ReCNTR + 1646 Residency
The 1646–ReCNTR residency is a two-month program taking place in September and October at 1646, an experimental art space in The Hague, in collaboration with ReCNTR, Leiden University’s centre for multimodal and artistic research methods. The residency is aimed at both international artists and researchers (including academics) who engage with practice-based, research-led approaches, particularly those exploring social and political issues through multimodal or artistic methods. Selected residents will not be expected to produce a final exhibition; instead, the focus is on experimentation and knowledge production, culminating in a public event shaped around the resident’s process and insights. Participants are also invited to engage with the academic environment at Leiden University through lectures, workshops, or similar forms of exchange. The residency provides an subsistance fee of €2,000, a €1,000 production budget, a fully equipped 5×3 m studio, access to a shared studio apartment in the 1646 building, and reimbursement of travel costs up to €750. Partners and families are welcome to join with advance notice.
Applicants benefit from direct engagement with the 1646 and ReCNTR communities, including three scheduled feedback sessions. The application is open once a year in the winter, the results of the selection are published in the summer. For more information, subscribe to our newsletter or follow our posts on mastodon, instagram or X
Selected Artist-Researcher 2025
We are very excited to announce that the selected duo for the residency collaboration between ReCNTR and 1646 has started! It will taking place in September-October 2025, and the residents are Anika Schwarzlose and Katja Verheul with their research project Clearing – War as Maintenance.
In their project, Anika Schwarzlose (DE) and Katja Verheul (NL) explore the paradox of military training grounds that double as protected nature reserves. The project questions the long-term impacts of military activity on ecosystems like soils, forests and groundwater, and public notions of “protection”.
To the jury, it felt very relevant to complicate notions of “safety” and to add different voices to the conversation on military expansion that is dominating political discourse. Equally, the jury was very enthusiastic about the artists’ participatory and dialogical approach to working with Leiden University students, as well as their proposed interdisciplinary collaborations with various Academic departments.
The selection was made by a jury of 10 readers, who held artistic, curatorial, academic and/or creative research backgrounds. Schwarzlose and Verheul’s project was the finalist over a 3-stage selection process. The initial applicant list of 695 was reduced to a short list of 15 candidates, followed by an interview with the final 3 candidates. Two of these were requested to send additional information in order to come to the final decision.
We are thrilled we will be working with Anika and Katja so soon! And please follow our communication channels for further information in the coming months.
Selected Artist-Researcher 2024: Inas Halabi
We are excited to announce the selected artist-researcher for the collaborative residency with 1646 taking place from September to October 2024. We would like to welcome Inas Halabi and her research project The Right of Return to our residency.
In the project, Halabi (PS/NL) will critically examine afforestation projects initiated by the Jewish National Fund (JNF) in Palestine. It reflects on how “foreign species”, through their rapid growth and acidity, rendered the soil unusable and thus hampered the local economy, which was dependent on agriculture. Through this lens, the project brings invisible forms of violence to our attention.
The jury was moved by the social urgency of Halabi’s research and excited about the way ReCNTR and 1646 will be able to contribute to the different stages of her multimodal practice. Halabi’s research involves disrupting normative representations of reality by, among other techniques, experimenting with indigenous plants as film developing agents. In supporting this artistic investigation, the residency will offer Halabi access to the Leiden University community of scholars as expert interlocutors.
The selection was made by a jury of 13 readers, with an artistic, curatorial, academic and/or creative research background. Halabi’s project was the finalist over a 4 stage-selection process. The initial applicants list of 1496 was first reduced to 57, later to a short list of 6, followed by an interview with the 2 final candidates.
We look forward to working with Inas and 1646. Stay tuned for further updates.
