Organizer Information
PERFORMA-Q is a multi-year residency initiative dedicated to supporting experimental, politically engaged, and socially conscious performance practices. The program focuses on amplifying queer voices and creating space for artists whose experiences, histories, and narratives have often been marginalized, overlooked, or erased. Through a combination of artistic research, mentorship, collaboration, and critical dialogue, PERFORMA-Q seeks to foster innovative performance projects that engage with contemporary social realities while imagining alternative futures. The residency emphasizes intersectional approaches and encourages artists to challenge dominant cultural narratives through performance-based practices.
Title & Description
PERFORMA-Q Residency: Stage for Untold and Erased Queer Stories – Open Call for Residency Cycle 1 (2026–2027)
PERFORMA-Q invites performing artists, directors, playwrights, and artistic collectives to apply for the first cycle of its residency program, taking place from October 2026 through April 2027. The residency supports projects that explore queer identity, memory, visibility, resistance, and belonging, particularly within the social, political, and cultural contexts of Europe's periphery.
The program welcomes experimental and research-driven approaches to performance-making, including live art, choreography, expanded dramaturgy, interdisciplinary performance, and hybrid artistic forms. Artists are encouraged to investigate untold histories, recover erased narratives, explore marginalized archives, and imagine new queer futures through creative experimentation.
PERFORMA-Q functions as a laboratory for artistic inquiry where process, collaboration, and critical reflection are valued alongside artistic outcomes. Participants will have the opportunity to develop new performance work, exchange ideas with peers and mentors, and engage with broader conversations around intersectionality, decoloniality, migration, social justice, and collective care.
Projects may address themes such as queer histories, memory and loss, community-building, resilience, feminist politics, migration, disability justice, class struggle, cultural identity, and speculative futures. The residency particularly encourages proposals that challenge traditional artistic categories and experiment with innovative storytelling methods, performance languages, and collaborative processes.
Categories
- Performance Art
- Live Art
- Theatre
- Playwriting
- Choreography
- Dance
- Interdisciplinary Arts
- Visual Arts
- Sound Art
- Digital Media
- Multimedia Performance
- Experimental Performance
- Dramaturgy
- Community-Based Art
- Research-Based Artistic Practice
- Hybrid and Cross-Disciplinary Practices
Eligibility
- International performing artists
- Directors
- Playwrights
- Artistic collectives
- Emerging artists
- Mid-career artists
- Established practitioners
The residency particularly welcomes artists whose practices engage with Europe’s periphery and related social, cultural, or political realities. Applications from LGBTQ+ artists, trans artists, migrant artists, racialized communities, disabled artists, working-class artists, and practitioners exploring intersectional experiences are strongly encouraged.
Artists based outside Europe may also apply if their work demonstrates a meaningful connection to the residency's thematic focus.
Program Benefits & Awards
- Residency participation from October 2026 to April 2027
- Dedicated time and space for artistic research and development
- Access to rehearsal and working facilities
- Mentorship and professional guidance tailored to project needs
- Opportunities for peer exchange and networking
- Access to local artistic and cultural networks
- Potential work-in-progress presentations
- Opportunities for public sharing and audience engagement
- Critical feedback and artistic support
- Connection to future production and collaboration opportunities when feasible
The residency prioritizes artistic development, experimentation, and long-term creative growth.
Application Fee
None
Application Requirements
- Completed online application form
- Project description outlining the proposed artistic work
- Explanation of the project's connection to Europe's periphery or related contexts
- Motivation statement
- Portfolio or documentation of previous work
- Curriculum Vitae (CV)
- Information on key collaborators (if applicable)
- Relevant supporting materials and links
Only complete applications submitted before the deadline will be considered.
How to Apply?
Online Application
Key Dates
- Application Deadline: 31 July 2026
- Residency Cycle Begins: October 2026
- Residency Cycle Ends: April 2027
Location
Europe
Additional Details
PERFORMA-Q is structured as a three-year residency initiative that will host a total of eighteen residencies across multiple cycles. The current open call concerns Cycle 1 only.
Applications will be evaluated based on:
- Artistic quality
- Originality and innovation
- Relevance to queer narratives and marginalized histories
- Feasibility within the residency framework
- Clarity of artistic vision
- Alignment with the program's thematic focus
The organizers are committed to supporting diversity and inclusion and encourage applications from artists with different backgrounds, working methods, and accessibility needs. Selected residents may discuss accessibility requirements with the organizing team, subject to available resources.
The residency places strong emphasis on collective learning, experimentation, and the creation of supportive environments where artists can take risks, test ideas, and develop new forms of artistic expression. Projects may exist in early developmental stages and do not need to be fully realized at the time of application.
PERFORMA-Q aims to build a network of artists and cultural practitioners committed to expanding queer visibility, fostering social dialogue, and creating new possibilities for performance as a tool for cultural transformation.