European Digital Deal Open Call

European Digital Deal calls on artists interested in exploring the deep entanglement between new technologies and democracy to apply for one of 12 residencies. Artists are invited to investigate a range of topics, from the notion of truth in the information age shaped by algorithms, biases in AI, techno-anxiety, and the digital divides arising as a result of digitalisation to new forms of surveillance, intelligence, living, citizenship, or work.

The selected artists will receive a 25.000 EUR grant to complete their project, the support of the group of experts around each residency, access to mentorship through an incubation programme, and the chance to show their work at Ars Electronica Festival, Onassis Stegi, and Laboral among many other locations.  

The call is open to individual artists or artist duos/groups/collectives. Each of the 12 residencies is linked to one consortium partner. The following partners will be hosting residencies:

• Ars Electronica (AT)
• Gluon (BE)
• Kersnikova Institute (SI)
• LABoral (ES)
• Onassis Stegi (EL)
• Pro Progessione (HU)
• Sineglossa (IT)
• Center for the Promotion of Science (CPN)(RS)
• The Culture Yard (DK)
• Waag (NL) is offering 2 residencies
• Zaragoza City of Knowledge Foundation (FZC) / Etopia (ES)

Each consortium partner has defined a concrete challenge for their residency. Artists are required to submit project proposals that respond to one of these challenges. More details on the challenges, the specific opportunities, support and infrastructure, expectations, and requirements of each organization can be found in the Challenges Booklet. 

The residencies will take place between April and December 2024, for a period of 9 months. Artists are required to be present in person at the location of the host institution, at least for part of their residency. The timing and duration of their onsite presence will be discussed and agreed upon with the host depending on the requirements of the residency and the project.

Beneficiaries of this open call will receive:

• Up to 25 000 EUR as a lump sum per residency. This covers the artist fee and other residency-related costs (including but not limited to artwork/prototype production, artist travel and accommodation expenses)
• Guidance and support provided by the hosts and their local expert group, as described in the Challenges Booklet.
• Access to facilities, tools and expertise at the host’s location (or in some cases the locations of their local partners), as described in the Challenges Booklet
• Network and exchange opportunities with other residency artists (meeting foreseen to take place in April 2024)
• The opportunity to showcase the work at least at one location (usually of the residency host, but not necessarily).
• Further opportunities might be agreed upon on a case-by-case basis.

The artists selected in the European Digital Open Call for Residency Artists will enter a 9-months residency, for an opportunity to incubate their project idea in three distinct stages:

• Stage 1 – Initial Research: Discovery and Interpretation: For the first 1-3 months of the residency, the artist will undertake preliminary research for their project, guided by their host institution.
• Stage 2 – Advanced Research: Experimentation: In the next part of the residency, artists will experiment, using the learnings from the first stage to further develop and validate their project.
• Stage 3 – Prototyping: In the last months of the residency, artists will create an artistic presentation of their research, receiving the support and access to the facilities of their residency hosts.
• Artists will agree on the duration of the stages with their host.

The call is open until 30. November 2023 at 23:59 (CET). The application must be done online through the website.