La Wayaka Current's Desert 23°S Residency (Chile)

La Wayaka Current is pleased to announce a new series of artist residency expeditions into the vast, otherworldly Atacama Desert, Chile. La Wayaka Current's programme Desert 23°S presents a rare opportunity to research and develop your creative practice inside an oasis in one of the driest environments on their planet. This region more closely resembles the surface of Mars than Earth, offers the most optimal conditions for astronomical observations in the world, and preserves ancient archaeological sites beneath the sand.

They are committed to creating a space in which artists-in-residence can explore contemporary socio-political concerns and current threats to the environment through their practice. Their fluid, site-responsive programme introduces artists-in-residence to the local ecology, history, and culture of this territory, cultivating spaces in remote environments that nourish and encourage space for personal and professional growth. They cultivate experiential nodes of learning with a focus on research and experimentation to manifest inspiration in an outdoor creative space, beyond a conventional studio context.

La Wayaka Current is open to all kinds of creators, artists, cultural practitioners, writers, musicians, scientists, activists, as well as professionals from other fields, from across the globe, who wish to engage with urgent ecological issues of their time through creative projects in new contexts. Their residency programmes offer a place to connect to territories and explore new ideas in the form of research, creative projects, and artistic experimentation.

Their curated programmes allow participants to inhabit unique environments, learn experientially from the land, connect to local contexts, and explore pressing issues of their time. They aim to support the creation of new artistic work and dialogues that navigate a time of planetary mass extinction, and ecological and climatic crises while building meaningful relationships and reciprocity towards each other and the planet. They always strive to include diverse perspectives and involve indigenous collaborators through their programming.

For their programme in the Atacama Desert, they challenge participants to investigate new perspectives in art and ecology through connections to this region. For the duration of the 3-week period, La Wayaka Current will lead a curated programme with around half of the time being immersive and guided, and the other half independent and self-directed.

The programme consists of a series of activities and guided research trips to inform and expand their understanding of this region. This includes cultural encounters, research excursions, guided talks, and activities that aim to connect artists to the biodiversity in experiential ways and specifically to the Andean cosmology of the Altiplano, a culture that has developed here over the last 15,000 years. They encourage reflections and conversations that bring awareness to the deeper complexities and problematics that exist here in the driest region on earth, addressing the context of colonisation, and climate change, as well as local extractivism and water-intensive mining practices.

Outside of the immersive programme period, there is time to go deeper into their self-directed practice at the base or go on self-guided trips in the area. From the residency base, they are strategically based for participants to access the open Desert and the Andean Steppe with wetlands, canyons, hot springs, geysers, salt flats, lakes, volcanoes, and rivers to explore in the area. To make self-guided trips outside of the programme, they offer bikes, and for further distances, they can also offer advice and connections to transport and local guide service, for any other specific research catered to their interests that they wish to do outside of their offered programme.

Applications are currently open to join for a minimum of 3 weeks during the following time periods:

2023:

• 6th September to 27th September 2023
• 5th October to 26th October 2023
• 2nd November to 23rd November 2023

2024:

• 9th March to 30th March 2024
• 5th April to 26th April 2024
• 3rd May to 24th May 2024
• 6th September to 27th September 2024
• 5th October to 26th October 2024
• 2nd November to 23rd November 2024

They currently offer financial aid, advice in seeking funding from other institutions in their PDF, work-exchange opportunities, and bursaries on all their programs. Their aim is to make this residency accessible for all those who wish to take part. Contact them directly for fees, to find out what aid is currently available, and what you may be eligible for.

Fill out all information on the Online Application Form, including personal details, selection of dates, and location. Tell them why you want to join them in your 'statement of intent' and complete their scenario-based questions.

If you are applying for financial aid, please tick the appropriate box on the application form.

For applications of more than 1 person, an individual can fill out one application on behalf of the group.

Deadline: July 31, 2023.