Itinera Arte Artist Residency Program - Rio de Janeiro
Type
Residency
Category
Drawing, Mixed Media, Painting
Status
Open for Applications
Deadline
November 30, 2025
Application Fee
Free
Host
Itinera Arte
Location
Rio De Janeiro, Brazil
Itinera Arte Artist Residency Program 2026
Places I inhabit, places that inhabit me
From March 5 to April 30, 2026
The Itinera Arte platform, based in Rio de Janeiro and in collaboration with Arquipélago Carioca, announces the second cycle of its international artist residency program, open to both Brazilian and foreign artists.
The residency offers an immersive and experimental environment for contemporary artists at any stage of their careers, working across a wide range of media — painting, drawing, video, performance, sculpture, installation, among others — who are interested in exchanges with professionals in the field and in direct contact with the city’s cultural environment.
Grounded in the identity of movement and displacement that defines Itinera (to travel, to transit, to wander), the program encourages the sharing of knowledge in motion, in dialogue with the living historical landscape surrounding Guanabara Bay, at the heart of Rio de Janeiro.
“Places I inhabit, places that inhabit me” invites sensitive investigations into the act of inhabiting as an aesthetic, political, and affective experience.
The residency welcomes artists interested in exploring the multiple dimensions of space — territory, city, home, or body — and the entanglements that arise from them.
Participants are encouraged to examine the places they inhabit, reflecting on how our bodies, gestures, and narratives intertwine with these spaces, granting them meaning — and, simultaneously, how these places cross through us, shape us, and inhabit us in unexpected ways.
The program aims to open a poetic and critical reflection on the experience of inhabiting, stretching the boundaries between the intimate and the collective, the ephemeral and the permanent, while exploring the poetics of everyday life as a way to perceive, understand, and imagine the spaces we occupy — and those that occupy us.
General Information:
A total of 9 artists will be selected for this edition — 7 paying participants and 2 full grantees.
Applications are open from October 10 to November 30, 2025.
Residents will receive ongoing support from the Itinera Arte team throughout the program.
This edition is curated and coordinated by Thiago Fernandes.
The residency offers each artist:
• Studio space in downtown Rio de Janeiro (25 m², equipped with a worktable)
• Weekly curatorial follow-up
• Portfolio review sessions
• Engagement with the local art scene through visits to studios, galleries, institutions, and exhibitions
• Conversations with visiting curators
• Cultural activities throughout Rio’s historic city center
• A collective exhibition at the end of the residency
Selected artists will be encouraged to fully engage with the wide range of activities promoted by the program.
The work to be presented in the final exhibition will be developed in dialogue with the Itinera Arte curatorial team.
Applicants must be able to communicate in Portuguese or English.
Application Requirements:
• Portfolio
• Curriculum vitae
• Artist statement
Note 1: All applications must be submitted in Portuguese or English.
Note 2: Applicants for full scholarships must include a motivation letter explaining their interest in the program and their financial need, addressing the stated criteria.
Fee:
US$ 500 per month (US$ 1.000 for the full residency period).
Brazilian artists will receive a 50% reduction on the total fee: R$ 2.000 for the entire residency (R$ 1.000 per month).
Accommodation, travel, meals, and personal expenses are not included. However, Itinera Arte provides guidance and information to help participants find partner accommodations and offers useful tips about the city.
Fellowship:
Two artists will be awarded full fellowship, covering the total program fee, based on socioeconomic, racial, and/or gender criteria.
The selection committee will also consider the relevance of the applicant’s artistic background and the alignment with the conceptual framework of the residency.
Applicants for the scholarship must submit a letter of interest outlining their motivation to participate and their need for financial support, according to the above criteria.
Pre-selected residents will be contacted by December 8, 2025
Curatorial Coordination
Thiago Fernandes is an art historian working across art criticism, curatorship, and teaching.
He holds a PhD in Visual Arts from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), with a research fellowship at the Institute of Art History, NOVA University of Lisbon.
He is curator at Itinera Arte, professor at EAV Parque Lage and at the School of Fine Arts (UFRJ), and author of the book A presença da imagem (Paisagens Híbridas, 2022).
He coauthored the e-book and online project Cildo Meireles – Obscura luz, 40 anos (Caju, 2023).
His writings have appeared in seLecT, Dasartes, and Caju magazines, as well as in his blog Nuvem.
Fernandes has curated exhibitions at the Museum of Art of Rio (MAR), Paço Imperial, Bispo do Rosário Museum of Contemporary Art, Centro Cultural Light, Centro Municipal de Arte Hélio Oiticica, and Centro Cultural Correios, among others, and has taught courses at the Pinacoteca de São Paulo, Casa do Saber, and several other institutions.
