Berman Contemporary has opened applications for UNBOUND, a month-long in-house artist residency taking place in July 2026.
UNBOUND shifts the gallery away from the traditional exhibition format. Instead, the space becomes a live studio. One artist at a time works on site, with the public invited to witness the process as it unfolds.
The residency is open to women artists and is intentionally open-ended. There are no fixed outcomes or expectations. Artists are encouraged to experiment, take risks, and allow ideas to evolve in response to time, materials, space, and audience presence.
Public engagement is central to the programme. Proposals should include participatory or sensory elements. These can involve sound, performance, conversation, material processes, or other forms of embodied interaction.
The selected artist will receive a R10,000 project contribution to support research and production.
Artists are expected to use the gallery as their main working space and be present from Tuesday to Saturday for at least four hours a day during the residency period.
UNBOUND positions the gallery as a living site of making rather than a finished display, foregrounding process, presence, and experimentation.
Applications close: 3 March 2026
Selected artist announced: 31 March 2026
