Open Call BAiR / G99 2027: Beyond Medusa’s Gaze

Brno Artists in Residence & Galerie G99 invite you to participate in an open call for all researchers in the field of contemporary art (visual artists, theorists, or curators) of any nationality, gender, or age to participate in a two-month residency in 2027. The BAiR residency program is institutionally managed by the Brno House of Arts.

THE THEME OF BAIR AND G99 IN 2027

G99 and BAiR (Brno Artists in Residence) are announcing an open call for residencies exploring the role of fictitious characters and monstrosity in the politics of cultural imagination. Based on this open call, four residencies will take place between March 1 and April 30, 2027, and May 17 and July 16, 2027.

How do monsters, myths, alternative worlds, fictional characters, virtual environments, and other speculative forms come into being? What do they allow us to see? And, conversely, what do they prevent us from seeing?

Why does our cultural imagination, despite the seemingly unlimited possibilities of speculation, repeatedly return to certain beings, images, and stories? What causes these motifs to reappear across different eras, contexts, media, and variations? These forms can function in two ways: they can bring previously invisible experiences to light, but they can also transform conflicts, traumas, or structural violence into aesthetically appealing and safely consumable forms.

We are interested in fiction as a way to depict realities, but also as a way to conceal, repress, or circumvent them. How can the same image or story, in different contexts, become both a tool for understanding and a means of neutralizing a difficult reality? 

We are looking for researchers in the field of contemporary art who have a long-term interest in this topic, as well as those who are intrigued by this open call and would like to explore the topic in 2027.

HOW TO APPLY

• a short description of the project or a motivation letter related to the topic Beyond Medusa’s Gaze (max. 1 A4 page of text), please indicate your preferred residency period

• portfolio (PDF/max 10 MB or website link) and CV

For video files, please provide links to your own website or video-sharing platforms such as Vimeo, YouTube, etc. Please do not send links to downloadable video files.
Applications are accepted in Czech, English, and Slovak by email only.

Please send applications with the subject line "Open Call BAiR 2027" to: [obfuscate_1_|96|114|103|107|95|112|116|98|111|114|113|105|103|110|99|113|105|93|97|108|97|101|57|99|107|95|105|101|42|97|109|109] until 1 November 2026.

(ATTENTION, this address is only used to collect applications! Please send your questions to [obfuscate_1_|105|97|93|104|97|95|107|57|96|115|107|45|110|105|99|108|105|39|95|120] or [obfuscate_1_|106|97|103|99|99|112|64|93|113|107|43|117|102|97|108|103|46|92|118])

DEADLINES

Deadline for applications: 1 November 2026
Announcement of results: by 30 November 2026
Residency dates: 1 March-30 April 2027 or 17 May-16 July 2025

Selected applicants will be informed about the results by email. The results of the open call will be published on the Brno House of Arts website, the Brno Artists in Residence facebook and instagram page. Unsuccessful candidates will not be contacted separately regarding the results of the open call.

CONDITIONS OF THE RESIDENCY

The Brno House of Arts provides:

• artistic scholarship: 40 000 CZK (20 000 CZK/month);

• accommodation in a separate room with shared sanitary facilities (kitchen, toilet, bathroom) and open studio space in the House of the Lords of Kunštát in Brno, CZ;

• elementary technical equipment and workshops;

• production assistance and consultation by BAiR staff.

Participants of the project commit:

• to cover travel expenses at their own expense;

• to stay at the BAiR Residency Centre at the agreed period for at least 75% of the total time;

• to provide samples of their own work for promotion on the web and social media of BAiR and the House of Arts and to participate in making a short profile video.

Selection process and the right to change:

• A three-member BAiR team (Šimon Kadlčák, Jan Langer, Barbora Trnková) and two external professionals are responsible for the selection;

• We guarantee the realization of three residencies on the basis of an open call. However, the committee and the organizing team reserve the right to change the rules of the open call slightly (e.g., select a larger number of residents, invite some of the applicants to participate in a group exhibition or another type of project, etc.). These proposals may be offered to the applicants together with or independently from the residency. Any change is seen as a proposal submitted for joint discussion, and the addressed participants are under no obligation to participate until signing the contract;

• Participation of artistic couples and groups is possible, but we cannot guarantee a corresponding increase in financial support in advance. The participation of a larger number of collective applicants may also impede the availability of accommodation in separate rooms for those

• Project funding is largely dependent on public resources. In case it is not possible to guarantee a full subsidy to the selected residents for financial reasons, we reserve the right to individually arrange an alternative solution (change of the length of stay, date modification, etc.);

• All information requested for the open call application is used for internal purposes only, is not shared with other parties except for the invited external commissioners, and is not archived after the results have been announced.

For further questions, please contact the BAiR programme coordinators:

Šimon Kadlčák, [obfuscate_1_|105|97|93|104|97|95|107|57|96|115|107|45|110|105|99|108|105|39|95|120]
Jan Langer, [obfuscate_1_|106|97|103|99|99|112|64|93|113|107|43|117|102|97|108|103|46|92|118]