​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Group Residency Open Call — 2026

Calling all curious minds to apply for a month-long group residency in June 2026.

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Over four weeks, the village will become a living laboratory. Up to ten participants will be invited to explore Tsarino through its landscape and its role within the surrounding local community, using both as sources of inspiration and material. One will find mossy stone walls, abandoned ruins and relics of the communist era, forests and fields, memories and stories, old and new spring-fed chesmas (drinking fountains), foragers and visiting neighbours, owls and tortoises, and countless cow paths leading one to unexpected places. 

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Throughout the residency, participants will have the opportunity to develop their project(s) with our guidance and support as needed. The residency concludes with a public event in Tsarino where participants share their outcomes with the local community — this may take the form of an exhibition, performance, intervention, or presentation. 

 

There is also an opportunity to use the Razklon Gallery — a 1m³ exhibition space constructed along the dirt road leading from Chorbadzhiysko to Tsarino — as part of a collaborative project among participants. This may extend beyond the gallery into the surrounding landscape for those interested in working together.

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​How to apply

Tsarino AiR welcomes artists, researchers, and thinkers from all disciplines. We are interested in ways of working that are open-ended, process-based, and responsive to place. For this programme, instead of asking for a formal motivation or project plan, we invite you to send us a gesture. 

 

In Tsarino, time unfolds slowly. The village holds traces of many pasts — human, animal, vegetal, architectural — layered into the landscape. Rather than asking for a formal, written project proposal, we invite you to begin a conversation with this place in another way.

 

You may respond in any form: a short video, sound piece, image, drawing, performance trace, or something else entirely. Written texts are welcome if they are part of your artistic language (e.g. poetry, lists, or fragments). Your submission can be simple, short, and sketchlike — we are interested in how you think, observe, and connect, rather than reading a formal plan or seeing a finished work.

 

Please complete the online application form.

 

In the section ‘Upload your gesture’, submit an impression of your motivation to come to Tsarino or how you might approach your time here.

 

Accepted formats: 

• Image (JPG/PNG/GIF, max. 2 MB)

• Short video (MP4 or MOV, up to 2 minutes, max. 100 MB)

• Sound piece (MP3 or WAV, up to 2 minutes, max. 40 MB)

• PDF (max. 10 MB)

 

Deadline: 02 February 2026

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Practical information
Each participant is provided with a private bedroom in a traditional, hand-built Rhodopean house. These rooms also function as individual studio spaces. In addition, each house includes a shared communal area that can be used by the participants staying there.

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Depending on group size and availability, some houses may have an additional room that can be used as extra working space. Further working space may be available to meet individual needs: participants are invited to make use of foundation-owned abandoned structures in the village of Tsarino, as well as the surrounding fields and forests.

We encourage participants to discuss their working needs with the team in advance or upon arrival. While facilities are modest and vary from house to house, we will do our best to find a solution that fits the requirements of each project.

Each house is equipped with a basic set of hand tools. Battery-powered tools and gardening equipment are available on request.

A solar-powered charging station is available for charging phones, laptops, and other small devices, as well as power tools and appliances up to 500 watts. Please note that electricity is generally limited and dependent on weather conditions. A generator is available for emergencies. Devices can also be charged in Chorbadzhiysko.

Food

A dedicated team of volunteers prepares three communal meals per day. Residency participants take part in a shared cooking and cleaning schedule. Meals are prepared in a communal, roofed outdoor kitchen located near the houses, which can also be used as a space for working or relaxing. Cooking is generally done on a wood-fired stove or over an open fire; each house is additionally equipped with a gas burner for making tea or coffee.

Facilities

Sanitary facilities are located outdoors and include composting toilets and wood-fired showers. Drinking water is available from a spring close to the village and is accessible on tap.

Please note that the programme and its facilities are developing gradually. Accommodation and amenities are therefore basic but functional, and participants should be prepared for simple living conditions.

Support

During the residency, the foundation team offers practical support with technical questions, sourcing and organising materials, and facilitating communication with the local community. Support is provided in dialogue with the participants and in response to the needs of each project.

 

For more information and pictures, go to About.

 

Contribution

Being an independent non-profit organisation, all investments and work to facilitate the AiR programmes come from its artist members and volunteers. Currently, the foundation does not receive external funding; we can therefore not offer stipends.

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We work with two contribution levels to support access while remaining financially sustainable:

• €630 (reduced rate) applies if you do not receive external funding to take part in this residency 

• €900 applies if you do receive external funding to take part in this residency (whether already confirmed or confirmed at a later stage)

 

Both contribution levels include:

• Accommodation (a private room in a traditional house)

• Additional workspace if needed

• Three home-cooked vegetarian meals per day, prepared by volunteers 

• Use of shared facilities

• Project assistance

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Why is there a contribution?
Contributions are cost-based and help cover accommodation, utilities, shared resources, and organisational expenses; Tsarino Foundation AiR operates on a non-profit basis and does not generate profit from residencies.

 

The residency in short

Dates: 1–30 June 2026​

Contribution: €630 (unfunded participants; reduced rate) or €900 (funded participants)

Transport: provided between Tsarino and Chorbadzhiysko

Accommodation: private room in a traditional, hand-built Rhodopean house

Food: a dedicated team of volunteers prepares three communal meals a day; residency participants assist with the cooking and cleaning schedule

Facilities: shared kitchen and bathroom

Focus: developing new work in response to your stay in Tsarino

Participants: up to ten guests

Outcome: public exhibition or presentation at the end of the residency

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Once you receive a positive response, please secure your spot by paying a non-refundable deposit of €100 within two weeks. The remaining amount is due by 1 May 2026.

 

For any questions about Tsarino or the residency, email info [at] tsarino.org ​​​​​​​​