Culture Utopias is the title of a residency that aims to create a collaborative and courageous space of action in which artists, cultural managers, activists and citizens from Romania, Poland and Ukraine can reflect on the challenges Europe has faced in the last decade. Offered jointly by the Gabriela Tudor Foundation (Bucharest), the Wroclaw Institute of Culture (Wroclaw) and proto produkciia (Kiev), the dual residency is first and foremost a safe space for exchange and collaboration. Together the partners proceed from the assumption that change begins in interaction.
The residency is divided into two three-week slots. The stay in Bucharest (I. Part) will focus on formulating a jointly developed project concept. The stay in Wroclaw (II. Part) will consist of testing the created ideas, concepts and scenarios.
Residency stages:
- Bucharest, 3-30 July 2024 – 1st residency slot: The Bucharest residency will take place at AREAL | space for choreographic development, and will be mentored by Cosmin Manolescu, a senior cultural expert and dance artist with over 20 years of experience in initiating and developing artistic residencies in Romania and abroad.
- Wroclaw, 15 August – 15 September 2024 – 2nd residency slot: The residency in Wroclaw will take place at the premises of the Wroclaw Institute of Culture (Barbara, Klub pod Kolumnami and Apartamenty na Solnym) and will be mentored by curator Paulina Brelinska-Garsztka experienced in projects, processes, and interdisciplinary approaches to culture based on artistic research.
- What’s Next?, Ukraine, 2024 – final presentation: The results of the developed final project will be presented at the end of the final residency in Wroclaw, and, if the situation allows, at the final event of the What’s Next? project in Ukraine in November 2024.
The residency covers:
- Train/bus transportation from participants’ cities to Bucharest, Wroclaw and Ukraine.
- Accommodation in a shared rented apartment with your own room.
- Salary of 1500 Euros (gross including per diems) for the residency in Bucharest.
- A fee of 1000 Euro (gross including per diems) for a residency stay in Wroclaw.
- Coverage of travel, accommodation and per diems for the presentation of results in Ukraine in November 2024 (to be confirmed, depending on the war situation).
- In case of participation with a family member, an additional 500 Euros will be paid (to cover childcare, per diem or travel costs) for both stays.
- Coaching and mentoring support in Bucharest and Wroclaw.
- Safe space for discussions, meetings, rehearsals and research – 8 hours a day.
- Local cultural and welfare programme (optional, depending on participants’ needs).
