered an eight-month residency from November to June, sponsored by curators, featuring collective projects abroad and in France, plus solo exhibitions or performances at Palais de Tokyo.[1][2] Residents received a monthly stipend, a studio at Cité Internationale des Arts, shared workspace at Palais de Tokyo, and coverage of program-related expenses.[1]

Rimbun Dahan

Kuang, Malaysia

Rimbun Dahan is a private arboretum and arts centre in Kuang, Malaysia, established in 1994, offering residencies primarily for visual artists, choreographers, writers, and researchers from Southeast Asia to develop their work in a serene garden setting.[1][2][5] It provides various programs including the Southeast Asian Arts Residency for ASEAN artists (2 months, with accommodation, studio, stipend, and limited travel support) and paid options for non-ASEAN artists longer than one month.[1][4] The centre hosts 16-20 artists at a time across 5 studios, focusing on Malaysian and regional creators while welcoming international engagement.[2]

Sacatar Foundation

Itaparica, Brazil

Instituto Sacatar is the longest continuously-operating artist residency in Brazil, founded in 2001 on the island of Itaparica across the bay from Salvador, Bahia. The residency provides fully-funded fellowships to artists of all disciplines from around the world, hosting up to eight artists at a time across five annual sessions. Since its inception, Sacatar has awarded residencies to over 550 artists from more than 75 countries.

Sharjah Art Foundation

Sharjah, United Arab Emirates

The Sharjah Art Foundation Residency Programme invites visual artists, writers, poets, researchers, musicians, performance artists, filmmakers, and other creatives to explore and expand their experimental, interdisciplinary practices in Sharjah, UAE. Selected participants receive flights, transportation, accommodation, a monthly stipend, and access to the Foundation's networks and resources at venues like Bait Obaid Al Shamsi. Residencies typically last 2-3 months, such as from 17 November 2025 to 15 January 2026 or 2 February to 30 March 2026.

Ujazdowski Castle Centre for Contemporary Art

Warsaw, Poland

The Ujazdowski Castle Centre for Contemporary Art in Warsaw offers interdisciplinary artist residencies since 2002, hosting over 300 professionals including artists, curators, researchers, and collectives from more than 50 countries. These invitation-based or open-call stays, lasting several months, emphasize individual practice, experimentation, research, and collaboration with local context, providing access to production facilities and leading to diverse outcomes like performances, lectures, and community projects.[1][4][7]

Villa Kujoyama

Kyoto, Japan

Villa Kujoyama is a pluridisciplinary research residency located in Kyoto, Japan that has welcomed established and emerging artists, artisans, and creators since 1992. The residency provides time and space for residents to dedicate themselves fully to their practice and research while engaging with artistic, cultural, academic, and economic communities across Japan. It is operated by Institut français du Japon and supported by the Bettencourt Schueller Foundation.

Villa Medici – French Academy in Rome

Rome, Italy

The Villa Medici – French Academy in Rome offers residency programs for French-speaking artists, authors, researchers, and craftsmen from all disciplines, including visual arts, music, literature, architecture, design, choreography, theater, and art history. Residents and fellows stay for periods ranging from two weeks to one year, focusing on creative, experimental, or research projects in a supportive environment that encourages interdisciplinary exchanges. Fellows receive grants covering room, board, workspace, and artistic support, while shorter residencies are available through thematic calls and partnerships.[1][2][4]

ZKM Center for Art and Media

Karlsruhe, Germany

The ZKM | Center for Art and Media in Karlsruhe, Germany, hosts various artist residencies focused on media art, digital technologies, performative art, and interdisciplinary practices, often in collaboration with international partners. Programs like the Rauschenberg Residencies, Web Residencies, and specialized calls for machine learning or videopoetry artists provide opportunities for research, production, and experimentation at their Hertz-Lab facilities. Residencies typically last from four weeks to three months and offer stipends, housing, and access to advanced technological resources.