News

Introduction

Zoöp Creative Coding Utrecht (CCU) is a platform for digital creativity, co-creation and collective learning. Inspired by techno-eco-feminist thought and permacomputing, CCU operates at the intersections of art, technology and ecology. CCU is located within the Hof van Cartesius, a green and circular cooperative in Utrecht (Netherlands). The residency starts with two weeks in this vibrant ecosystem, and concludes with a one-week Summer Camp at Artphy in Groningen, and will run from June 29th until July 19th.

Instituto Cervantes is a public institution promoting education in the Spanish language and to spread the culture of Spain and the Spanish-speaking countries of Latin America.

LABEA is a laboratory for art, science and nature. Through projects of creation, training and awareness, LABEA envisions art as as a catalyst for eco-social transformation.

Through these partnerships, we support encounters across regenerative communities of practice. Together we have developed this open call, which focuses on practitioners whose practice engages with questions around ecology, technology, and more-than-human relations.

This residency is part of Zoöp Connections, a networked knowledge exchange programme connecting Dutch Zoöps and European cultural institutes. A Zoöp is an organisational model that integrates more-than-human life into artistic programming and governance.

Zoöp Connections creates residencies for artists, thinkers and practitioners from across Europe to learn from, live with, and work within living ecosystems. The programme prioritises process, learning and shared inquiry over predefined outcomes, and is centred on co-creation, care, listening and reciprocity.

Selection criteria:

• have a research-oriented artistic practice
  
  
• engage with questions around ecology, technology, and more-than-human relations
  
  
• are open to process-based work, experimentation, and collaboration
  
  
• are interested in site-responsive and relational approaches
  
  
• Clear motivation for a residency at Zoöp CCU specifically
  
  

Who we are looking for

Residents in Zoop Connections may be creative professionals of many kinds. What matters is shared purpose: the ability to work experimentally, collaboratively and reflectively. We are open to applications from makers working across disciplines such as:

• medis art, creative coding, audiovisual practices
• speculative or social design
• music, performance, or embodied practices
• interdisciplinary and community-based work
  
  

Eligibility: Open to practitioners based in Spain, aged 18 or older, with a demonstrable connection to cultural, artistic, regenerative or ecological practice. Full presence for the duration of the residency is required. Working language: English.

What is asked of you

We believe residents should first immerse themselves, being curious, connecting, co-learning, before shaping their own project. The scheduling of activities will be planned in dialogue with you from the start.

Three things are asked of every resident:

• A public moment aimed at our community and networks (form to be developed together);
• A documented exchange with Theun Karelse, our Speaker for the Living (open format, to be shared online);
• A Trace of Care — a site-specific gesture or intervention that improves biodiversity care or increases the life-carrying capacity of the local ecosystem.
  
  

Please indicate briefly in your application whether you anticipate needing specific materials, tools or resources. No formal production plan is expected.

How to apply

We welcome alternative formats — a short video alongside or instead of a written motivation letter is fine. Applications may be submitted in English, Dutch or Spanish.

Send a single PDF by May 22, 2026 (23:59 CEST) to wdv[at]creativecodingutrecht.nl Subject line: Application: Practices of Alliance, FirstName(s)_LastName(s)

Include:

• Portfolio (max. 10 pages)
• CV
• Motivation letter (max. 500 words) or short video
• Brief note on any materials or resources you anticipate needing

Selection

Applications will be reviewed by a jury including representatives from CCU, Instituto Cervantes and LABEA. Applicants will be notified before June 4, 2026.

Data protection: Materials are used solely for this selection process and not shared outside the jury without your consent. Unsuccessful applications are deleted within three months of notification. Questions: wdv[at]creativecodingutrecht.nl

Workspace and accommodation

• Workspace and screens for individual and collaborative work.
• Access to a garden and outdoor studio spaces for site-specific experiments and direct engagement with a biodiverse environment.
• Shared kitchen and common lunch area.
• A bike is available to enable sustainable and flexible local travel between the workspaces and the city.
• Access to the workshops in the Hof van Cartesius, including woodwork, electronics, and digital fabrication, including a 3D printer.
• Tools, hardware, and CPU power for prototyping and development.
• Reused and up-cycled materials to minimise waste.
  
  

Fee and conditions

The resident receives a gross stipend of €1500 — an all-in amount covering both a personal fee and daily subsistence including food. We want to be transparent: this is a modest stipend reflecting a process-focused residency centered on immersion and exchange rather than production. Tax obligations are the responsibility of the resident.

Accommodation is will be provided for the duration of the residency in Utrecht. During the one-week immersive camp at Artphy accommodation is also included and might entail camping.

Travel to and from the residency is reimbursed, with a strong preference for land-based travel. Train, bus and multi-day accommodation en route are covered. Local travel during the residency is also covered.

If you have accessibility needs, please let us know. We will do our best to make reasonable adjustments.

People involved

-      Werner de Valk— coordinator — audiovisual artist and zoöperation manager at CCU.

-      Itziar Muñoz Colomina — coordinator — cultural programmer at Instituto Cervantes

-      Isabel Ferreira — artistic director of LABEA

-      Theun Karelse —Speaker for the Living for CCU — artist, researcher and core member of FoAM and the Embassy of the Earth.

Zoöp Connections is coordinated by DutchCulture, EUNIC Netherlands and the Zoönomic Institute with the support of EUNIC Global Cluster Fund.