The Mon-Art Residences constitute a transnational programme of artistic residencies dedicated to Regeneration Artists — artists who work at the intersection of creativity, community life and cultural production. These residencies are conceived as living laboratories where artists are invited to design creative interventions that reimagine the relationship between people, nature, and cultural heritage with a view to embracing new models of existential meaning.The programme includes a series of artistic residencies across the five partner countries, namely: Italy, Bulgaria, Hungary, Albania, and Cyprus. Each residency will be hosted and managed by a founding partner of the MON-ART network, ensuring strong connections to local contexts and communities.
Project Presentation
MON-ART – The Monasteries of Art. Public art as a means to enable new green and sustainable lifestyles is a Creative Europe project that places art at the center of social and cultural regeneration. The project emerges from the idea that heritage sites — referred to here, in a secular sense, as “Monasteries” — can fulfil a role analogous to the one played, from the sixth century AD onwards, by the Benedictine monasteries, and later the Cluniac and Cistercian orders, in shaping a new civilisation of work, cultural transmission and human collaboration.
The Monasteries of Art Network connects historic monasteries, cultural complexes of various kinds and other types of symbolic sites spread across Europe and the Mediterranean, transforming them — through a system of artistic residencies — into open spaces for artistic creation, experimentation and cultural regeneration. These residencies are not limited to producing works of art, but spark a dialogue between artists, local communities, researchers and institutions, such that the creative competencies the artist brings begin to be shared with the surrounding communities. By hosting artists engaged with themes of social interaction and the regeneration of the sources of meaning in everyday life, MON-ART promotes new forms of collaboration that interweave contemporary creativity with the challenges of our time: wellbeing and existential awareness, social cohesion and sustainable cultural innovation.
Through this programme, art becomes a tool for community building, a catalyst for sustainable lifestyles, and a driver of new forms of collective imagination. The residencies hosted within the network are conceived as laboratories of ideas where artists can work closely with local actors, creating works and processes that remain as shared legacies beyond the duration of the residency itself.
What is the Mon-Art Residence
The Mon-Art Residences constitute a transnational programme of artistic residencies dedicated to Regeneration Artists — artists who work at the intersection of creativity, community life and cultural production. These residencies are conceived as living laboratories where artists are invited to design creative interventions that reimagine the relationship between people, nature, and cultural heritage with a view to embracing new models of existential meaning.The programme includes a series of artistic residencies across the five partner countries, namely: Italy, Bulgaria, Hungary, Albania, and Cyprus. Each residency will be hosted and managed by a founding partner of the MON-ART network, ensuring strong connections to local contexts and communities.
Residencies will be embedded in diverse environments:
• Art spaces of any kind
• Monasteries and historic complexes (e.g., Pannonhalma Archabbey in Hungary, Baglio Di Stefano in Gibellina, Sicily, Abbazia di Valserena, Parma)
• Natural landscapes and parks (e.g., Belasitsa Nature Park in Bulgaria)
• Urban and heritage sites (e.g., the walled city of Nicosia in Cyprus, the UNESCO city of Gjirokastra in Albania)
Each residency comes with its own objectives, duration, artistic focus, and fee, as detailed in the attached residency sheets (Annexes). Some residencies emphasize dialogue with spirituality and tradition, others highlight ecological awareness, urban regeneration, intergenerational learning, the revival of local crafts and intangible heritage, or the capacity of art to generate community.What unites them is the invitation for artists to live and create within these places for an agreed period, interacting with local communities, experimenting with site-specific practices, and presenting their outcomes in public engagement and restitution events.
The residencies will also contribute to the wider MON-ART network, fostering exchange among artists, partners, and citizens well beyond the borders of individual countries.Applying provides the artist with a residency grant, but above all means joining a shared journey of regeneration, where art is both process and catalyst, where communities are not passive audiences but active co-creators, and where each residency site becomes a stage for imagining inclusive, creative and sustainable futures.
