We run two residency programs to generate and produce innovative ideas in and around Palermo.
Generative Residencies allow an artist, collective, activist, or thinker to familiarise themselves with Fondazione Studio Rizoma and Palermo and to develop a joint project idea on-site for approximately 2-4 weeks.
Production Residencies build on the results of the generative residencies and enable the resident to return to Palermo for a more extended period to produce the devised project.
Generative Residents will be invited and accompanied by the Rizoma team to meet people with relevant expertise or possible cooperation partners and to get to know the city of Palermo and the region of Sicily. Residents can arrive in Palermo with a concrete project to develop, or they can let the city guide them to develop one. Residents receive a per diem of €300 per week plus travel and accommodation.
Residents deal with issues and have developed practices that can be fruitfully connected with Palermo and the working focus of one of the Nodes of Rizoma. The generative phase of project development jointly makes a project tangible, fostering the opportunity for a longer-term collaboration with the resident. In this sense, the generative residency scheme also opens up the definition of Rizoma’s work program enabling participatory co-design.
Where deemed of mutual interest, and depending on the financial requirements and funding availability, residents may return to Palermo as Production Residents. In this case, they will be engaged in producing the generated idea, normally in collaboration with Rizoma and with local partners, they have identified during their first, generative stay. We place particular value in tandem or cooperation with Palermo-based individuals or groups. Production residencies are assessed and planned on a bespoke, individual basis, with a dedicated production budget additionally made available.
*Residencies at Fondazione Studio Rizoma are by invitation only and emerge organically from our ongoing work and partnerships. There is no open call or formal application process. However, if you have a specific idea that would require a residency period in Palermo, you are welcome to send us a brief one-page proposal (Word or PDF), including a short introduction, your proposal, and your ideal timescale. Please note that, due to the high volume of interest and the nature of our programming, we are unfortunately unable to respond to or accommodate unsolicited proposals unless they align closely with our current work.