A 6‑week online programme supporting 50 international artists from ideation to pre‑production.
Most collective sessions take place on Tuesdays, 14:00–18:00 CET / Paris time
The residency moves in a deliberate sequence: knowledge first, then artistic reasoning, then structured concept-building, ethics, mentoring, and finally a defended pitch. Nothing is optional decoration – each session produces a concrete output that feeds the next stage.
/Anatomy of a four‑hour session
Collective check‑in and programme updates.
Expert talks or facilitated workshops.
Questions and group discussion.
Two short breaks.
Practical preparation for the next stage.
Hackathon, mentoring and final presentation sessions are organised in smaller groups to support active participation and personalised feedback.
Introduce the residency and provide historical, political, social and ecological perspectives on Chornobyl. The session establishes a shared knowledge base for informed artistic creation.
Initial references, research directions and thematic interests.
Explore how artistic and curatorial projects can address complex subjects, engage audiences and generate social or cultural impact.
Initial reflections on audience, impact and exhibition context.
Five groups of ten artists transform initial ideas into structured artistic concepts through facilitated ideation, peer exchange and short presentations. This is the pivot of the residency – the week where research turns into a defendable proposal.
/Session slots
Working title, a 300-word concept, and the intended artistic format.
Address eco‑anxiety, ecological grief, ethics of representation and artistic responsibility when working with environmental catastrophe and collective trauma.
Refined ethical and emotional approach to the project.
Develop artistic intention, narrative structure and technical feasibility through mentoring in concept, storytelling and creative technology.
Revised concept, narrative structure and technical priorities.
Help artists assess whether XR, immersive or hybrid formats are relevant to their projects. Introduce the mentors, mentoring registration and final presentation requirements.
Preliminary technical direction, mentoring choices and pitch preparation.
Strengthen exhibition potential, ecological design, contextual relevance and adaptability through curatorial and culturally informed mentoring.
Refined exhibition approach and project feasibility.
Two groups of twenty‑five artists present and consolidate their projects before the consortium. Each artist receives a seven‑minute slot: approximately two minutes for setup and a maximum five‑minute pitch.
/What the six weeks produce
Initial references, research directions and thematic interests.
Initial reflections on audience, impact and exhibition context.
Working title, 300-word concept and intended artistic format.
Refined ethical approach · revised concept, narrative structure and technical priorities.
Preliminary technical direction, mentoring choices and pitch preparation · refined exhibition approach.
Final oral presentation and preparation of the required residency deliverables.
The residency is the first stage of CHORNOBYL40 – followed by production of twenty projects and a touring European exhibition in 2027.
Co-funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are those of the authors only.