Founded in 1994 to present new developments in electronic and digital art forms, Sonic Acts has gained prominence with its biennial international festival — an intensive art, theory and technology gathering motivated by changes in the ecological, political, technological and social landscape. Sonic Acts is also a leading platform for international projects, research and the commissioning and co-production of new artworks, often working together with local and international partner organisations such as independent and institutional cultural incubators, universities and kindred festivals.

Sonic Acts and the Utrecht University Centre for Global Challenges (UGlobe) invite you to apply for The Lives of Deltas x Overexposed residency programme on the theme of Pollution/Pollination. Taking place from 20 April to 20 May 2023, this fully-funded residency is a unique opportunity for Netherlands-based artists to expand their practice, develop new creative methodologies, and work on artistic assignments with a small group of MA students.

At the delta, the power of industrialisation, digitalisation, food precarity, sea level rise, volatile weather conditions and other consequences of global warming, can be felt like nowhere else. Formed by an array of powers (geological, meteorological, humanistic), these ‘critical zones’ – as Bruno Latour would call them – reveal differences, but also unexpected similarities. The artist-in-residence will respond to the key question underlying The Lives of Deltas programme, asking: how can ecological approaches to pollution and pollination re-frame interspecies networks in the contemporary urban delta?

One candidate will be selected based on the quality of their proposal made in response to the project. The successful applicant will participate in The Lives of Deltas study programme – in seminars, where they will discuss (academic) texts; present their artistic practice to attending students, tutors and scientists; and join in conversations on the central ecological and infrastructural themes explored within the programme (land, water, waste, work, city, technology, senses, etc.). The project will culminate in the creation of short films produced by the programme’s MA students, during which the artist-in-residence will be invited to offer critique and guidance.

The artist-in-residence is expected to keep a weekly ‘research log’, documenting the programme in a medium of their choosing. The results of this log will appear in the periodic magazine Ecoes and feature in Sonic Acts’ media channels such as Telegram. If applicable, the findings of this research may also be presented by the artist-in-residence as a part of future Sonic Acts events and collaborations. This residency takes place both online and at the Utrecht University Centre for Global Challenges (UGlobe).

The residency is part of a new collaboration between the transdisciplinary programme The Lives of Deltas – hosted by Utrecht University and Universities in Maputo, Rio de Janeiro, and Hong Kong – and Sonic Acts. The Lives of Deltas x Overexposed is part of New Perspectives for Action, a project by Re-Imagine Europe co-funded by the European Union.