Organizer Information
OiR Art Hub is an independent artist-led initiative based in Mongolia that functions as a creative community platform supporting artistic exchange, experimentation, and collaborative learning. Operating outside traditional institutional residency models, the hub creates opportunities for artists, researchers, and cultural practitioners to engage directly with local environments, communities, and cultural contexts.
The organization focuses on mobility, ecological awareness, and collective experience, encouraging participants to explore artistic practice through travel, observation, dialogue, and site-responsive engagement. Through its programs, OiR Art Hub aims to foster meaningful connections between contemporary art, landscape, and nomadic culture while creating spaces for interdisciplinary exchange across international artistic communities.
The EASTWARDS residency represents one of the hub’s most ambitious initiatives, offering participants an immersive journey through Eastern Mongolia’s diverse ecosystems and cultural landscapes while exploring new ways of understanding place, movement, and artistic research.
Title & Description
EASTWARDS: Nomadic Art Residency Across Eastern Mongolia 2026
EASTWARDS is an international nomadic residency program organized by OiR Art Hub, inviting 10–15 artists, researchers, and creative practitioners to participate in a mobile artistic journey across Eastern Mongolia from July 20 to August 1, 2026.
The residency travels through some of Mongolia’s most significant landscapes, including the Khentii Mountains, Dornod Province, Buir Lake, and the Great Menen Steppe. Rather than being based in a single location, the program unfolds as a moving residency where participants engage with landscape, ecology, nomadic culture, and spatial awareness through travel and collective experience.
The residency encourages participants to slow down and immerse themselves in the rhythms of the steppe while exploring artistic methodologies rooted in observation, listening, movement, and environmental awareness. Artists are invited to respond to the landscape through a wide range of practices including writing, photography, sound recording, image-making, performance, research, conversation, and site-responsive interventions.
Rather than focusing on finalized artworks, the residency prioritizes process, experimentation, reflection, and dialogue. The steppe itself becomes a studio, laboratory, classroom, and place of contemplation where participants can rethink their creative practice in relation to vast open environments and nomadic ways of living.
The program concludes with participation in a group exhibition in Ulaanbaatar, providing artists with an opportunity to share outcomes, reflections, and experiences generated during the residency journey.
Categories
- Visual Art
- Photography
- Performance Art
- Installation Art
- Sound Art
- Writing
- Research
- Interdisciplinary Arts
- Environmental Art
- Site-Specific Art
- Land Art
- Multimedia Art
- Social Practice
- Ecological Art
- Cultural Research
Eligibility
The residency is open internationally. Eligible applicants include:
- Visual artists
- Interdisciplinary artists
- Performance artists
- Photographers
- Writers
- Researchers
- Sound artists
- Curators
- Designers
- Cultural practitioners
- Students and emerging creatives
- Individuals interested in art, ecology, landscape studies, and nomadic culture
Additional eligibility information:
- No age restrictions are specified.
- Applicants from all countries are welcome.
- Emerging artists may be considered for reduced-fee participation.
- Previous residency experience is not required.
- Applications are evaluated primarily on interest, curiosity, openness, and commitment to the residency experience.
Program Benefits & Awards
Selected participants will receive:
Residency Experience
- Twelve-day nomadic residency across Eastern Mongolia.
- Travel through Khentii, Dornod, Buir Lake, and the Menen Steppe.
- Direct engagement with local landscapes and nomadic culture.
- Opportunities for artistic research and interdisciplinary exchange.
Accommodation & Logistics
- Airport pickup and drop-off in Mongolia.
- Transportation throughout the residency journey.
- Accommodation during the entire residency period.
- Meals throughout the program.
Professional Opportunities
- Visits to local art communities.
- Artist studio visits.
- Exhibition and cultural visits in Ulaanbaatar.
- Participation in a final group exhibition in Ulaanbaatar.
- International networking opportunities with fellow participants.
Funding Support
- Invitation letters for external funding applications.
- Supporting documents for grants, scholarships, university funding, and cultural mobility programs.
- Limited reduced-fee places for artists with demonstrated financial need.
Application Fee
Participation Fee: USD 1,000
The fee includes:
- Accommodation
- Food
- Ground transportation
- Airport transfers
- Residency coordination
- Cultural visits
- Exhibition participation
Please note:
- International travel to and from Mongolia is not included.
- A limited number of discounted places may be available for emerging artists or applicants experiencing financial hardship.
Application Requirements
Applicants may submit one of the following:
- Portfolio
- Personal website
- Social media portfolio
In addition, applicants should provide one of the following:
- Project proposal
- Artistic idea or concept
- Statement of interest
- Personal letter explaining their motivation for joining the residency
The organizers emphasize that enthusiasm, curiosity, and genuine interest in the experience are valued more highly than highly formalized applications.
How to Apply?
Applications should be submitted by email to: oirarthub@gmail.com
Key Dates
- Application Deadline: 25 Jun 2026
- Residency Period: July 20 – August 1, 2026
Location
Eastern Mongolia
Residency route includes:
- Khentii Mountains
- Dornod Province
- Buir Lake
- Menen Steppe
- Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
Additional Details
- The residency accommodates approximately 10–15 participants.
- Accommodation may vary throughout the journey and can include tents, traditional nomadic yurts (gers), guesthouses, and tourist camps.
- The program emphasizes mobility, adaptability, and collective living rather than institutional residency comforts.
- Participants should be prepared for changing environmental conditions and extensive travel across remote landscapes.
- Artistic outcomes may include writing, sound works, photography, performance, research documentation, installations, and experimental projects.
- Core thematic areas include nomadic culture, ecology, landscape perception, migration, movement, orientation, silence, spatial awareness, and human/non-human coexistence.
- The residency seeks to create a deep encounter with one of the world’s largest remaining grassland ecosystems while fostering new artistic perspectives shaped by travel and environmental immersion.