Artivist Residency – Voices of Water: From the River to the Sea

📍 Bobigny, Île-de-France
📅 17–21 November 2025

The Questions

How does water, from one shore to another, flow through our lives and struggles?
How can we create empathetic links through rivers, canals, seas, and aquatic beings?
How do we make visible the injustices of borders that divide, divert, and privatize water?
How can we imagine free circulations together? How can we listen to the water?
And, in the current political context: how can we connect the waters of Seine-Saint-Denis with Palestine?

Context

Inspired by hydrofeminist arts, the global movement for the rights of nature, artivism, ecological urbanism, and the Flotilla for Palestine, this residency will explore water as a symbol of transspecies and transnational solidarity.

From Bobigny to the Mediterranean, from Seine-Saint-Denis to Palestine, water connects and crosses our beings and our struggles.

Rooted in Bobigny, the residency invites participants to reflect on their relationship — and that of local inhabitants — with water:
💧 How is it perceived today?
💧 Do we still maintain a living bond with water?
💧 How can we give it a voice?

Echoing ecological thinkers who affirm that “we defend best what we love,” artists will be asked to revive this connection, while opening a critical space on inequalities and conflicts over the control of water.

Expected Outcomes

The creations will take the form of visual elements for use in solidarity campaigns in public space, and possibly a performance developed through artivist practices.

The results of the residency will be presented in public spaces and during a public event on 11 December 2025 in Aubervilliers (Seine-Saint-Denis).

Who we are looking for

We seek 3 artists working in:

• Graphic Design
• Visual Arts
• Performance

Artists should be curious about discovering artivism (art + activism) and open to collective creation.

👉 The 3 selected artists will collaborate to combine their knowledge and practices, and produce:

• A public collage campaign in Bobigny
• An optional performance during the public event on 11 December 2025.

Residency Programme

• Day 1: Arrival & introduction
• Day 2: Training in cooperation & artivism
• Day 3–4: Research & collective creation
• Day 5: Conclusions & next steps

What’s included

• Shared accommodation in Bobigny (with local artists/activists)
• Collective meals provided
• Travel and food costs covered
• Fee: €400
• Training in artivism and socially engaged arts

Application

• Deadline: Sunday 12 October 2025 (midnight)
• Apply via this form.
• Application must include:
  • Portfolio / CV
  • Motivation letter (1 page) or a short video (a few minutes)

⚠️ Priority will be given to artists based in Seine-Saint-Denis and/or those who have previously developed artistic practices related to water.

📢 Results announced around 22 October 2025.