LIVE WORKS - Free School of Performance OPEN CALL
a project by Centrale Fies

The 14th edition of LIVE WORKS, the Free School of Performance of Centrale Fies, is dedicated to the practical and theoretical exploration of the boundaries of performing arts.

curated by

Barbara Boninsegna (artistic director and co-founder of Centrale Fies)
Simone Frangi (researcher, critic, and curator)

Created in 2013 by Centrale Fies in collaboration with Viafarini, LIVE WORKS is a platform dedicated to contemporary live practices that contribute to the deepening and expansion of the concept of performance, following the current shift in the performative and its elements. Selected artists will find a space/time specifically imagined for their needs, with care and attention devoted to research and production actions, just as in the Free School.

Deadline April 3, 2026

The announcement is open to a wide range of performative actions, also including sound and new media arts, text-based performances, lecture performances, multimedia storytelling, choreographic practices, relational and workshop-based projects, and other projects questioning the idea of performativity beyond the body. Artists and professionals from any geographic location and with no age limits can enter the announcement, as individuals or in groups, with a single project. The open call only accepts unpublished or long-term projects that need to be developed and/or concluded, for which participation would represent an evolution of the project or its final chapter.

The production of the performance projects during the residency will be supported by diverse types of curatorship, from theoretical to technical development, throughout a Free School of Performance consisting of studio visit, critical session and reading group.

During the residency phases, Centrale Fies will provide a production and curatorial staff to assist the artists as they develop the selected projects.

The selected projects will be 6, and each project will have access to:
-an annual fellowship of € 3,000.00 ;
-participation in the Kick Off Seminar in the dates 17-18-19 July 2026, during Live Works Summit 2026 ;
-a 2 weeks individual residency at Centrale Fies in a period from September 2026 to December 2026 individual residency at Centrale Fies ;
-a collective residency together with all the selected artists, at Centrale Fies, in the summer 2027 in the frame of Live Works Summit 2027 ;

LIVE WORKS is structured through multiple creative residency periods offered to the selected projects and views performance as a "workspace," serving both as tool and as cultural exercise. The specificity of the project lies in a particular focus on hybrid research, with the intention of highlighting the "openness" and fluidity of the performative, its social and political implications and its level of public understandability.

For the two residencies, travel costs to reach the venue, as well as food and accommodation during both residency periods, are covered (in agreement with the Organization of Centrale Fies).
The budget of € 3.000,00 will be guaranteed according to the methods communicated after the selection.

The performances produced will be presented at Centrale Fies in summer 2027, during Live Works Summit 2027. On this occasion the projects will be discussed by a board of international professionals, working for festivals, institutions, residencies and production programs that sustain and produce research in the performing arts field.

During each evening a program of established guest artists will be presented alongside the presentation of the selected projects.

Those wishing to participate in the open call must complete the online application form here:
https://liveworks.wufoo.com/forms/zx20dlz1dw93pu/

Registration for participation must be sent by midnight on the 3th April 2026.
Candidates who submit after this deadline will not be accepted.

Info: liveworks@centralefies.it