Organizer Information
SLEEPING BEAUTIES is a multi-residency programme developed by EUNIC Romania (European Union National Institutes for Culture cluster in Romania), a network that brings together cultural institutes from EU member states and partner countries to foster international cultural cooperation and exchange. The Romanian cluster includes institutions such as the British Council, Goethe-Institut, Czech Centre, Cervantes Institute, Polish Institute, and Fundația9, each contributing to the development and hosting of individual residencies. The programme is curated in collaboration with architect and curator Ilinca Păun Constantinescu, alongside Ideilagram Association and partners from academia and architecture practice.
This initiative is part of a broader EUNIC effort to support collaborative cultural production across Europe, with a specific focus on site-responsive artistic research and socially engaged practice. The programme has previously addressed themes such as water ecologies and post-industrial heritage, and continues to position Romania’s balneary resorts as experimental sites for cultural regeneration, heritage reinterpretation, and collective care.
Title & Description
SLEEPING BEAUTIES – A Multi-Residency Programme on Collective Care in Romanian Balneary Resorts
SLEEPING BEAUTIES is a research-based, site-specific residency programme taking place across multiple historic balneary (spa) towns in Romania. The 2026 edition invites selected practitioners to engage with the layered histories, architectural heritage, and ecological conditions of Romanian spa resorts that are currently undergoing processes of decline, transition, and partial regeneration.
Artists and researchers are invited to critically and creatively explore these landscapes—once thriving centres of health, leisure, and social life—now positioned between abandonment and revitalization. The programme frames these resorts as “sleeping” cultural infrastructures: places where historical layers remain visible and active, waiting to be reactivated through contemporary artistic, spatial, and social interventions.
Residents will work directly within specific spa towns such as Borsec, Băile Herculane, Amara, Eforie–Techirghiol, and Băile Govora. Each location offers a distinct historical and ecological context, ranging from Austro-Hungarian spa architecture to socialist-era modernist health infrastructure and interwar seaside developments.
The residency encourages interdisciplinary exploration of heritage, ecology, public space, wellbeing, and collective care, culminating in a public-facing action or event developed in dialogue with local communities. The programme prioritizes research, field engagement, and process-based artistic production rather than finalized artworks.
Categories
- Visual Art
- Interdisciplinary Art Practices
- Architecture & Landscape Architecture
- Filmmaking / Video Art
- Performance Art
- Research-Based Practices
- Socially Engaged Art
- Design & Spatial Practices
- Cultural Heritage Studies
- Community Art / Participatory Practices
Eligibility
- Open to citizens or permanent residents of Czech Republic, United Kingdom, Germany, Poland, Spain, and Romania
- Each residency is country-specific (one participant per host location)
- Applicants should have a minimum of 5 years of professional experience in their field
- Suitable for: interdisciplinary artists, architects, landscape architects, filmmakers, researchers, designers, community organizers, and socially engaged practitioners
- Open to all genders, ages, and cultural backgrounds
- Strong emphasis on collaborative, ecological, and socially engaged practices
- Applicants must be able to stay for the full residency period (10–14 days)
- Applicants must be willing to organize at least one public event during the residency
Program Benefits & Awards
- Artist fee: 700 EUR
- Production budget: 300 EUR
- Travel support: up to 500 EUR (from country of residence)
- Accommodation provided by the host organization
- Partial meals included
- Local mediation and community integration support
- Research facilitation and access to local networks and resources
- Public presentation opportunity (workshop, performance, discussion, etc.)
- Professional documentation of residency (video-based documentation included in programme archive)
- Integration into the international EUNIC cultural network
Application Fee
None
Application Requirements
- Completed online application form (in English)
- CV or artistic biography
- Portfolio of relevant work (projects, images, links, documentation)
- Motivation statement outlining interest in the programme and selected site
- Proposal or research interest aligned with the residency themes (heritage, ecology, care, public space, etc.)
- Additional supporting materials (if applicable): video links, writing samples, or project documentation
How to Apply?
Online Application
Key Dates
- Application Deadline: 21 May 2026
- Shortlist Interviews: 28–29 May 2026 (online)
- Results Announcement: 5 June 2026
- Residency Period: July – September 2026
- Individual residency duration: 10–14 days per selected participant
Location
Multiple locations across Romania, including:
- Borsec
- Băile Herculane
- Amara
- Eforie Sud / Techirghiol
- Băile Govora
Additional Details
- Each residency is tied to a specific country eligibility (e.g., Spain → Băile Herculane, Poland → Amara, etc.)
- Residents must engage with local communities and participate in site-specific activities
- One public event is mandatory per resident (format is open and flexible)
- Participants are expected to maintain a residency journal (text, visual, audio, or mixed media)
- The programme emphasizes ecological thinking, heritage reinterpretation, and decolonial perspectives
- Documentation of all residencies will be publicly shared
- The residency encourages process-based and research-led outcomes rather than finalized artworks
- Duos are allowed, but funding remains unchanged