We are proud to announce the official start of the international project Hydra PACE – Platform for Artistic Collaboration and Exchange as the result of collaboration of three partners from Slovenia, Slovakia and Palestine. The project aims to form a growing network of existing and new international artist-in-residence programs for established and emerging artists. During the Hydra PACE program (Dec 2020–August 2021), six selected artists from Slovenia, Slovakia and Palestine will travel to three different countries, participating in networking, communication and educational activities in order to, together with partners, transfer valued know-how to local and international audiences. The project is supported by the Anna Lindh Foundation.

Hydra PACE – Platform for Artistic Collaboration and Exchange is the collaboration of three partners from Slovenia (DobraVaga Gallery, part of Kino Šiška Centre for Urban Culture, Ljubljana), Slovakia (international artist-in-residence program K.A.I.R. Košice Artist in Residence, Košice) and Palestine (Ramallah Municipality, Ramallah). The project aims to form a growing network of existing and new international artist-in-residence programs for established and emerging artists. The idea for the art residencies project evolved on the threshold of the pandemic crisis that challenged us to reconsider and redesign numerous projects and programs, including art residencies. Hydra PACE is thus offering a model of concurrent international residencies, with an emphasis on combined and flexible live–online activities for artists to network, collaborate, exchange practices and experience different social, political, and cultural contexts.

Six visual or interdisciplinary artists, living and working in Slovenia, Slovakia or Palestine, will be selected via open call (deadline 31 January 2021) to take part in a two-month residency in selected cities (Ljubljana, Košice, Ramallah). The Hydra PACE residence program anticipates six concurrent residencies, and the connection between the artists in residence and the partners implies collaboration in three stages: collaboration with the partner organization prior to arrival, a two-month residency in the selected city (throughout June and July 2021), and a final meeting of all participating artists in residence and partners’ representatives in Ramallah.

The partners’ ambition is to develop and design a long-lasting and permanent model of adaptable art residencies for constantly changing circumstances. The project is supported by the Anna Lindh Foundation and will take place between December 2020 and August 2021.

More info about the project: www.hydrapace.com