For the third time, the Arts Council Korea (ARKO) and Ars Electronica are excited to announce the Curatorial Residency Program for 2025. The unique onsite residency program invites curators and cultural producers to spend four months in Linz, Austria, where they will delve into the vision, philosophy, and operations of Ars Electronica, the world’s leading media arts festival.
The program focuses on managing and curating parts of the Ars Electronica Festival 2025, as well as engaging with the jury process of the prestigious Prix Ars Electronica, often regarded as the “Oscars” of media arts. Participants will gain insight into the broader Ars Electronica ecosystem, including the Ars Electronica Center, Ars Electronica Futurelab, and Ars Electronica Solutions, deepening their understanding of the intersection of art, technology, education, and social impact.
Arts Council Korea (ARKO) implements the Curatorial Residency Program as part of the International Exchange Program in collaboration with Ars Electronica. Through this program, media arts will be considered across the fields of science, education, business, and social responsibility, by being presented as a new cultural and artistic field. The program is designed to encourage the next generation of curators and cultural producers to think about media arts across a wide range of sectors, including science, education, and business, to create a new culture and a new framework for media arts, independent from existing concepts. The goal is to develop personnel resources and a creative platform for Korean arts internationally.
Open Call Details
Eligibility Requirements
The following application requirements must be met by the applicants:
- Minimum of three years of experience in curating, producing, or managing exhibitions, cultural projects, or media arts-related activities.
- Applicants must hold Republic of Korea citizenship.
- Strong English proficiency is required; German skills are a plus but not mandatory.
Program Benefits
- The selected curator will receive support* from ARKO and Ars Electronica, including:
- Economy-class travel to Linz, Austria, for the Prix Ars Electronica Jury Meeting and the Curatorial Residency.
- Covered accommodation for the duration of both the Jury Meeting and the residency.
- Per diem of €300 for the Prix Ars Electronica Jury Meeting and a monthly salary of €1,500 (gross) for the residency period.
* Prerequisite is the positive assessment of the visa and work permit.
Commitment of the resident
This is a full-time residency running from June to September 2025. During this time, the resident must be fully devoted to the program and cannot take on other work. Travel home is only permitted under special circumstances with prior approval.
How to apply
Applications must be submitted via the ARKO platform by the specified deadline. Please ensure all documents are in English and in PDF format. Files should not exceed a total of 50MB. Please ensure that your application is complete and that you mention in the subject line “Application Curatorial Residency Ars Electronica [your name]”.
Please state a valid email address as all applicants will be informed via email. All documents must be submitted before the deadline.
Required Documents:
- Entry Form (must include):
- Why are you interested in this residency program?
- What do you hope to achieve from residency program?
- Your specific ideas and plans that you want to put into practice within the residency period.
- Short video statement (max. 3min) in English.
- Please introduce yourself and tell us your motivation for applying as well as your expectations in participating in the curators’ program. Don’t forget to mention how you envision to use the skills you’ve learned afterwards.
- The video can be recorded with a mobile phone, but please make sure that the audio is audible. Please add the link to the video in your application (you need to upload it to a file-sharing platform such as YouTube, Vimeo, Google Drive etc) or upload the video directly to the application platform (format: mp4, max. 50MB).
- Portfolio of previous work experience relevant to your curatorial residency (in English as PDF, max. 5 pages).
- CV – detailing your relevant experience (English, PDF).
Key Dates
- October 8, 2024: Announcement and call for submissions
- October 31, 2024: Final deadline for submissions (by 3:00 PM KST)
- December 9-13, 2024: Interviews with shortlisted candidates
- End of December 2024: Notification of selected candidate
- Sep 3-7, 2025: Ars Electronica Festival
Residency stay in Linz, Austria: (onsite stay is mandatory)
- April 10-13, 2025 – Prix Ars Electronica Jury Meeting
- June 1 – September 30, 2025 – Curatorial Residency
Curatorial Residency Programme 2025 application guidelines
Deadline: 31 October 2024
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