Call for Proposals

Residency Program for Artists and Art Researchers

Accepting proposals for April 2025  onwards

The Arad Contemporary Art Center invites artists and scholars of art and culture (curators, writers, thinkers) for a unique residency program of 2-4 weeks in the city of Arad, located on the border of the Negev and the Judean Deserts. The purpose of the program is to enrich the guests’ work and thought processes, as well as to encourage and sustain a locality-based groundbreaking work.

 

The ACAC operates from the heart of a vibrant cultural community center, while the residency house is in an isolated location, overlooking the desert. Correspondingly, the residency period invites and encourages various modes of practice, ranging from creative isolation, to socially engaged, community-based, and collaborative actions.

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The Residence

Founded in 2014, the residency program takes place in a small, secluded house overlooking the Negev and Judean Deserts (8 Achva Street in the Hatzavim neighborhood). The house contains two separate bedrooms, a living room, a kitchen, a small courtyard, and a balcony.

The residency program is made possible by the generous donation of the late Mrs. Dora Gamzu, who lived in this house for many years. The ACAC works diligently on the upkeep of the residence and makes adjustments to it for the benefit of the residency program. There is a high-speed WiFi connection in the residence.

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Additional Information

• The recommended length of stay for guests is two weeks to a month.

• The guests will receive consultation, local guidance and community connections for the period of their stay, at their request.

• The ACAC staff can facilitate connections to scientists and researchers in the area, through an ongoing collaboration with The Dead Sea and Arava Science Center and The Ben Gurion University's Community Outreach program.

• For the benefit of the guests a number of potential workspaces are available at the Arad Community Center – dance studios, classrooms and a workshop yard, as well as a ceramics workshop (by appointment).

• In accordance with the community vision of ACAC, which operates out of the heart of the community’s cultural center, we kindly request the guests to conduct at least one activity during their residency, which will be open to the residents of the city, whether it is a workshop, a lecture or any other public format.

• Guests are invited, either during or following their stay in the residence, to propose an exhibition or an activity for the ACAC gallery, in dialog with the Center’s Artistic Director.

• We request that during their stay the guests submit visual or written materials to the dedicated residency blog on the ACAC’s website.

• Unfortunately, at this time we are not able to cater to guests with financial support or expense coverage.

• Guests who have previously participated in the residency program, are also invited to resubmit an application for a revisit.

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Application

Please email the following materials to acacarad@gmail.com:

• A proposal that describes your thoughts, motivations, and intentions regarding your stay, including a proposal for a community activity open to the residents of Arad and your desired dates and length of stay (not to exceed one page).

• A brief biographical paragraph and your CV, including a link to any relevant websites, and/or any other details you would like to share.

• Your portfolio.

• You can send up to 3 additional images related to your proposal.

 

Before writing your proposal, we recommend visiting the bibliography page of the ACAC website, which offers extensive information on the location (in Hebrew), as well as visit the exhibition pages and the resident artists’ blog.

You may also contact us via email with any questions you may have about the residency program, or to arrange a tour of the city.​

This is an ongoing open call for proposals without a specific submission due date. The proposals are discussed every few months by the Center’s artistic director, Leah Abir, and the program's advisory committee. Responses to the submissions are sent as soon as possible.

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The ACAC residency program advisory committee:

Hadas Kedar (Tel Aviv-Yaffa), Rula Khoury (Haifa), Monika Lipšic (Vilnius, Berlin), Meir Tati (Tel Aviv-Yaffa), Tea Tupajić (Zagreb), Bar Yerushalmi (Tel Aviv-Yaffa)

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About ACAC

The Arad Contemporary Art Center (ACAC) serves as an anchor institution for contemporary art in Arad and its surrounding communities in the Eastern Negev region. The exhibitions and activities of ACAC concern the aesthetic, political, social, geographical, and ecological issues that arise from the environment in which it operates. 

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The ACAC residency program was founded in 2014 as "Arad Art and Architecture" by Hadas Kedar, an Arad-born artist/curator, and Oren Amit, Head of the Culture Department at the Arad Municipality, in a house donated to the city by Dora Gamzu, who intended the place to be an inspiration for artistic creation.

In 2016, following the success of the residency program, which hosted over 120 local and international artists and cultural producers, the Arad Contemporary Art Center was founded to further establish the city as a center of inspiration for artistic and cultural production and research. The ACAC operates a 300 sq m gallery space inside the city's cultural community center in addition to the ongoing international residency program, which still serves as an active incubator for art and culture.

The ACAC’s extensive public program features art events, public interventions, lectures, and performances. Its educational department gives guided tours of the exhibitions, art workshops, and tours of the city’s artistic tracks - The Artists’ Yards, the Artists’ Quarter, and more. The center also holds educational and cultural tours for students from Arad and the Eastern Negev region.

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