Ouro Preto Institute Opens Digital Residency for Vulnerable Artists

Applications are open until February 13 for the inaugural Programa Emergencial de Residência Artística – iai, a six-week digital residency offering R$2,000 grants. Funded by the Lei Aldir Blanc, the program targets visual artists, researchers, and art educators whose work has been compromised by the pandemic. Three participants will be selected from Ouro Preto, with another three from elsewhere in Minas Gerais. The initiative, conceived by the Instituto de Arte Interativo (iai), the virtual arm of the Instituto de Arte Contemporânea de Ouro Preto (ia), centers on a creative process with pedagogical aims and a decolonial perspective. It explores how digital platforms can forge new ways of producing art, reconfigure temporalities, and reveal invisible territories. Founder Bel Gurgel states the program aims to point to new horizons for residencies and contemporary art production. A virtual collective exhibition and educational material for Ouro Preto's public schools will conclude the residency. Founded in 2016, the nonprofit ia fosters artistic expression in Ouro Preto, Mariana, and surrounding regions, emphasizing African diaspora productions and dialogues between local and global knowledge.