Open Call: Babbasawt Sound Lab Residency Program 2025

The Sound Lab is a one month long residency based around pairing five musicians/sound artists from a Creative Europe country with five Tunisian musicians/sound artists. The selected artists will work together on new collaborative works, while also participating in mentor led workshops on instrument building and experimental music/sound techniques.

Musicians are invited to consider the use of innovative musical instruments, built during residency workshop activities or provided by the residency and mentors. Selected artists will acquire new skills in sound creation and music instrument building. They will be able to test their personal strengths within an artistic collaboration, as much as imagine new types of audiences for their work. A multiplicity of perspectives is welcomed in such a collaborative environment, therefore participants can come from different artistic backgrounds, as long as they are interested in experimenting with sound in a structured and innovative manner.

Aim

• The aim of the residency is to foster:
  • opportunity for personal, intercultural, and professional growth
  • equal access to music technologies
  • experimentation in artistic collaborative formats
  • inspiration through mentorship to envision a sustainable music career
  • In person presentations from the mentors, and additional online talks from guests.

Benefits

• Each of the five participants selected through this call will receive the following:
  • accommodation free of charge at Dar Meso
  • a daily allowance
  • a travel stipend to be calculated by distance (an additional green top-up is available for slow travel)
  • free workshops
  • production support
  • networking possibilities in Tunis
  • public events and final work documentation

What type of activities are planned?

• One public concert by the mentors
• Focused learning on specific musical instruments and new technologies, practical sessions implementing their use
• Multiple day workshops focusing on musical instruments building techniques (acoustic and electronic)
• Coordinated visit to local art institutions and traditional instrument making workshops
• Improvisation sessions and rehearsals with mentors’ present
• The final goal is to help participants realize new collaborations, and to present this publicly as a performance, exhibition, or participatory action using a variety of musical instruments, including the ones built during the course of the residency.

Geographical Focus 

• Creative Europe Countries: Albania, Austria, Armenia, Belgium, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Kosovo, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Montenegro, Netherlands, North Macedonia, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Ukraine.
• Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs): Greenland (Denmark), French Polynesia (France), New Caledonia (France), Saint Barthelemy (France), St. Pierre and Miquelon (France), Wallis and Futuna Islands (France), Aruba (The Netherlands), Bonaire (The Netherlands), Curaçao (The Netherlands), Saba (The Netherlands), Sint Maarten (The Netherlands), Sint Eustatius (The Netherlands).
• Outermost Regions (ORs): French Guiana (France), Guadeloupe (France), Martinique (France), Mayotte (France), Reunion Island (France), Saint-Martin (France), Azores (Portugal), Madeira (Portugal), Canary Islands (Spain).

Eligibility Criteria

• You are eligible to apply to this open call if:
  • you are over 18 years old
  • you are fully available to travel to Tunis and participate in the entire period of the residency
  • you are not a legal resident of Tunisia
  • you are currently a legal resident of one of the Creative Europe countries (except Tunisia), or their territories.

For more information, visit Dar Meso.