Image: Matilda Rahm

Southnord Residency Programme

About The Programme

As an artist-run platform, Southnord is deeply committed to fostering and nurturing artistic ideas, particularly within the visual arts. In our ongoing efforts to make space for new creative projects to flourish, we are thrilled to introduce the Southnord Residency Programme. The programme serves as a vital bridge, connecting Afro-diasporic artists situated in the Nordics to contemporary art scenes on the Africa continent. We hope this offering leads to journeys of self-discovery and artistic exploration in a context quite unlike the one we live in. Through this immersive experience, residents will engage with the soil that holds our heritage and forge new relationships with fellow artists and curators. With a two-month residency period during the fall/winter season (October-January), our goal is for participants to return with a renewed sense of hope, inspiration, and artistic vitality. 

Southnord’s long-term ambition is to develop relationships with multiple partners all across the continent and expand our offering from one residency spot to several, as and when funding permits. To this end, we will be hosting a series of webinars during 2025 featuring some of the amazing independent art spaces operating in different countries.

Our Residency Partner

We are excited to collaborate with the Lusaka Contemporary Art Centre (LuCAC), in Zambia, as our first residency partner. LuCAC is a private non-profit facility dedicated to artistic research, exhibition and resource sharing. As a hub for decolonisation, LuCAC encourages formal and informal artistic research and experimentation to challenge dominant narratives and interrogate common stories and histories. This mission aims to influence the trajectory of equitable and self-aware human development. It facilitates and promotes knowledge production relevant to artistic development in Zambia and beyond, acknowledging the hybridity resulting from migration, immigration, and globalisation. As an artist-driven project space and cultural repository, LuCAC increases the visibility of Zambian Contemporary art through radical knowledge production and creative experimentation. The center features a gallery with rotating exhibitions, a studio for artistic collaboration, a library for research, and art residency facilities for national and international artists. By fostering a community that challenges dominant narratives, LuCAC promotes self-aware human development and empowers the growth of Zambian Contemporary art. Through its programmes and facilities, LuCAC serves as a vibrant platform for artistic innovation and cultural exchange.

We welcome applications for the 2025 residency spot in January 2025.