Open CallDeadline: June 13, 2025, 23:59 CEST

S+T+ARTS AQUA MOTION – Open Call for Artistic Residencies

What do we offer?
Expected outputs from artists
Admissibility Criteria
Preparation & Submission
Webinar for artists: recording available
Contact

S+T+ARTS AQUA MOTION is pleased to announce the selected artists for its interdisciplinary residency programme exploring the future of water in Europe.

Chosen from a wide range of disciplines, the 25 selected artists will take part in a 9-month Residency followed by a 4-month Scale-Up programme, hosted across four European regions. Their projects will engage with urgent water-related challenges—scarcity, pollution, climate change, and biodiversity loss—through artistic experimentation and collaboration with scientists, technologists, local communities, and water experts.

Selected Artists

+ Portugal

Tatiana Rosa & Pedro Matias

Tatiana Rosa & Pedro Matias INOVA+ Tatiana Rosa and Pedro Matias create immersive, multisensory artworks exploring imperceptible ecologies and social phenomena. Tatiana foregrounds sound as agency, crafting experiences that reveal…

Seila Fernández Arconada

Seila Fernández Arconada Rio Neiva Seila Fernández Arconada is a multidisciplinary artist-researcher focusing on contemporary socio-ecological uncertainties influenced by climatic shifts, societal conflicts and extractive actions against Nature. Her practice…

NICETRAILS

NICETRAILS INOVA+ Nicetrails is a creative studio that prototypes with emerging technologies for artistic research and innovation. We use and abuse technologies such as Augmented Reality, AI, and Digital Fabrication…

Małgorzata Suś

Małgorzata Suś Rio Neiva Małgorzata Suś is a Portugal-based dancer, performer and choreographer working cross-disciplinarily with visual arts, poetry and science. Her practice is dedicated to researching the connection between…

Kerry O’Leary

Kerry O’Leary INOVA+ Kerrie O’Leary is an Irish visual artist and educator based between Dublin and London. She integrates technology and kinetic movement to create immersive installations that transform raw…

José Teibão & Becken Filipe

José Teibão & Becken Filipe INOVA+ The collaboration between José Teibão and Becken Filipe blends artistic vision, science, and memory with installations, symbolism and philosophy. Their work vibrates on a…

Hila Mor

Hila Mor INOVA+ Hila considers natural pattern formations, fluid dynamics, and physical materials as programmable matter to be discovered, designed, and re-invented. At the core of Hila’s work is a…

Helin Ulas & Rita Eperjesi

Helin Ulas & Rita Eperjesi Rio Neiva Helin Ulas creates networked installations exploring technology, ecological narratives, memory, and socio-political change. She is a researcher and lecturer engaged in critical media…

A Recoletora

A Recoletora INOVA+ A Recoletora is an artistic and educational practice by visual artist Alexandre Delmar and graphic designer Maria Ruivo, studying places of reciprocity and interaction between human and…

Sara Bonaventura

Sara Bonaventura WAMU NET Sara Bonaventura is an Italian multimedia artist whose work blurs the line between scientific research and sci-fi narratives. Her research driven practice bridges media archaeology and…

Salomé Bazin

Salomé Bazin Muse Salomé Bazin is a French multimedia artist, founder of experiential design studio Cellule. Her work is a tension between digital art, experiential and performance, in an exploration…

Micol Grazioli

Micol Grazioli Muse Micol Grazioli (1989, Trento) is an Italian visual artist based in Marseille, working between France and Italy. Her practice explores the interdependent relationship between humans and their…

Matteo Zamagni

Matteo Zamagni WAMU NET Matteo Zamagni, an Italian, London-based artist, works across visual arts, multimedia installations, live performance, film, and electronic music. Using research-led contemporary technologies, his practice probes the…

Lukas Taido

Lukas Taido WAMU NET Lukas Taido is a Berlin-based, internationally working media-artist, with a strong focus on creating immersive installations using multichannel auditive and visual elements. His works include large-scale…

David Rickard

David Rickard Muse David Rickard, is a New Zealand artist based in London, UK. His original studies in architecture have had a lasting impact on his art practice, embedding queries…

Weedware, Klarenbeek & Dros

Weedware, Klarenbeek & Dros Hortimare Klarenbeek & Dros, Designers of the Unusual (Eric Klarenbeek and Maartje Dros) collaborate on R&D and design projects since 2012, striving for local new economies…

Michael Pinsky

Michael Pinsky WAAG Michael Pinsky is a British artist whose international projects address climate change, urban design and societal wellbeing. Combining the roles of artist, planner, activist and researcher, he…

Marc Vilanova

Michael Pinsky WAAG Marc Vilanova is a sound and visual artist based in Barcelona. His works take the form of expanded sculptures that create a dialogue between sound, light, and…

CTRL + ALT

CTRL + ALT Hortimare CTRL + ALT is a Brussels-based collective exploring the intersection of technology, art, and research. We search for hidden narratives within data, transforming them into immersive…

Regina Hügli

Regina Hügli TU WIEN Regina Hügli is a photographer and multidisciplinary artist based in Vienna, Austria. Water sheds, source regions and water bodies are at the center of her work….

