-300x451.webp)
A self-directed residency for practitioners pursuing research, project development, and critical inquiry.
The Research Residency responds to a need for dedicated, process-oriented time, combined with active curatorial support to give a project or practice new momentum.
FUTURES facilitates tailored introductions to relevant artists, curators, institutions and communities in Amsterdam, while connecting residents to its European network of more than 20 photography institutions. It offers space to think, research, and develop work, with meaningful exchanges, new perspectives, and connections that inform their practice.
Based at the FUTURES Hub in Amsterdam, the programme offers a private working and living space and a self-directed framework without the pressure of a fixed outcome or presentation, giving residents the conditions to develop their practice on their own terms.
How It Works
The FUTURES Research Residency is a self-directed residency for photographers, artists, writers, researchers, and curators working within the field of photography and image-making. Based at the FUTURES Hub in Amsterdam, the programme offers residents a private working and living space, dedicated research time, contextual grounding, and connection to the wider FUTURES ecosystem.
The residency is designed for practitioners who want to deepen an ongoing research-based project while being physically present in Amsterdam and connected to an international photography network. It supports independent work and contextual engagement, offering residents the conditions to develop their practice on their own terms.
Applications are welcome from both FUTURES artists and practitioners outside the FUTURES network.
What We Offer
Working and living space
The Research Residency is based at the FUTURES Hub in Amsterdam alongside the FUTURES Artistic Residency. A shared space between the two hosts occasional presentations, screenings, and talks, offering residents the option to connect with fellow practitioners in residence.
Dedicated research time
The residency offers a focused one-month* period to focus on your artistic inquiry, process, and conceptual development. It is conceived as a self-directed framework that allows you to work independently, without the pressure of a fixed production outcome.
*Where appropriate, the duration may be adapted to accommodate the needs of the artist and the proposed project.
Contextual grounding
The residency provides an opportunity to situate your research within Amsterdam’s cultural landscape while remaining connected to international artistic and research communities. Whether your project is rooted in Amsterdam or elsewhere, the residency offers a context from which to engage with relevant people, institutions, archives, and initiatives that can inform and enrich your research.
FUTURES Ecosystem
As part of the wider FUTURES platform, the residency connects your research and practice to an international community of artists, writers, researchers, curators, partner organisations, and ongoing artistic research. Through FUTURES digital channels, your residency and research process are shared with audiences across the network, creating opportunities for visibility, dialogue, and exchange beyond the residency itself. Where relevant, the FUTURES team can help facilitate connections with curators, artists, institutions, and professionals within this network.
Residency Period
The FUTURES Research Residency lasts one month. Residents are expected to be physically present in Amsterdam for at least 90% of the residency period, in order to make full use of the working and living space and engage with the local context.
Cost
The Research Residency is self-funded. Applicants are welcome to seek institutional, grant, sponsorship or other funding. FUTURES can provide a letter of intent to support these applications upon request.
The residency fee is €2,500 including VAT for one month. The fee contributes to the provision and upkeep of the private working and living space at the FUTURES Hub, as well as the professional support offered during the residency. The fee includes:
- a private, fully equipped working and living space at the FUTURES Hub
- use of shared facilities at the FUTURES Hub
- optional support in facilitation of exchanges with relevant artists, curators, institutions and communities in Amsterdam or the FUTURES European network, where relevant
- the possibility to share work publicly through an artist talk, lecture, workshop or other suitable public activity, developed in dialogue with the FUTURES team
The fee does not include:
- travel to and from Amsterdam
- daily living expenses
- production costs
- additional technical equipment or specialised materials
Application
How the selection works
The programme is open to photographers, artists, writers, researchers, and curators, whether or not they are part of the FUTURES artist network.
Applications are accepted on a rolling basis and reviewed by the FUTURES team.
The selection is based on:
- the artistic quality and clarity of your practice
- the relevance and feasibility of your proposed research or project
- your motivation to work within the FUTURES context and in Amsterdam
- the potential benefit of the residency for your practice
- your ability to be physically present for the residency period
- your capacity to secure the necessary funding
Applications must be submitted at least one month before your intended start date.
You will receive a response within two weeks of submitting your application.