Places I inhabit, places that inhabit me
From March 5 to April 30, 2026
The Itinera Arte platform, based in Rio de Janeiro and in collaboration with Arquipélago Carioca, announces the second cycle of its international artist residency program, open to both Brazilian and foreign artists.
The residency offers an immersive and experimental environment for contemporary artists at any stage of their careers, working across a wide range of media — painting, drawing, video, performance, sculpture, installation, among others — who are interested in exchanges with professionals in the field and in direct contact with the city’s cultural environment.
Grounded in the identity of movement and displacement that defines Itinera (to travel, to transit, to wander), the program encourages the sharing of knowledge in motion, in dialogue with the living historical landscape surrounding Guanabara Bay, at the heart of Rio de Janeiro.
“Places I inhabit, places that inhabit me” invites sensitive investigations into the act of inhabiting as an aesthetic, political, and affective experience.
The residency welcomes artists interested in exploring the multiple dimensions of space — territory, city, home, or body — and the entanglements that arise from them.
Participants are encouraged to examine the places they inhabit, reflecting on how our bodies, gestures, and narratives intertwine with these spaces, granting them meaning — and, simultaneously, how these places cross through us, shape us, and inhabit us in unexpected ways.
The program aims to open a poetic and critical reflection on the experience of inhabiting, stretching the boundaries between the intimate and the collective, the ephemeral and the permanent, while exploring the poetics of everyday life as a way to perceive, understand, and imagine the spaces we occupy — and those that occupy us.
General Information:
A total of 9 artists will be selected for this edition — 7 paying participants and 2 full grantees.
Applications are open from October 10 to November 30, 2025.
Residents will receive ongoing support from the Itinera Arte team throughout the program.
This edition is curated and coordinated by Thiago Fernandes.
The residency offers each artist:
• Studio space in downtown Rio de Janeiro (25 m², equipped with a worktable)
• Weekly curatorial follow-up
• Portfolio review sessions
• Engagement with the local art scene through visits to studios, galleries, institutions, and exhibitions
• Conversations with visiting curators
• Cultural activities throughout Rio’s historic city center
• A collective exhibition at the end of the residency
Selected artists will be encouraged to fully engage with the wide range of activities promoted by the program.
The work to be presented in the final exhibition will be developed in dialogue with the Itinera Arte curatorial team.
Applicants must be able to communicate in Portuguese or English.
Application Requirements:
• Portfolio
• Curriculum vitae
• Artist statement
Note 1: All applications must be submitted in Portuguese or English.
Note 2: Applicants for full scholarships must include a motivation letter explaining their interest in the program and their financial need, addressing the stated criteria.
Fee:
US$ 500 per month (US$ 1.000 for the full residency period).
Brazilian artists will receive a 50% reduction on the total fee: R$ 2.000 for the entire residency (R$ 1.000 per month).
Accommodation, travel, meals, and personal expenses are not included. However, Itinera Arte provides guidance and information to help participants find partner accommodations and offers useful tips about the city.
Fellowship:
Two artists will be awarded full fellowship, covering the total program fee, based on socioeconomic, racial, and/or gender criteria.
The selection committee will also consider the relevance of the applicant’s artistic background and the alignment with the conceptual framework of the residency.
Applicants for the scholarship must submit a letter of interest outlining their motivation to participate and their need for financial support, according to the above criteria.
Pre-selected residents will be contacted by December 8, 2025
Curatorial Coordination
Thiago Fernandes is an art historian working across art criticism, curatorship, and teaching.
He holds a PhD in Visual Arts from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), with a research fellowship at the Institute of Art History, NOVA University of Lisbon.
He is curator at Itinera Arte, professor at EAV Parque Lage and at the School of Fine Arts (UFRJ), and author of the book A presença da imagem (Paisagens Híbridas, 2022).
He coauthored the e-book and online project Cildo Meireles – Obscura luz, 40 anos (Caju, 2023).
His writings have appeared in seLecT, Dasartes, and Caju magazines, as well as in his blog Nuvem.
Fernandes has curated exhibitions at the Museum of Art of Rio (MAR), Paço Imperial, Bispo do Rosário Museum of Contemporary Art, Centro Cultural Light, Centro Municipal de Arte Hélio Oiticica, and Centro Cultural Correios, among others, and has taught courses at the Pinacoteca de São Paulo, Casa do Saber, and several other institutions.