Who is the Mon-Artist
The Mon-Artist is a Regeneration Artist: a professional who combines artistic practice with dynamics of public engagement, ethical tension and social inclusion. Far beyond the role of a traditional resident artist, the Mon-Artist is called to activate spaces, communities, and cultural heritage through creative processes that are open, participatory, and transformative.
During the residency, the Mon-Artist will live and work on site, embedding themselves in the rhythms of the place and engaging with local communities, entrepreneurs, craftspeople, scholars, and institutions. Their practice is not limited to producing an artwork, but involves regenerating public spaces with and for communities, fostering collective imagination, and experimenting with circular and sustainable artistic methods.The Mon-Artist works across disciplines—visual, performative, multimedia, craft-based, cultural dynamics, engaged practices—yet always with an eye toward art as a regenerative force for a cultural and civic fabric that is in many ways today dormant and forgotten. This means creating works and processes that revalue local traditions and knowledge, open up new ways of inhabiting spaces and relating to one another, while at the same time respecting ecological balances.Above all, the Mon-Artist is a facilitator of dialogue and co-creation: someone who sees art as a shared journey, who is able to listen and translate stories, challenges, and aspirations into artistic forms and paths of meaning that inspire change.
Their role is to plant seeds of creativity and this regenerative force will need to continue to grow within the communities even after the residency has ended.
Eligibility and Participation Rules
The MON-ART Residencies are open to professional artists who are committed to working at the intersection of art, sustainability, and community engagement. Applications are welcome from artists across different disciplines, as specified in the individual residency sheets (visual arts, performing arts, multimedia, participatory and socially engaged art, sound art, creative crafts, etc.).
• No age limit applies. What matters is artistic maturity, the ability to work independently, and the willingness to collaborate with local communities.
• A documented professional track record is required, demonstrated through a CV and a portfolio of previous works.
• Each candidate must present a residency proposal, outlining how they intend to engage with the residency context, the local communities, and the themes of MON-ART.
• Artists may apply for a maximum of two residencies (two in Italy, and one each in Albania, Bulgaria, Cyprus and Hungary), indicating an order of preference.
• The working language is specified in each residency sheet; a minimum B2 level of the local language is required to ensure effective communication with the hosting partner and local community.
• Selection criteria are detailed in the residency sheets; they may vary depending on the local context, but generally include artistic quality, relevance to the MON-ART values, feasibility, and community engagement.
Application Procedure
To apply, artists must use the official Application Template (Annex 1), filling in all required sections. A complete application must include:
• Updated CV (with relevant experiences and exhibitions/projects)
• Essential portfolio (maximum 10 pages, or links to digital materials and online content)
• Residency proposal, including:
o Artistic concept and objectives
o Planned activities and methods of engagement
o Expected impact on the hosting community and/or public space
Only applications submitted in the required format will be considered. Incomplete or late applications will not be eligible
Selection Criteria (General)
The evaluation will be based on the following overarching criteria (specific weights and details provided in each residency sheet):
1. Artistic quality and originality of the proposal
2. Relevance to MON-ART values (cultural regeneration, inclusive force, sustainability)
3. Documented experience (CV, previous works, ability to work in participatory contexts)
4. Feasibility and coherence with the selected residency
5. Motivation and willingness to interact with the hosting community
Each evaluation committee will consist of at least 3 experts in the field of art and cultural regeneration.
Obligations of Selected Artists
• Respect ethical, cultural, and environmental rules of the residency.
• Actively participate in dissemination activities, including sharing the residency journey through personal channels with official MON-ART references (hashtags, links, logos).
• Use of EU funding disclaimers and project logos in all public communications.Intellectual Property• The work created remains the property of the artist, with rights of use and promotion shared with the MON-ART project and the hosting partner.
• All documentation (photos, videos, texts) can be used by the project for dissemination and reporting purposes, with appropriate credit to the author.
For Non-Selected Applicants
All non-selected applicants will be invited to register on the MON-ART Platform, which will serve as a European hub for Regeneration Artists, offering visibility, networking opportunities, and access to future residencies.