Centre for Contemporary Art, Ujazdowski Castle, Warsaw, Poland

The Ujazdowski Castle Centre for Contemporary Art in Warsaw is one of the most vibrant interdisciplinary art institutions in Central and Eastern Europe. Since 1989, it has been located in a reconstructed 17th-century baroque castle, situated in the heart of the Polish capital. Among its wide-ranging activities — exhibitions, performance, critical research, and public programs — one of the most vital elements is the internationally recognized Artistic Residencies Department (U-jazdowski Residencies).

Established in 2002, U-jazdowski’s residencies program is one of the longest-running in the region. The Warsaw-based program has hosted over four hundred art professionals, curators, artists, researchers, educators, organizers, individuals and collectives, representing more than fifty countries from Europe, Asia, North and South America and Africa.

The Residency Program is run by a team: Ika Sienkiewicz-Nowacka (Head of Department), Julia Harasimowicz (curator) and Bartosz Grauman (office manager), supported by a producer (Olga Miękus). Through residencies, the program fosters an environment in which meetings, relations and process-based practices are no less important than the public dimension of displaying work. The residencies are treated as a medium and a tool for artistic and curatorial work. Direct cooperation between the visiting artist and the curators is a priority.

The residency follows the practice, ideas and methods of the individual (or collective). Residents work and research in cooperation with the curators and project coordinators and have access to U–jazdowski’s production facilities and resources.

The U–jazdowski curators create a unique network of cooperators, artists, activists, researchers and institutions tailored specifically to the individual practice of each overseas artist visiting Warsaw. The time needed to understand, connect, become inspired and change one’s mind is considered often more valuable than focusing on the outcome. The program offers time and space, not deadlines.

The program is dedicated to promoting artistic practices that can lead to unexpected results and respond to the changing world. Residencies are understood as a medium for artistic practice that permits a search for models of engagement other than exhibitions. This includes performance shows, lectures, seminars, community-engaging projects, as well as less formal situations such as colloquia, dinners and conversations.