Organizer Information
Khoj International Artists’ Association (Khoj Studios) is one of South Asia’s leading contemporary arts organizations and artist-led platforms dedicated to experimentation, interdisciplinary collaboration, and critical cultural discourse. Established in New Delhi, India, Khoj has developed an international reputation for supporting innovative artistic practices that engage with social, political, ecological, and technological issues. Through residencies, public programs, exhibitions, workshops, and research initiatives, Khoj creates opportunities for artists to develop new work while fostering dialogue across disciplines and communities.
For the 2026 International Residency, Khoj collaborates with the Center for Anthropology and Mental Health Research in Action (CAMHRA) at SOAS University of London, bringing together artists and scholars to explore contemporary understandings of mental health, distress, healing, and collective wellbeing through creative practice.
Title & Description
Khoj International Residency 2026: Vitality, Distress, and Contemporary Life-Worlds
The Khoj International Residency 2026 is a six-week, fully supported international residency program taking place at Khoj Studios in New Delhi, India, from 3 August to 16 September 2026.
This edition invites artists whose practices engage with themes of mental health, emotional distress, healing, vulnerability, memory, and resilience. The residency seeks proposals that critically examine how experiences of pain—whether physical, psychological, historical, social, or political—shape both individuals and communities.
Artists are encouraged to investigate how suffering is distributed across structures of race, caste, class, gender, geography, colonial histories, and systemic inequalities. The residency welcomes projects that challenge strictly medical understandings of mental health and instead draw from diverse knowledge systems, cultural traditions, spiritual practices, oral histories, rituals, and alternative forms of healing.
The program also recognizes the growing influence of digital technologies, social media cultures, clinical frameworks, and emerging technologies in shaping identity, anxiety, memory, aspiration, and contemporary experiences of selfhood. Participants will have the opportunity to develop new work while engaging in dialogue with fellow artists, researchers, and scholars exploring similar questions.
Working in any medium, selected residents will be encouraged to expand conversations around mental health and contemporary life, reimagining vulnerability, vitality, trauma, recovery, and transformation through artistic practice.
Categories
The residency is open to artists working across disciplines, including but not limited to:
- Visual Arts
- Contemporary Art
- Installation Art
- Performance Art
- Social Practice
- Interdisciplinary Art
- Digital Art
- New Media Art
- Video Art
- Sound Art
- Photography
- Film
- Community-Based Practice
- Research-Based Practice
- Public Art
- Participatory Art
- Experimental Art
Eligibility
Applicants must meet the following criteria:
- Open to Indian and International artists.
- Artists may work in any medium or discipline.
- Emerging, mid-career, and established practitioners are welcome to apply.
- Applicants should demonstrate a strong engagement with the residency theme of mental health, distress, healing, identity, vulnerability, social justice, or related subjects.
- Artists interested in interdisciplinary, research-driven, and experimental approaches are particularly encouraged to apply.
- One artist from the United Kingdom will receive dedicated support through CAMHRA.
- Collaborative and cross-disciplinary practices are welcome where relevant.
Program Benefits & Awards
Selected artists will receive comprehensive residency support, including:
- Six-week residency at Khoj Studios in New Delhi.
- Dedicated studio and working space.
- International and domestic travel support to and from Delhi.
- Daily per diem allowance.
- Production budget for the development of residency projects.
- Opportunities for exchange with artists, researchers, and scholars.
- Access to Khoj’s professional network and resources.
- Engagement with CAMHRA and affiliated academic research communities.
- Opportunity to develop new work within a supportive international environment.
- Exposure through one of South Asia’s most respected contemporary arts organizations.
Application Fee
None
Application Requirements
- Completed application form.
- Artist biography.
- Curriculum Vitae (CV).
- Portfolio of recent works.
- Project proposal or statement of interest responding to the residency theme.
- Contact information.
- Supporting documentation relevant to the proposed project.
Applicants should carefully follow all instructions provided in the official application portal.
How to Apply?
Online Application
Key Dates
- Application Deadline: 7 June 2026
- Residency Period: 3 August 2026 – 16 September 2026
- Residency Duration: 6 Weeks
Location
New Delhi, India
Additional Details
- The residency places particular emphasis on artistic investigations into mental health, emotional wellbeing, trauma, healing, and contemporary experiences of distress.
- Applicants are encouraged to engage critically with social, political, historical, and cultural dimensions of suffering and resilience.
- The program welcomes diverse perspectives, including those informed by spirituality, mythology, ritual, oral traditions, community knowledge, and non-Western frameworks of healing.
- Projects may explore intersections between mental health and issues such as colonial legacies, war, migration, identity, technology, social inequality, and collective memory.
- The residency seeks to foster meaningful exchanges between artists and researchers, creating a multidisciplinary environment for experimentation and dialogue.
- The partnership with CAMHRA provides an additional research-oriented dimension to the residency experience.