2025 Principal Residency Program

The program is oriented towards established as well as up-and-coming artists with high potential for development. The residency program dedicates particular attention to projects that focus on the interplay between nature and technology—two notions that are more than ever intertwined and lie at the heart of contemporary concerns. Participants to La Becque’s Principal Residency Program are selected globally by a transdisciplinary jury of experts.

Themes of the Program

• They encourage applicants to outline their research methodologies through the medium of art.
• A non-exhaustive list of fields to be explored in the residency might include those listed below. They emphasize that these are just a few examples of thematic avenues that an application might explore rather than a sine qua non list. It is important for them to be intentionally broad in scope and to support a diverse range of projects that develop new ecologies of thought and artistic practice.
  • Address the notion of the Anthropocene and analyze the actors, institutions, and technological infrastructures that underpin it.
  • Examine the vectors of natural exploration and extraction, and the boundaries between benign and intrusive exploration of nature.
  • Explore related processes of decolonization at work in acts of “decolonizing nature.”
  • Examine the ways in which artists transpose natural data into artworks (images, sounds, texts, or otherwise) that contribute to the understanding of the natural environment, and perhaps even to expand the notion of what “interspecies communication” could be.
  • Examine whether, and to what extent, technological infrastructure is now part of, or even helps to shape, what is defined as the natural environment.
  • Question the beautifully ambivalent “natural landscapes” that surround the residency.
  • Explore how and why, in the technological and digital age, older notions of science and para-science, religion and para-religion, technology and para-technology are gaining importance.
  • Explore artistic practices that challenge established ways of measuring what surrounds them and that decentralize human presence within it (notions such as time and duration, for example, which can be explored through various artistic approaches), etc.

Monthly Stipend

• Residents will receive a monthly stipend of CHF 1,500 to cover living expenses and the cost of materials. The grant is adapted for artists’ collectives according to the number of members in the group.

Travel Costs

• La Becque contributes to the travel costs of residents from their place of residence to La Tour-de-Peilz, up to a maximum of CHF 500 (travel within Europe) and CHF 1,000 (worldwide).

Insurance

• Residents must also ensure that they have valid insurance coverage for medical assistance and accidents during their stay in Switzerland. Once in Switzerland, residents will be provided with administrative assistance by La Becque staff, as well as the necessary support in case of problems.

Family

• La Becque tries to be as flexible as possible to facilitate the reception of partners and/or children in the different residency programs, but they remind you that the resources available to residents are the same whether they come alone or accompanied (an apartment, individual or shared access to a workshop, and a monthly stipend).
• La Becque offers additional monthly financial support of CHF 1,000 to help with childcare costs. La Becque does not offer specific assistance or activities for children, but they are happy to refer artists parents to the various childcare and school institutions.

Events

• La Becque regularly organizes public events on its La Tour-de-Peilz site, which feature a diverse and sometimes large audience in some of the site’s shared spaces, including the garden. Some of these events involve residents in their program, while others do not.
• In addition, artists who are invited to take part in these events may be invited to stay for short periods at La Becque. Other artists, juries, and La Becque partners are also frequently invited to stay.
• Residents are informed in advance of these events, visits, and temporary “neighbors.” They are invited to take part in the events and to welcome the visitors, who will also respect the integrity of the residents. La Becque guarantees a welcoming and safe environment for all its guests.

Criteria

• The Principal Residency Program welcomes applications from Swiss and international professional artists working in a wide range of disciplines, including:
  • Architecture
  • Critical writing
  • Design (product design, graphic design, design research)
  • Film
  • Media arts
  • Music and sound art
  • Performing arts
  • Photography
  • Visual arts
• Curators, art critics, and researchers who work in fields related to cultural practices are also encouraged to apply.
• Applicants must be at least 23 years of age at the start of the year of residency.
• La Becque’s Principal Residency Program is open to both emerging artists and established practitioners. However, applicants must be professionals in their field and have ambitions to further their practice.
• Applicants should not be enrolled in undergraduate or graduate degree programs at the time of application. PhD students who have finished all coursework may apply.
• Applicants may apply as a duo or a collective. The members of the collective are required to share the infrastructure and resources at their disposal. The grant is adapted for artists’ collectives according to the number of members in the group.
• Whether or not their application is successful, applicants may not apply for the Principal Residency Program two years in a row.
• The languages generally spoken at La Becque are English and French. A good command of English is preferable, to be able to communicate with other residents during the stay. Applications may be submitted in either English or French.

For more information, visit La Becque.