We’re excited to announce the V&A Adobe Creative Residency Programme today. This new and expanded residency programme supports artists and designers to develop their practice through researching the V&A collections and connecting with our audiences.
Supported by the Adobe Foundation, and run alongside the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), the V&A Adobe Creative Residency Programme will transform access to the arts and creative expression for audiences, as well as inspire a new, diverse generation of creators.
Adobe Creative Residents will play a key role in the expansion of our public programming efforts, which will enable significant threefold growth in our annual engagements with schools, young people, and families. They will also work with local communities across the UK to create a new model of programming outside the museum, building and sustaining links with underserved audiences.
Practitioners have been integral to the fabric and founding premise of the V&A as a repository for ideas and the creation of new design. In 1869, the V&A’s first Director, Henry Cole, offered an onsite studio to the pioneering photographer Julia Margaret Cameron to experiment with her work, igniting the creative interplay between practitioners and the V&A. Since 2008, the V&A has hosted 70 residents who have had unique access to the world’s leading collection of art, design, and performance, as well as a wealth of curatorial expertise. Our new expanded programme will enable us to significantly boost our work with diverse audiences and bring making and creativity to more people.
Per year, a cohort of three residents will work across the museum for 12 months, starting in January 2024. They will receive studio space, mentorship, resources, access to the Museum’s resources, and staff expertise. Embedded in V&A Learning, each resident will have a focus audience, with whom to develop museum programmes inspired by their practice. Additionally, their work will be featured in a six-month display at the conclusion of the residency year.
The following open calls for our first cohort of residents are now live:
- Costume Design: We’re interested to hear from practitioners who push the boundaries of costume, fashion, design for performance and wearable art. We’re keen to see applications exploring ideas of performative gender, queerness, and/or expressions of identity. This resident will work with the Young People’s Programme.
- Global Ceramics: We’re interested in ceramics artists responding to, or recognising, global stories of ceramics. This resident will work with the Schools’ Programme.
- Illustration: We’re interested to hear from experimental practitioners who take innovative approaches to practices of illustration, drawing and graphic design, in particular responding to the themes of collectivity and togetherness. This resident will work with the Families Programme.
We’re particularly interested to hear how your lived experience as an artist impacts your approach to creativity, design, and making. As such, there are no degree requirements to make an application and we’re open to hear from practitioners without formal training or conventional avenues into their career.
For more information on how to apply for one of these opportunities, please visit the Open Calls section on of our website. The deadline for the applications is 10am (London time) on 28 July 2023.
As part of the recruitment for these residencies, we’ll be holding information sessions for the programme on Friday 30 June (online) and Friday 7 July (in person at V&A South Kensington). Please do sign up to attend these to hear more, and we’ll try to answer any initial questions you may have.
If you have any questions about our programme, please email: residencyprogramme@vam.ac.uk
