Res Artis — what the residency network is and how to search its catalogue

A residency is not only a grant with a deadline.
It is also years of experience from those who already run such programmes.
That is exactly what the Res Artis network of residencies is for.
Since 1993 it has brought together residencies and their organisers, not individual artists.
As of the date checked, 15 September 2026, the open catalogue holds hundreds of programmes worldwide.
You can search it without a subscription.

The catalogue is open to everyone, membership is not
You can search residencies by map or by list, with filters by region and theme.
There is also a separate view for open calls only, without the rest of the database.
Access to the catalogue and open calls is free and requires no registration.
Paid membership in Res Artis is needed by the residencies themselves, not by the reader.

Who pays for membership, and why that matters
Res Artis is, first and foremost, a professional association of residencies, not a service aimed directly at artists.
Its official members are organisations that run residencies themselves, as well as foundations and cultural councils.
An organisation’s fee depends on its programme’s budget — from €69 to €700 a year.
Foundations and larger bodies pay a fixed fee of €600 a year.
The website only lists fees for organisations — there is no slot in this membership scheme for an individual artist.

One of the oldest networks in the field
Res Artis was born in 1993 at a meeting in Berlin.
21 residencies from nine countries came together there.
The network gained official foundation status in the Netherlands in 2003.
Today its headquarters is in Australia.
Separate offices also operate in Melbourne and in the Middle East, North Africa and South Asia region.
Over more than 30 years the network has held dozens of international conferences.
The most recent one was in São Paulo, in 2025.

More than a catalogue
Res Artis also advocates on behalf of residencies themselves and the people who run them.
During the war in Ukraine and the COVID-19 pandemic, the network put together resources of its own.
These were guides for artists at risk and a list of emergency residencies.
The annual conferences remain the main place where residencies exchange experience with each other.

Who it is especially good for
Good fit if: you are looking for a residency through an open, free catalogue rather than paying for membership yourself.
Especially useful if you want to see not just the well-known names, but also hundreds of lesser-known programmes worldwide.
May not be a fit if: you mistook the catalogue for a personal application-support service — Res Artis does not offer one.
It also is not for you if you represent a residency yourself.
Full network membership is a separate paid option, not the subject of this article.