OPEN CALL for the FLOWING STREAMS residency project, dedicated to the cultural ecology of water
FLOWING STREAMS is a multi-residency project in rural areas of Romania exploring local approaches to the cultural ecology of water, designed and developed by EUNIC Romania. It involves seven cultural institutions operating in Romania – British Council, the Czech Centre, the Embassy of the Netherlands in Romania, Goethe-Institute Bucharest, the Italian Institute for Culture, the Polish Institute and Fundația9, each engaged in supporting one residency. The project was framed by this consortium of European partners, in collaboration with curator Adelina Luft.
Submission deadline: 7 April 2024*The deadline has been extended to 21st April*
Period of residencies: 10-14 days at various dates between June to August 2024
Place of residencies: rural areas of Romania
Who can apply: interdisciplinary and socially-engaged artists, architects/landscape architects, hydrologists, anthropologists, community organisers
Eligibility: citizens or permanent residents from: Czech Republic, Italy, UK, Germany, The Netherlands, Poland and Romania
Please apply to the residency by filling out this application form in English by the latest Sunday, April 21st, 2024, 23:59 CET.
Details about the residencies and participation are available on this link
Romania’s rural landscape represents 90% of the country’s territory, with diverse climates and natural resources. Lack of investment in rural areas has generated scarcity and limited opportunities for inhabitants, but it has also left nature to survive on its own, with many areas still holding old forests, wetlands and rich biodiversity. Sadly, corruption and poor policies to protect the natural environment, connected with lack of ecological education, are threatening the sustainable development of these areas.
The seven European practitioners selected will have the opportunity to immerse themselves in the daily life of the Romanian village and explore the context of water specific to each location, hosted and mediated by a partnering organisation. Located in different rural areas of Romania, the host organisations have been running dedicated programmes around notions and practices that recontextualize the rural space and the natural environment through a reorientation of sensibilities and from a new paradigm of ecological knowledge. Through the residencies, participants are encouraged to explore local cosmovisions and practices around water, its relationship with customs, traditions, or occupations, by listening, sharing and exchanging with the spaces as sites of interpellation. These encounters are intended to open up new possibilities of reclaiming knowledge linked to a territory, historical memory and ecology, and to map a network of existing or potential socio-ecological practices that restore our relationship with water.
After the representatives from the Flowing Streams project and partnering institutions have evaluated the applications, there will be a round of interviews with shortlisted candidates taking place online.
Applicants will be notified of the outcome of the selection process by 8 May 2024.
If you have any questions please contact us at tamina.bojoanca@britishcouncil.org