Between 14 and 28 May 2026, the city of Brașov held one of the five Arts Feeds Collective Residencies, as part of the Feed Your Future project, under the theme Edible Commons: Performing the Future of Food.
Coordinated by BJCEM – Biennale des Jeunes Créateurs de l’Europe et de la Méditerranée, and locally implemented by the Brașov Metropolitan Agency for Sustainable Development, the residency brought together international artists, local organisations, community members, and cultural practitioners to explore the relationship between art, climate change, and sustainable food production and consumption.

With a focus on capacity building and artist empowerment, the two-week residency provided a space for artistic research, experimentation, dialogue, and community engagement. Rather than focusing solely on artistic production, the programme encouraged participants to immerse themselves in the local context, learn from existing initiatives, and develop creative responses to contemporary food-related challenges.

Discovering Brașov Through Food, Culture and Community

The residency began with a series of experiences designed to introduce artists to the local context. Participants engaged with local stakeholders and explored places that offered different perspectives on Brașov’s social, cultural, and environmental landscape.

One of the first activities was an immersive visit of Brașov with VR Tours, through which artists explored how virtual reality can be used as a tool for documenting, interpreting, and reimagining places, memories, and local narratives. The experience opened new perspectives on how technology can support storytelling and community engagement around food and cultural heritage.

Visits to initiatives such as Kasper Garden highlighted local approaches to sustainable agriculture and community-oriented food production, while encounters with cultural organisations and community groups provided insight into local traditions, collective practices, and forms of knowledge sharing.

A visit to the Museum of Urban Civilization of Brașov offered an opportunity to reflect on the city’s history and identity, while participatory activities—including a traditional flower and folk motif painting workshop—encouraged artists to engage directly with local cultural heritage and craftsmanship.

Artistic Research and Community Engagement

Throughout the residency, artists developed their projects through a combination of individual research, collaborative discussions, and interactions with local communities.

Through a performative workshop at Zbor Hub, artist Yue Liu invited participants to explore hunger as a complex embodied experience through the six thematic chapters of her project Tender Hunger. Combining reflective writing, group exercises, movement, and an immersive soundscape, the workshop encouraged participants to connect personal memories, sensory experiences, and collective imagination, while creating a space for self-expression, empathy, and collaborative storytelling around food, care, and the human relationship with nourishment. Participants were also invited to contribute to the final performance of the residency.

Artists also paid particular attention to understanding how food habits are shaped by social, cultural, and environmental factors. Through interactive workshops, Cemre Kara invited participants to explore their own food routines, reflect on food-related behaviours, and collectively examine challenges and opportunities connected to food consumption.

Other activities focused on co-creation and collaborative problem-solving. Artist Kitman Yeung facilitated workshops focused on the challenges encountered in everyday kitchens, encouraging participants to imagine and develop possible solutions together.

The two-week event included community meetings, interviews, informal conversations, and other participatory activities that enabled artists to gather stories, observations, and experiences related to food and everyday practices.

Food itself became a central medium for exchange and learning. Brașov’s invited the chef and food facilitator Elyas Liera to guide a collaborative cooking workshop, during which participants prepared and shared dishes using local and natural ingredients, creating an opportunity to discuss sourcing practices, seasonality, and the cultural significance of food. The experience encouraged dialogue around sustainable food systems while strengthening connections among participants through the act of cooking and eating together.

Another memorable moment was the gathering at Casa Piedra, where artists took part in a guided tasting session with historian Alexandru Stănescu, and were introduced to traditional Romanian recipes. Through food, storytelling, and conversation, the meal offered a deeper understanding of local heritage and the ways in which culinary traditions continue to shape cultural identity and community life.

From Research to Public Presentation

As the residency progressed, artists transformed their research findings into creative formats, experimenting with storytelling, performance, participatory methods, and artistic interventions. The residency culminated in a public event on 27 May 2026 that brought together artists, community members, local organisations, and visitors to share the outcomes of two weeks of research, experimentation, and exchange.

Exploring the theme “Tender Hunger”, Yue Liu’s performative work, inspired by the mountain landscape and local context of Brașov, combined an open dialogue with a collective archive documenting her experiences during the residency. The work culminated in a live performance accompanied by a soundscape created from recordings of local teenagers speaking from the perspective of the soil. Through this poetic approach, the artist invited the audience to reflect on the often-unseen connections between land, food, and human existence.

