About 58 Plantelor Residency

The Romanian Association of Contemporary Art (ARAC) in Bucharest, Romania is offering residency opportunities for a curator and an artist to document and envision site-specific projects in Bucharest. The residency building is a heritage site, an end of the XIXth century-old building specific to the Old Bucharest area of the city. The small interior court-yard and the extended wooden window-doors characteristic to Oriental architecture provide a unique perspective to the viewer, usually hidden to main touristic avenues. 

“Plantelor 58 Artist Residency” aims to introduce international artists and curators to the Romanian cultural environment. The project started in 2015 at the initiative of gallerist Anca Poterașu. The first residencies were supported throughout the EEA Grants and continued to be self-sustainable or partly co-financed by the National Cultural Fund Administration. Every year ARAC either launches an open-call for prospective cultural residents from across the world or, depending on the available funding, invites artists and curators to stay for a period of up to three months at Plantelor 58 Street, in Bucharest.

The artistic residencies usually result into the making of a curated exhibition in collaboration with Anca Poterașu Gallery. The artist is usually awarded a full travel, accommodation and production grant in order to properly be able to develop a researched artistic project that enables a closer communication with the local art-scene.

The curatorial residencies aim to enable the guests and / or selected applicants to document, research and get better acquainted with the Bucharest art scene, with a special interest in the history and the heritage of the city. The aim of the project is to offer the possibility for the curator and the artist to engage in an active dialogue with Romanian art practitioners and local art audiences. In both residency types, the material and financial support for artistic production is limited, but available.