Paula Nishijima

Paula Nishijima TU WIEN Paula Nishijima is a Brazilian visual artist whose research-based practice weaves together scientific perspectives, decolonial poetics, and nonhuman cosmologies. Her work explores the nonlinear temporalities and…

OpenFields

OpenFields Ars Electronica OpenFields is an interdisciplinary studio connecting architecture, technology, contemporary culture, and the environment. Co-led by Mark Balzar and Zeynep Aksöz Balzar, the practice integrates research, teaching, and…

mischer’traxler studio

mischer’traxler studio TU WIEN mischer’traxler studio is a artistic design practice founded by Katharina Mischer and Thomas Traxler in 2009. Based in Vienna, they create distinctive works that explore the…

Ioana Vreme Moser

Ioana Vreme Moser Ars Electronica Ioana Vreme Moser (b. 1994) is a Romanian sound artist engaged with hardware electronics, speculative research, and tactile experimentation. In her practice, she uses rough…

Explore the S+T+ARTS AQUA MOTION Artist Booklet

a dynamic showcase of artistic practices at the intersection of art, science, technology, and water sustainability.
The booklet presents the selected artists and their creative approaches to urgent European water challenges. From ecological degradation and climate impacts to biodiversity loss and water governance, as part of the S+T+ARTS AQUA MOTION initiative.
This project fosters interdisciplinary collaboration across the arts, research, policy, and local communities to imagine and prototype new narratives, tools, and interventions that rethink how we value and manage water in our societies. Dive in to discover inspiring artistic explorations that challenge conventions, spark dialogue, and foreground innovative pathways toward resilient and sustainable water futures in Europe.

Download Here

+ What do we offer?

EUR 40,000 budget per artist residency, covering artist fees, costs associated with participation in exhibitions and public events, and other relevant expenses necessary for the successful implementation of the residency (including production of artworks or prototypes).
Access to specialised resources, technological infrastructure, and facilities provided by the residency host institutions.
Participation in an individualised Mentoring Programme
Expert guidance and support within the interdisciplinary 5-Helix structure, enabling artists to collaborate closely with business, academia, government, environment, and civil society representatives.
Access to the extensive Europe-wide S+T+ARTS network, including participation in community-building events, workshops, and networking opportunities (both online and in-person).
Opportunities to present artistic outcomes at prominent international exhibitions and events, including potential participation at a conference at the Ars Electronica Festival, Venice Biennale, Brussels-based pop-up events, and other high-visibility events.
Visibility through high impact communication activities to promote the artistic output and its innovation spillovers.

+ Expected outputs from artists

Development and production: Produce a tangible, presentable, art-driven innovative artistic outputs addressing specific regional water management challenges.
Collaboration with Residency Stakeholders: Work closely with diverse stakeholders, including the Consortium Partners, Residency Hosts and WIL members to ensure outputs are deeply connected to regional contexts and address specific water-related issues effectively.
Presence at residency host site and region: Residents are expected to spend a minimum of 5 weeks at the site and region of the residency host / co-hosting partners.
Participation in Residency and Scale up meetings and visibility events: Artists are expected to participate at the in-person Residency Kick-off Meeting in Azores, Portugal (October 1-2, 2025); two local events/showcases/exhibitions, one pop-out event in Belgium (these events will be discussed, agreed and co-organized with the Residency Host Institutions)
Community engagement: Actively participate in and contribute to local, national, or international community-driven events, workshops, seminars, and educational activities.
Dissemination and communication: Engage proactively in the dissemination and communication strategies of the residency, including sharing content on social media, contributing articles for platforms such as STARTS.EU, and participating in interviews (written, audio, video) to enhance public visibility and project impact.
Impact assessment: Collaborate in the collection of qualitative and quantitative data to support the comprehensive impact assessment and behavioural change analysis conducted by the S+T+ARTS AQUA MOTION project.

+ Admissibility Criteria

Open to artists of any nationality able to travel to the country hosting the Residency
Applicants must have a valid fiscal ID (e.g., VAT number).
Applicants must be independent of AQUA MOTION consortium partners (no current employees or affiliates).
Not eligible if already granted a S+T+ARTS residency for 2025 or 2026.
Must have at least 5 years of artistic practice and a documented portfolio

Please carefully review the full section on the Admissibility Criteria in the Guide for applicants .

+ Preparation & Submission

STEP 1: Identify the Challenge
Review the [Challenges Booklet] to select the water-related challenge you want to address.
Note: You may submit up to 2 proposals, each for a different challenge; preference must be indicated in the application form.

STEP 2: Complete the online application (via Zealous platform), providing:
+ Administrative info (you + collaborators)
+ Selected challenge(s) + priority
+ Motivation (max. 200 words)
+ Title of your proposal
+ Abstract (max. 300 words)

STEP 3: Complete the ‘Artistic Proposal’ section (via Zealous platform), which contains three main sections:
+ Excellence/Innovative Aspect
+ Implementation
+ Impact

STEP 4: Upload all required documents
+ Project budget + timeline (click to download each template)
+ CV (max. 2 pages, PDF)
+ Portfolio (2-3 relevant projects, PDF)

Submit before the deadline
Deadline: June 13, 2025, 23:59 CEST
Late applications will not be accepted. Apply early!

Review the Guide for applicants for detailed information and instructions.

+ Webinar for Artists: Recording Available

On 16 May 2025, the S+T+ARTS AQUA MOTION Consortium hosted a webinar to provide an overview of the open call, including the application guidelines and the application submission form. A portion of the session was also dedicated to answering participants’ questions.

Take a look at the recording here

+ Contact

For general S+T+ARTS AQUA MOTION inquiries, contact us at:
Patricia Carvalho, patricia.carvalho@inova.business

Discover more about S+T+ARTS AQUA MOTION

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STARTSAQUAMOTION is co-funded by the European Union under the STARTS – Science, Technology and Arts initiative of DG CNECT (GA no. LC-03568055). Views and opinions expressed are those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or DG CNECT. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.