Cemre Kara introduced “Oracle of Food”, an intimate participatory experience based on her original oracle card deck. Through one-to-one reading sessions, participants were invited to explore their relationship with food, nourishment, emotions, cravings, and everyday eating practices. Combining elements of storytelling, intuition, and reflection, the work opened up new conversations about the personal and cultural dimensions of food.

The collective Groundtable presented an interactive installation inviting visitors to create their own “pickle wish jar”, a visual and culinary recipe for the future shaped through vegetables, spices, and personal intentions. Inspired by traditional food preservation practices, the activity encouraged participants to reflect on care, sustainability, and collective futures. Alongside the installation, the collective showcased “Eating (i)n Mobility”, a textile food zine inspired by Romanian visual motifs and developed through textile experimentation, embroidery, and storytelling. The publication explored how migration, mobility, and changing environments influence food traditions, culinary identities, and social rituals across generations.

Looking Ahead

The Brașov residency demonstrated the potential of artistic practice to create meaningful conversations around food, sustainability, and community life.

By bringing together diverse perspectives and encouraging collaboration across sectors, the programme created opportunities for reflection, learning, and collective imagination.

More than a series of artistic activities, the residency became a platform for building connections: between people and places, between tradition and innovation, and between local experiences and broader conversations about the future of food.

The experiences, relationships, and ideas generated during these two weeks will continue to inspire future collaborations and contribute to ongoing discussions about how more sustainable, inclusive, and resilient food systems can be imagined and created.

Meet the artists of the Art Feeds Collective Residency in Brașov

The post Inside the Arts Feeds Collective Residency in Brașov appeared first on Feed Your Future.

The open call was open from 18 March to 3 May 2026 and invited artists, creators, informal groups and civil society organisations from across Europe to submit proposals for artistic actions to be implemented in one of the six target cities of the project: Milan, Almere, Barcelona, Brașov, the Lisbon Metropolitan Area and Thessaloniki.

The call aimed to support artistic performances capable of fostering public engagement and awareness around food sustainability through creative and participatory approaches in urban public spaces.

Applications were first assessed through a formal compliance and eligibility check. Eligible proposals were then evaluated on merit according to the criteria established in the Open Call Guidelines, while also ensuring that at least one proposal was selected for each target city.

A total of 28 applications were received. Of these, 25 were deemed eligible and evaluated.
Particular attention was given to projects that demonstrated:

• a strong thematic alignment with the intersection of art, food and performance;
• the involvement of professionals from the creative sector aged 18–35 in the co-creation process;
• the implementation of activities in public space contexts.

Following the evaluation process, the jury selected the following 10 performances:

Best-Ranked Applications

• Dança Riscadinha: A Participatory Performance Celebrating the Riscadinha Heritage Apple of Palmela
• Prossima Stazione: A Nomadic Kitchen
• Chew on This!
• Food Rolls – Making Public Space Edible
• P.L.A.T.E. – Participatory Learning through Art for Transformation & Ecology
• CULMEA: Film & Urban Bites

Remaining Awarded Applications Based on Merit

• Rede Micelar: Merenda para um Comum (Micellar Network: Merenda for the Common People)
• Cozinha Sem Fronteira (A Kitchen Without Borders)
• Pretty Ugly Food
• Resistências em Receitas – Bairro do Rego

The consortium would like to warmly thank all applicants for the creativity and diversity of the proposals submitted. The selected projects reflect a wide range of artistic practices and community-based approaches, contributing to a broader European dialogue on sustainable food systems and civic participation through culture.

The post Results of the Open Call “Urban Bites: Artistic Performances for Food Sustainability appeared first on Feed Your Future.

The call invited artists to explore the relationship between art, climate change, and sustainable food production and consumption, while promoting the core values of Greening Europe and the New European Bauhaus: sustainability, aesthetics, coexistence, and inclusion.

Through the open call, 15 artists were selected to participate in collective residencies taking place across five European cities: Paphos (Cyprus), Thessaloniki (Greece), Almere (The Netherlands), Brașov (Romania), and Milan (Italy).

Each residency will bring together three artists under the guidance of one curator.

Local partner organizations will act as focal points for each residency, facilitating connections with communities, food producers, activists, and public authorities.

Each residency will develop site-specific research and artistic practices, culminating in public presentations or performances developed collaboratively with local communities.

One final work from each residency will later be selected for presentation at the Feed Your Future Final Event and Open Masterclass in Milan at the end of 2026.

