The Ștefan Câltia Foundation is launching the call for applications for the Șona AIR international residency program from 2025. It is aimed at artists and researchers from various cultural fields, offering them the opportunity to develop creative projects in an idyllic setting, located in the village of Șona, Brașov county .
The Blue House of the painter Ștefan Câltia
Șona AIR announces the participation of artists Alina Manolache, filmmaker known for her films on the border between documentary and experimental cinema, and Nicoleta Moise, writer and journalist, in this autumn’s edition of the residency, which will take place in October and December.
A project co-financed by AFCN, the Șona AIR residency program takes place annually during 8-11 weeks, in two editions: spring (January – April) and autumn (September – November). The selected participants, two for each edition, will live and work in the Blue House, a space restored in 2011 by the Ștefan Câltia Foundation, ideal for creative exploration. The program provides financial and logistical resources, supporting the development of personal projects without the pressure to produce immediate results.
Residents benefit from a stimulating environment that encourages collaboration and interdisciplinarity, facilitating interactions between artists from various fields. The program is addressed to artists and researchers with varied practices, both from Romania and internationally. The residency targets projects that are ongoing or in the research phase, without a direct connection to the village of Șona. The program is also open to designers, architects, writers, theorists and curators, as well as practitioners working with the performing arts, sound and film.
This experience contributes to the creation of an active cultural community, where the dialogue between art and the public is promoted through the organization of public activities. With picturesque landscapes and a calm atmosphere, the village of Șona becomes an ideal refuge for artists, offering stimuli for reflection and experimentation.
Further details on application requirements and instructions are available on the website: sona-air.com/open-call. The deadline for applications is 30 October 2024.
“The Șona AIR Residence aims to create a favorable environment for research and creation, where artists can work in a calm atmosphere, away from the daily hustle and bustle. This framework allows them to focus on their own projects, exploring ideas without distractions. Even before the first residency, I started a research of good practices in artistic residency projects, through interviews with cultural professionals and residency organizers. These discussions help shape a program that best meets the requirements and needs of the participating artists. We are also pleased to launch an international open-call for the 2025 residencies, inviting creatives from all over the world to participate in this project”, says Monica Dănilă, coordinator of the Șona AIR residency program.
Alina Manolache, filmmaker, author of some films on the border between documentary and experimental cinema, and Nicoleta Moise, writer and journalist, whose work practice combines archives, video and text to make less known stories or events visible, are the residents of the edition this fall, which started in October and will end in December. Alina Manolache will develop the project “Glossary of inexplicable ties with a very distant country”, focused on the analysis of her relationship with Japan, while Nicoleta Moise will explore the impact of her experiences in artistic residencies on her creative practice, completing an essay and carrying out a research about the intersection of art and journalism.
Șona AIR (Artists in Residence) is a pilot program of residencies initiated by the Ștefan Câltia Foundation that supports interdisciplinarity and collaboration and which aimed to organically integrate new cultural models in the rural area, encouraging interaction between residents and the local context, facilitating communication with the villagers, but also with the surroundings.
The Ștefan Câltia Foundation was established in 2016 and aims to promote substantive projects from visual culture, support organizational development and develop the sustainability of projects in which it is involved. The Foundation’s activity also materialized around an increased interest in the care and valorization of the heritage of the work of Ștefan Câltia, social and conservation actions related to the village of Șona mainly, but also to the south of Transylvania in the secondary.
