About Residencies

Artists residencies invite artists to live and practice their art for a period of time within the residency organisation, away from their usual environment.

A residency program allows an artist to investigate his/her art practice by involvement in another community. It emphasises the importance of meaningful cultural exchange and dialogue with another culture.

A wide variety of arts organisations, tertiary institutions and artist-run initiatives host residencies. Currently there are over 600 such programs hosted globally. The interaction between the resident and the host is often an important aspect of a residency program.

The form a residency takes will vary as widely as the host. In some artists are involved in the day to day operations of their host giving talks and lectures, or presenting workshops or engaging in formal teaching. Other residencies make no such demands and provide artists with time to investigate their art practice in the context of a new culture.

In many cases residencies provide artists with their first extended visit to a host country, often a radical departure from their own culture. A residency can open doors and create opportunities for the artist to build on in future visits.

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