Selected Participants

Paphos Residency — Cyprus

Artists

• Shuang Xu
• Živilė Fornari
• Helena Estrele Baptista Vasconcelos Barbosa

Curator

• Denise Araouzou
• Christina Skarpari

Thessaloniki Residency — Greece

Artists

• Clémentine Blaison VanDenHende (FR–BE)
• Eunjin Yoo (KOR–DE)
• Kaiwen Wu (DE)

Curator

• Nicolas Vamvouklis

Almere Residency — The Netherlands

Artists

• Agnes Essonti Luque (ES)
• Denise Lobont (RO)
• Eva Van der Zand (BG–NL)

Curator

• Zoi Psimmenou

Brașov Residency — Romania

Artists

• kitman yeung (AU–DE)
• Yue Liu (CHN–IT)
• Cemre Kara (NL)

Curator

• Georgia Țidorescu

Milan Residency — Italy

Artists

• Christina Zampoulaki (GR)
• Vlada Predelina (UK–NL–ES)
• Olga Sosiura (UKR)

Curator

• Elisa Lenhard

What happens nexts? The first residency will take place in Paphos and will be organized by Xarkis from 14 to 28 February 2026.

A second wave of residencies will follow from 14 to 28 May 2026, hosted in:

• Milan — organized by the Municipality of Milan
• Almere — organized by the Municipality of Almere
• Brașov — organized by the Brașov Metropolitan Agency for Sustainable Development
• Thessaloniki — organized by ActionAid Hellasù

Stay connected to follow the development of the Art Feeds Collective Residencies, meet the participating artists and curators, and discover the collaborative projects that will emerge across Europe.

The post Results of the Art Feeds Collective Residencies Open Call: 15 Artists selected appeared first on Feed Your Future.

Projects must be developed in co-creation with creative sector professionals and artists aged between 18 and 35 years old. However, the person or organisation submitting the application does not need to belong to this age group.

The call is open across Europe, and the proposed actions should be implemented in one of the six target cities: Milan, Almere, Barcelona, Brașov, the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, and Thessaloniki. The open call aims to support at least one proposal per city.

Eligible entities include:

• Civil Society Organisations (CSOs)
• Informal groups, including artists and creative sector professionals

A total of 10 grants of €5,000 each will be awarded.

All applicants are strongly encouraged to carefully read the Guidelines before submitting their proposal.

Applications:

• Period: 18 March – 3 May 2026
• Application form available here. Note: A Google account is required to complete the application form, as several documents must be uploaded during the submission process.

Online Info Session (open):

• 30 March 2026, 3:00–5:00 pm (WEST)
• Registration available here

For more information, please contact: feedyourfuture@rededlbclisboa.pt

The post Open Call: Urban Bites – Artistic Performances for Food Sustainability appeared first on Feed Your Future.

Under the curatorial theme “Edible Commons: Performing the Future of Food”, selected artists will have the opportunity to work on the ecological, cultural and social dimensions of nourishment. Each residency will host groups of three artists for 15 days, guided by a local curator and immersed in the specific contexts of five locations.

Each residency will be hosted by project partners in different locations: Milan (Italy) hosted by the City of Milan, Almere (the Netherlands) hosted by the City of Almere, Brașov (Romania) hosted by the Metropolitan Authority of Brasov, Thessaloniki (Greece) hosted by Action Aid Hellas, and Paphos (Cyprus) hosted by Xarkis.

Participants are invited to experiment with performance, sensory practices, community engagement, storytelling, and site-specific research — from exploring edible landscapes and food sovereignty to co-creating rituals, soundscapes, and participatory acts that make sustainability tangible. Art Feeds aims to foster artivism, support innovative artistic production, and generate meaningful dialogue between artists, local communities, and policymakers. The outcomes will be shared through presentations, public events, and a final masterclass taking place during the project’s final event in Milan at the end of 2026.

Applications are now open – Deadline 31 December 2025 22.30 CET

CYPRUS ART FEEDS COLLECTIVE RESIDENCY 2026 (in Paphos) | 14-28 February 2026 – Application form

ART FEEDS COLLECTIVE RESIDENCIES 2026 (in Almere, Brasov, Milan and Thessaloniki) | 14-28 May 2026 – Application form

The post Open call for art feeds collective residencies 2026 is now open appeared first on Feed Your Future.