The residency is open to artists of all disciplines, including but not limited to visual arts, performing arts, literature, and media arts. To be eligible, applicants must:

• be a permanent resident or national of any African country. If applying as a collective, members who are not African residents or nationals can take part as long as at least one member who is a resident or a citizen of an African country is actively involved in the residency
• be able to travel to the African country where the Residency Host Institution is based, as well as to South Africa for the AI Boot camp (visa costs for these trips must covered by the artists)
• have a fiscal identification number (VAT or similar)
• not be affiliated with any of the S+T+ARTS Afropean Intelligence consortium partners, their affiliated entities, employees and permanent collaborators. 
• not being granted by S+T+ARTS for a residency in 2025 and 2026
• have produced enough documented work to allow the assessment of their artistic experience. 
• not be under liquidation or be an enterprise under difficulty according to the Commission Regulation No 651/2014, art. 2.182, or be one that is excluded from the possibility of obtaining EU funding under the provisions of both national and EU law, or by a decision of either national or EU authority.

See detailed eligibility criteria on Page 14 of the Guide for Applicants.

Yes, they are eligible!

To apply, please complete the online application form available here. Ensure that you include all required materials (CV, portfolio, work samples…).
See all details on the application process on Page 15 of the Guide for Applicants.

No, you can only apply to one challenge for this residency program.

The call is open to independent artists and art collectives only, not design studios. Applications will be assessed on the artistic quality of the applicant amongst others. This involves individually realised autonomous art projects. Commercial work does not qualify for this criterium.

The application deadline is June 27, 2025, 10h00 UTC (equivalent to 11h in Tunis, Lagos and Kinshasa, 12h00 in -Brussels and Johannesburg, 13h in Alexandrie). Please ensure that your application is submitted by this date, as late submissions will not be considered.

If you have a doubt on the time zones, consult The World clock here.

No fees are asked to enter the open call. The grant of the residency is 20,000€ per challenge. It covers fees, travels and research, creation and production costs. Please refer to P. 20 of the Guide for Applicants to find all the guidelines and explanations related to the budget. On P21, you can also consult the reporting and payment schemes.

No, it is not expected that the artists spend 8 months at the host institution. The kick-off of the residency will happen online in September 2025. Then the artists are requested to travel to Johannesburg in November (exact dates to be confirmed, but likely 3 to 7) for an AI Boot Camp, where all hosts will also be present.

Over the course of the residency, the artists should visit the host institution at least one time (see your challenge characteristics for more details). The number and frequency of the stays in at your city’s host must make sense with your artistic proposal, and be coherent with your work plan. Note that the travels and their duration will be discussed with the hosts at the beginning of the residencies, and ajusted if needed.

Regular online meetings will also take place.

At the end of your residency, you are expected to present the results during an event at the host institution in Africa, so this will also count as a travel.

Basic English is required for all residencies. Then other languages such as French or Arabic are also welcome in other residencies. Refer to the description of your challenge in Challenges Booklet for detailed information.

Selected artists will receive guidance and support from the residency host institutions from Africa and Europe. Additionally, they will have access to technology experts (in particular in the domain of Artificial Intelligence) provided by the residency host institutions to support the development of the project (see challenges description with an explanation per Host Institution). Within this three-party system, the “innovation catalysts” will be your points of reference: they are the intermediaries from the Host institutions in Africa and Europe, and connect the artist with all relevant parties of the residency (hosts, experts, network). They will follow the artists throughout the whole implementation of the residencies, being their main contact points.

Yes, by the end of residency, we expect that the artist delivers a tangible and presentable artistic outcome that includes a digital component, in the form of a physical artistic installation that critically reflects on digital technology, or a fully digital output.
Refer to P. 12 of the Guide for Applicants to see all the outputs that we expect from the artists during the residencies.

Yes, if you have nationality from an African country. Refer to Question 1 of this FAQ for all eligibility criteria.

First, applications have to be complete and meet all eligibility criteria. Then, the jury will look at the following criteria:

1. Excellence
   
   + Fit: The proposal demonstrates a deep understanding of the challenge and addresses its vision, needs and goals. It connects to the project’s overall themes and the direction outlined in the open call, and responds clearly and distinctly to the particular challenge and the criteria outlined therein. The artist’s background must match in terms of needs, strategies and competences, proving the artists’ ability to realize the proposed project and concept.
   
   + Innovative potential: The artist clearly has a new unexpected approach towards the challenge and the use of technologies.
   
   + Artistic quality: Based on the previous work by the artist and the vision developed in the application form including the proposed use of (digital) technology, data and/or science in tackling the selected challenge.
   
2. Implementation
   
   + Collaboration: The application outlines a clear process, involving diverse collaborators. It connects fundamental research questions to artistic goals and demonstrates an understanding of artistic research and cross-disciplinary collaboration relevant to the challenge and the partners.
   
   + Artistic vision for residency outcome: The application presents a strong artistic vision and credible approach aimed at delivering an artistic outcome aligned with the challenge requirements by the end of the residency.
   
   + Overall feasibility: The work plan (activities, timeline, availability/capacity, budget) is realistic and aligns with the residency goals. It ensures the project can be completed within the given time, expertise available, budget while considering environmental and logistical factors.
   
3. Impact
   
   + Community, public debate & policies: The expected outcome(s) integrates effective collaborative practices at regional/local level. The expected outcome(s) demonstrates the ability to engage with communities of interest and to enhance public literacy, raise awareness and transform the public eye on the topic(s) addressed. The proposed project can appeal to a broader public.
   
   + Sustainability, Science, Art & Tech: The project creates mutually beneficial synergies and debates. The expected outcome(s) shows the impact of artistic experimentation regarding the use of technologies or the understanding and advancing of science.
   
   + Ongoing Inspiration, ripple effect: Based on the previous work by the artists and the vision developed in the application form including the proposed use of (digital) technology, data and/or science in tackling the selected challenge.

Refer to Pages 18 and 19 of the Guide for Applicants to see all evaluation criteria and selection process.

Due to the high volume of applications, we are unable to provide personalized feedback on individual submissions. Only shortlisted applicants (called for the jury) will received feedback.

Due to the high volume of applications, we are unable to provide personalized feedback on individual submissions. Only shortlisted applicants (called for the jury) will received feedback.

All applicants will be notified of the outcome via email by mid-July. Non-selected candidates will receive a notification, but not a feedback. Please ensure that your contact information is accurate and up to date.

Top 3 candidates for each challenge will be invited to pitch their project online (10 min pitch + 10 min Q&A) to the Jury. Refer to the Challenges Booklet to see the Jury Day of each challenge. You only need to be available for the jury day of your challenge.

Shortlisted will be called for a pitch session happening online around July 11. If you are selected after the jury day, you’ll be notified by email or telephone, and you will receive an agreement offer outlining the terms of the residency, including dates, expected outputs, payment schemes, etc. You will need to confirm your acceptance of the offer within a specified timeframe. The residency will start after the signature of your contract, no later than September 1^st, 2025.

For more information, please refer to this FAQ and to the Guide for applicants where all information is provided. You can also attend/watch the recording of the Info sessions (see details here) If you have additional questions, contact us via email (ramona@gluon.be).