Open Call: Artist Residency – 19 June - Slovakia
The European Capitals of Culture (ECOC) regularly organise open calls for artists and (socio-)cultural organisations. This is a great opportunity to collaborate internationally and be part of one of Europe’s most ambitious cultural programmes.
Artistic Residency – An international open call for an artistic residency and the creation of a permanent installation.
Location: Trenčín 2026
Deadline: 19 June 2026
Artist residency for the creation of a work of art in a public space in Nové Mesto nad Váhom.
Trenčín 2026, in collaboration with Nové Mesto nad Váhom, is launching an international open call for visual artists from Slovakia and across Europe for an artist residency in 2026.
The selected artist will spend a summer residency in Nové Mesto nad Váhom, during which they will create a permanent artwork in the public space for the town; an artistic installation consisting of fragments of destroyed gravestones. These are primarily Jewish gravestones, but also gravestones of members of other religious communities, which were destroyed during the communist regime as a result of ideological violence, the suppression of religious freedom and systematic interference in cultural and historical memory.
During the former regime, many gravestones were removed from their original cemeteries and reused as building materials, including for the production of paving stones and pavements. The gravestone fragments therefore represent not only the physical remnants of vanished cemeteries, but also bear witness to the insensitive treatment of historical memory and sacred burial sites.
The aim of the residency is to create a contemporary artwork that reflects themes such as human freedom, place-bound memories, historical violence and the need to preserve collective memory. The final installation will be given a permanent place in the public space of the Dominik Štubňa-Zámostský Park in Nové Mesto nad Váhom, on the site where the town’s cemeteries once stood, and will serve as a space for reflection, dialogue and remembrance of historical contexts.