How to apply
To apply, please submit:
- a project proposal, maximum 500 words
- a motivation letter, maximum 300 words
- a CV or short biography, maximum 2 pages
- a portfolio or relevant writing samples
- confirmation that you are able to secure funding and be present in Amsterdam for the residency period
Residency Locations
The FUTURES Artistic Residency Programme currently takes place across three locations.
Located at the FUTURES Hub in Amsterdam, the residency offers a private live-work environment that combines accommodation, workspace, and access to public facilities. Situated within the FUTURES headquarters, the Hub provides residents with a base from which to engage with Amsterdam's photography and contemporary art scene while developing their work within an international network.
Past Artists
Visual Artist, Filmmaker
Amsterdam, Netherlands
2026
Artist, filmmaker and musician Lawrence Lek uses video game engines as his stage set, building and shooting entire worlds from the inside. For over a decade he has made one continuous fiction: a Sinofuturist universe of sentient satellites, carebots and self-driving cars, owned by a corporation called Farsight — which he also runs as his real production studio. His work treats machines as avatars of the human condition: subjects of obsolescence and empathy, not triumph or apocalypse. Winner of the 2024 Frieze Artist Award, Lek was named one of TIME's 100 most influential people in AI. He is represented by Sadie Coles HQ.
— Visual Artist, Filmmaker
Amsterdam, Netherlands, 2026
Artist, filmmaker and musician Lawrence Lek uses video game engines as his stage set, building and shooting entire worlds from the inside. For over a decade he has made one continuous fiction: a Sinofuturist universe of sentient satellites, carebots and self-driving cars, owned by a corporation called Farsight — which he also runs as his real production studio. His work treats machines as avatars of the human condition: subjects of obsolescence and empathy, not triumph or apocalypse. Winner of the 2024 Frieze Artist Award, Lek was named one of TIME's 100 most influential people in AI. He is represented by Sadie Coles HQ.
Visual Artist, Filmmaker
Amsterdam, Netherlands
2026
DeLovie Kwagala (aka Papa De) is the first openly non-binary queer photographer from Uganda. An award winning visual artist and film maker, their art is a defiant stance against the colonial gaze, aiming to dismantle stereotypes around beauty, gender identity, and the fetishisation or victimisation of Black and queer bodies. Through self-taught, multi-disciplinary visual storytelling, Kwagala documents and archives African queer youth, exploring themes of identity, belonging, migration, displacement, and climate justice.
Their mission is to preserve dignity, reclaim marginalised African queer histories, and provoke questioning of patriarchal and colonial narratives. Projects like The Quingdom ~ In Transition and Love(r)ships celebrate queer joy, intimacy, and resistance, asserting that "to be visibly queer is a political statement in itself." Kwagala’s work, featured in TIME, The Guardian, and Vogue, strives to evoke relatability and inspire unlearning, ensuring their community is seen not as victims, but as glorious outliers: resilient, beautiful, and unapologetically present.
— Visual Artist, Filmmaker
Amsterdam, Netherlands, 2026
DeLovie Kwagala (aka Papa De) is the first openly non-binary queer photographer from Uganda. An award winning visual artist and film maker, their art is a defiant stance against the colonial gaze, aiming to dismantle stereotypes around beauty, gender identity, and the fetishisation or victimisation of Black and queer bodies. Through self-taught, multi-disciplinary visual storytelling, Kwagala documents and archives African queer youth, exploring themes of identity, belonging, migration, displacement, and climate justice.
Their mission is to preserve dignity, reclaim marginalised African queer histories, and provoke questioning of patriarchal and colonial narratives. Projects like The Quingdom ~ In Transition and Love(r)ships celebrate queer joy, intimacy, and resistance, asserting that "to be visibly queer is a political statement in itself." Kwagala’s work, featured in TIME, The Guardian, and Vogue, strives to evoke relatability and inspire unlearning, ensuring their community is seen not as victims, but as glorious outliers: resilient, beautiful, and unapologetically present.
Isaac Titsinghkade 6A-B
1018 CA Amsterdam
The Netherlands
Isaac Titsinghkade 6A-B
1018 CA Amsterdam
The Netherlands
© 2026 FUTURES Foundation
© 2026 FUTURES Foundation