The KARP is excited to issue the open call for the KARP Artist in Residence 2025 Program.
We invite you to submit your applications for the 8th edition of International Artist in Residence Program (KARP AiR 2024), which will take place from 03 to 16 November 2025 in the Kamina Radio Station, Atakpamé, Togo. Cultural Revitalization is the theme of this year program.
This year program is open to local and international artists who will find themselves in a unique space for creative exploration and development in an artistic environment. Our residencies are process-oriented and encourage artists to experiment, focus on new themes, look for inspiration in their surroundings, and perhaps a creative dialogue with other artists, both international and local. The program is designed to be both supportive and inspiring, enabling you to develop lifelong friendships, professional relationships and future collaborations.
Deadline for applications: June 10, 2025
Announcement of selected artists: by the end of June 2025
Artistic residency program: starts on Monday 3rd and ends on Sunday 16th November, 2025
ABOUT THE KARP AiR 2025 PROGRAM
This is the eighth year that KARP organize international residency program and and it will be unique, because in addition to the experience in the ruins of Kamina, the residency program will involve local audience.
The two-week stay of international artists will be divided into two parts.
In the first week, visits will be organized in the region, such as meeting the chef and elders of Kamina, going to the ministry of art, culture & tourism and arts center, during which the local authorities will present the ongoing cultural development of the region. This week will be devoted to the implementation and realization of own projects, which will finally be shown at the exhibition during the second week.
The second week, during which the residency program will be realized, where the participants of the residency will have the opportunity to get to know the local culture, creativity, while sharing their own experiences with other artists. Local artists invited to participate in the program will be encouraged to have direct contact with the audience, our international artists by sharing their own experiences or short workshops. The program will be climax with exhibition and durbar at the last days.
The Artist Residency Program includes attractions such as:
- 1st KARP mail art exhibition
- Implementation of artist own projects or work
- Conferences and workshop for local artists and children
- Performances by performing artists.
- Playwrights and storytellers.
- Engagement with local food chef, fabrics, fashion designers, blacksmiths, weavers and other craftsmen.
Additionally, the program offers professional development activities including mentoring sessions, presentations, and peer-to-peer feedback sessions, organized site visits to local art spaces and other institutions, and opportunities to meet and connect with local artists and arts professionals.
LOCATION
Kamina, a village where the nearest large settlement was Atakpamé (the fifth largest city in Togo by population, located on a hilly wooded savannah on the eastern end of the Atakora Mountain range in the Plateaux Region of Togo. It is an industrial center and lies on the main north-south highway, 161 km north of the capital Lomé. It is also a regional commercial centre for produce and cloth) in Togo (West Africa), was mainly known for its Funkstation: a shortwave radio transmitter developed during the German occupation of 1911-14. Built by Telefunken, the wireless radio station was designed as a hub and switching point for other German colonial radio stations. Just after the start of World War I, Togoland was invaded by British and French forces from the neighboring Gold Coast (Ghana) and French Dahomey (Benin) colonies. The station was destroyed by its operators to prevent it from falling under British and French control. The Kamina ruins then became a forgotten place removed from the world’s attention.
WHAT IS PROVIDED BY THE PROGRAM
- Accommodation in Kamira Lodge in Atakpamé
- Meals (breakfast, dinner)
- Work Space
- Round trip from Lomé to Atakpamé
- Social Media promotion
- Invitation letter (That can be used to seek for sponsorship or grant)
- Certificate of participation
- Metal wedding shop
- Local clay* (please bear in mind there is no oven to burn the sculptures)
- Wood for carvers or sculptures
- Materials like canvas and basic colors paint
- Screen for video projections
* clay works should be environmentally friendly
WHAT IS NOT PROVIDED BY THE PROGRAM
- Flight Tickets
- Visa Expenses (all supporting documents to get Visa will be provided by organizators)
- Tools and specific materials used by the artist
- Daily Expenses (Launch)
- Health Insurance
PARTICIPATION REQUIREMENTS
WHO CAN APPLY?
KARP AiR Program welcomes multi-disciplinary artists from around the world.
You are eligible for KARP Artist in Residency 2024 Program, if you meet the following criteria:
- You are a visual or performance artist (Painters, Sculptors, Sound Artists, Writers, Illustrators, New Media Artists, Photographers, Video Artists, Researchers, Vloggers, Creative Influencers, Architecture and Sculpture, Music and Dance, Land Art and Artistic Practices in Public Space, Social Innovation and Community Projects)
- You are an individual artist or cultural practitioner.
- Your practice relates strongly to art and culture and is dedicated to addressing contextually relevant societal topics or issues.
The working language of the program is English and French.
HOW TO APPLY
The application deadline is June 10, 2025 at 23:59 CEST. Offers can be sent by completing the form and attachments. Then, the organizers of KARP will select up to 20 international and 10 national artists (the organization may change the number of participants) to take part in this year’s edition of the KARP AiR Program.
Your answers in the application form and information in the supporting documents should be in English.
In the online application form, applicants are asked to provide:
- Personal Details
- Contact Information
- Biography in a narrative form (2,000 characters / approx. 300 words)
- CV as a PDF attachment (2-page limit, 1MB)
- Portfolio as a PDF attachment (10MB)
- Profile picture (1000×1000 px or 1MB)
NOTE:
Halfway through the stay there will be tourist trip, for a fee (EUR 80), a trip to the Cascade de Kpimé, Cascade de Womé and art center will be organized. Participation in the trip is voluntary.
*Artists should arrive to Lomé 1-2 days before the AIR program starts (Monday, November 3) and leave 1-2 after the last day (Sunday, November 16) of the program.
All applicants will be informed by email about the result of their application, by the end of June 2025. The selected artists will be provided with invitation letters to seek travel sponsorship.
Selection decision is final.
- Please don’t apply if you are not sure of your participation – the organizers do not accept any participation cancellation of Selected artist
If you have any questions during the time that the Open Call online platform is open (between March 27 – June 10, 2025), about the application or the program, please email karpkamina@gmail.com.
Click on the link below to apply
