Founded:
2020
Language(s):
English, Lithuanian
Duration:
1-3 months
2 month

Each participant is to receive a grant of EUR 1400, travel grant EUR 400 (except artists from Lithuania) and 200 Eur for materials.

Application guidelines:

Verpėjos team will select artists through an open call based on the following criteria:
- Ability to collaborate creatively in a common household;
- Ability to create in the community, involving participants of all ages and capabilities in the creative process;
- Motivation to get up early and spend a lot of time outdoors with the sheep to immerse oneself in the processes of nature and the world of animals, insects, and plants without fear of bad weather;
- Professionalism;
- Manual craft skills and desire to learn new things;
Sustainable, eco-friendly and waste-free approach to the creative process and lifestyle;
Interdisciplinary, encompassing different artistic fields.

All interdisciplinary artists of every race, gender identity, age or cultural background who are legally residing in the Nordic Region (Denmark, Finland, the Faroe Islands, Greenland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Åland) or the Baltic countries (Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania) are welcomed to apply.

Two artists from Lithuania and four from the Nordic Region and Estonia and Latvia will be invited.

Application deadline:
Specific date
14 august 2025
Open call:
no
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Verpejos Creative Pastures

Verpejos Creative Pastures

Verpėjos
Verpėjos
Verpėjos
Verpėjos
Description

Verpėjos (The Spinners) is an independent art initiative founded in 2017 by artist Laura Garbštienė in the Marcinkonys municipality, Varėna district of South Lithuania. Verpėjos aims to explore and rethink the themes of traditional rural lifestyle and nature conservation, to empower discourse on processes and changes both locally and globally. Since 2019, Verpėjos has been curating the Marcinkonys Station Gallery, with an international art residency program starting in 2020.

In close kinship with animals and nature, we invite the creators to rethink the relationship between contemporary humans and the environment in the epoch of the Anthropocene.

Outcome

During the residencies, artists will be asked to produce text and/or images for our publication “Shepherd’s notes” and present her/his work to the public at the end of the residency (in the form of artist’s talk, to give a workshop, performance, etc..).

Accommodation Information

Three participants will stay in an old log house and small log cabin in the village of Kabeliai, within the residency’s premises. In the small, simply furnished living house there are two rooms, shared kitchen and a bathroom (plumbing, hot water, wood-burning stoves for cooking and bread baking, cold cellar, wi-fi.). One living space is furnished at the separate log cabin. Bicycles are available.

Studio Information

Working spaces: log house studio 35m² with wood heating and cooking stove, cold cellar and library. Outdoor spaces 600m² with orchard, garden, old oak and linden trees and fireplace. Equipment: manual tools for woodworking (hammers, axes, handsaws, planes, chisels, carving knives, workbench) and for wool processing (hand carders, spindles, spinning wheels, winder, niddy-noddy, swift), traditional weaving loom, felting mats, wool dyeing pots and supplies.
Materials: plenty of raw and carded wool and different types of wood (wood for greenworking will be provided upon request). Other local natural materials can be provided and used. We can provide assistance by traditional craftspeople in the area: straw garden maker, reed roofing master, tree beekeeper, basketry master, ropemaker, cheesemaker, band weaver, candlemaker. At the nearby Dzūkija National Park Visitor Center we can connect artists to ecologists, geographers, ethnographers for consultations and guided tours.

A flock of sheep is housed at one of the barns at the residency’s premises. The sheep need to be let out to graze twice everyday, kept from wandering into other people’s territories, and given water. The sheep get up early, go out to graze when it is not hot, and come home at noon. The second time they need to be taken out in the evening. The three artists in residence at the time will share the responsibility of shepherding the sheep, each having to spend 2 to 4 hours a day in the company of sheep.

Contact information
Email
info [at] verpejos.lt
Phone
+37061416255
Website
https://verpejos.lt/?lang=en