RESIDENCIA EPECUEN

RESIDENCIA EPECUÉN invites you to apply for next edition.

The purpose of this residency is to provide a space for creation and reflection around the ruins of Epecuén, its lagoon, and the city of Carhué. Participants will explore the context through field research and training proposals, promoting exchange, debate, and critical thinking in a group coexistence of fourteen days.

The training program includes workshops and theoretical classes focused on situated practices, support, debates, and production support, and an exhibition of processes open to the community.

We encourage the participation of artists, curators, and researchers from various backgrounds and ages, promoting the exchange and development of processes.

The residency promotes the exploration of individual and/or collective poetics within the Argentine pampas, contributing to enrich the historical, social, cultural, and environmental heritage. We create opportunities for dialogue and exchange between residents and the Carhué community, understanding contemporary art as a means to rethink, question, and work on memory, territory, identity, ruin, landscape, among others.

Participation in the program offers the possibility of follow-up for projects, promotion, exhibition, and commercialization of work, encouraging dialogue between residents and the local and international art scene.

LOCATION

The residency is located in Carhué, Adolfo Alsina, Buenos Aires, Argentina, on the shores of Lake Epecuén. «Villa Lago Epecuén» was the founding name of the now-ruined tourist town, whose thermal waters from Lake Epecuén (which have a high salinity level, higher than the Dead Sea) generated a growing interest in the area. In 1985, a flood caused by a rise in the lake’s level and political negligence submerged the city completely, forcing its total evacuation. After twenty years, the water began to recede, revealing the city’s ruins, which have become a focus of interest and tourist attraction themselves. The area has been declared a Historical Heritage site due to the magnitude of the events and for housing the remains of architect Francisco Salamone’s constructions, such as the Matadero and other buildings from the modernist era of Argentina.

PROGRAM DESCRIPTION

Participants are invited to work on their personal projects and follow a specific schedule for fieldwork, guided by the curatorial and production team of Ambos Mundos: Eduardo M. Saubidet, María Villanueva, and María Bressanello.

CURATORIAL SUPPORT

One curator will be selected for each edition to work in relation to the proposals of the residents, providing their critical and constructive insights and supporting the creative process and exhibition.

PROJECT FOLLOW-UP

The Residencia Epecuén team will provide support and follow-up for each participant in the development of their projects, collaborating in their execution and their connection with the Carhué community.

There will be exchange and reflection sessions between resident artists and the residency coordination team called «STATE OF THE ISSUE» to enrich critical thinking and encourage artistic production. During these sessions, portfolio presentations and debates for the development of the works will take place.

SITE-SPECIFIC ACTIVATIONS

During the residency, various exercises are proposed for residents to interact with the territory.

GUIDED TOURS

Guided tours will be conducted to cultural and historical sites of interest, such as the ruins of Epecuén, the White Forest, the Historical Museum, the Model Slaughterhouse by Architect Francisco Salamone, and the Carhué Cemetery. These visits aim to contextualize the work of the artists in the historical, cultural, and natural environment of the region.

OPEN LAND EXHIBITION

An exhibition of processes will be held, open to the entire community and visitors on the shores of the lagoon or at the Adolfo Alsina Cultural Center, with the aim of sharing creative processes and providing a framework for the works created.

TERMS at https://drive.google.com/file/d/1J9cTVkgHHfHKNQJK09k\_SqDPhJGyZoLV/view?usp=drive\_link