Organizer Information
Lottozero is an international creative hub, design studio, and contemporary art center based in Prato, Italy—one of Europe’s most historic and prominent textile manufacturing districts. Operating as a laboratory for material research, Lottozero features an in-house textile lab, exhibition spaces, and shared prototyping facilities. For the Textile Art Factory initiative, the studio partners with the Prato Textile Museum (Museo del Tessuto di Prato) and Studio Corte 17, backed by the structural funding of the Tuscany Regional Program FSE+ 2021–2027 and integrated into Giovanisì, the region's official autonomy framework for young creative talent.
Title & Description
Textile Art Factory — Open Call for Artists (Residency Cycle 2).
This specialized six-month contemporary fellowship explores the intersections of fine art, fiber manipulation, and industrial textile design. The program serves as an immersive non-formal academy and production incubator. Selected artists will live and work collectively in Prato, gaining direct access to Lottozero's testing laboratories, the vast historical fabric archives of the Museo del Tessuto, and the raw post-industrial manufacturing networks of Studio Corte 17. Residents will build deep connections with regional artisans and manufacturers to develop a brand-new body of material work.
Academic & Curatorial Seminars
Throughout the 6-month block, artists participate in a rigorous, mandatory training itinerary led by international practitioners, comprising:
- Technical Laboratories: Intensive, hands-on production workshops focusing on traditional and experimental weaving, surface design, natural botanical dyeing, master embroidery, and fabric prototyping.
- Theoretical Curriculum: Professional seminars covering art history, curatorial strategies, cultural project design, fabric conservation and restoration of textile artworks, cultural heritage legislation, and contemporary arts communication.
- District Immersions: Curated studio visits and field trips to commercial textile companies across the Prato district.
- Exhibition Restitution: The residency culminates in a final collective gallery exhibition mounted in Prato, curated by a resident curator and documented in a comprehensive printed catalog.
Categories
Textile / Fiber Art.
Eligibility
- Age Limit: Open to emerging artists under the age of 36.
- Language Requirement: Applicants must possess a minimum B1 proficiency level in the Italian language, as the training modules and community engagement tracks are conducted in Italian.
- Employment Status Mandate: Candidates must be currently unemployed, unoccupied, or inactive, and not concurrently enrolled in any school, university degree, or formal training courses.
- Exclusions: This specific open call is tailored for visual artists; the corresponding tracking call for contemporary curators closed in May.
Program Benefits and Awards
- Stipend Support: A monthly financial contribution of €500 for the duration of the residency (totaling €3,000 over 6 months).
- Housing Accommodations: Fully covered stay inside Lottozero’s brand-new, shared community residency apartment in the historic center of Prato.
- Production Workspace: Free access to shared co-working studios and the specialized equipment rows of the in-house textile laboratory.
- Tuition Coverage: Full institutional funding covering all masterclasses, expert workshops, materials sourcing support, and final gallery exhibition production costs.
Fees
- Application Fee: None (Free to enter the open call).
- Artist Expenses: Selected residents are responsible only for their personal round-trip travel arrangements to Prato.
Application Requirements
Dossiers must be compiled and uploaded digitally through Lottozero's active submission engine, requiring:
- Complete personal identification profile, verification of age, and contact channels.
- Signed declarations verifying current unoccupied/unemployed status and course non-enrollment.
- A professional visual arts CV detailing past projects, education, and exhibitions.
- An Artist Statement and a dedicated project proposal mapping out how your practice will respond to Prato's industrial textile context.
- A digital portfolio (PDF) showing past material or visual investigations.
How to Apply?
Access the administrative application node on the official portal, verify your eligibility checkboxes, and upload your compiled portfolio assets. Apply to the Textile Art Factory Open Call.
Key Dates
- Application Deadline: Monday, June 15, 2026, at 11:59 PM CEST. Late submittals caught outside the central server timestamp will be disqualified.
- Residency Term: October 5, 2026 – April 5, 2027 (A strict 6-month on-site commitment).
Location
Italy, Prato (Tuscany region).
Additional Details
Applications are evaluated under a joint panel of curators from Lottozero, the Textile Museum, and regional experts, looking for high conceptual curiosity, technical viability, and willingness to collaborate horizontally within a collective living space.