performance residency (next festival x buda)

Deadline to apply: January 5, 2026

Residency at BUDA with a premiere at NEXT festival: Three weeks in October/November 2026

Furthering our commitment to provide conditions for new works to emerge and meet their audiences, we are continuing our partnership with Kunstencentrum BUDA and NEXT Festival in Belgium to offer a three-week residency for a performing artist from the Arab world. Using BUDA’s facilities and artistic support, the artist would finalize a new production and premiere their work at NEXT Festival at the conclusion of the residency. The partners will provide the selected artist (working with a maximum of three collaborators, i.e. up to four individuals in total) with their travel, visa costs, and per diem, a contribution to their project’s production costs, and the presentation fee for the performance.

Kunstencentrum BUDA in Kortrijk is a space for performing arts, an art house cinema, and one of the largest workspaces for performing arts in Belgium. Founded in 2006, BUDA constructs an artistic context in which the artist’s desire to create and learn is central. It offers time and space, customized support (logistic, technical, feedback), a network of artistic and professional contacts, and the possibility of an informal presentation for a test audience. BUDA co-organizes NEXT Festival.

NEXT Festival is a yearly, international cross-border dance, theatre, and performance festival founded in 2008 featuring works by renowned and young artists in more than 20 locations in and around Lille-Kortrijk-Tournai-Valenciennes cities. It is co-organized by five French and Belgian artistic houses and 18 associated partners. It is a collaborative endeavour and a landmark event for cultural and international artistic professionals. It brings together disciplines, communities, and cultures, encourages and facilitates intercultural dialogue amongst programmers, artists, festival organizers, students, and the broad public.