International Residency
EXP-IEFC Experimentation
OPEN CALL
UNTIL NOVEMBER 3
with the collaboration of
From October 6th to November 3rd, 2025, we are opening the call for applications for the IEFC-EXP International Experimentation Residency. The program will take place in Barcelona from July 11th to 21st, 2026, just before the Experimental Photo Festival. Participants are invited to share their experiences as artists at the festival.
During the residency, each participant will propose a theoretical and practical workshop, sharing an experimental technique they have mastered with the group. The idea is not to work on individual projects, but rather to build a horizontal learning community, where eight techniques with a unique approach are collectively experimented with.
The experience will culminate with a collective exhibition on the ground floor of the Institut d'Estudis Fotogràfics de Catalunya, focusing on the learning and experimentation processes rather than the final results.
More than a residency, we want it to be a space to meet, learn together, and discover new ways to experiment with photography.
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It will be directed and coordinated by Célica Véliz, who will be with the group for the ten days.
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Eight selected individuals with expertise in eight experimental techniques will participate.
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Accommodation will be in single rooms at the Colegio Mayor Penyafort-Montserrat.
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Mornings will be devoted to theory at the colegio, and afternoons to practical work in the darkroom and in a room at the IEFC.
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The first day will feature a presentation and portfolio review with Pablo Giori.
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The exchanges will be in English and Spanish.
The Residency
How to participate?
To apply, you must send:
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a workshop proposal with a 2-hour theoretical part and a 4-hour practical part;
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a list of necessary materials with prices for 8 people and the space requirements;
If selected, you will be required to make a payment of 500€, with the possibility of paying it in monthly instalments.
If you are selected, the residency includes:
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10 days of accommodation with breakfast included;
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all materials for the workshops and the exhibition;
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a free ticket to the festival without workshops. If the artist chooses to repeat their workshop during the festival, as compensation, they will be given free entry to another workshop valued at 90€;
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official merchandise: tote bag, t-shirt, and photobooks;
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participation in an exhibition and a conference about the residency;
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150€ to take courses at Ágora, School of Experimentation.
The residency does not include:
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accommodation during the Experimental Photo Festival (which can be arranged at the same location);
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meals (except for breakfast) or participant transportation;
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other personal expenses.
The selection of the residents will be made by the management of the Experimentalphotofestival Association and its coordinator, Célica Véliz, and is final and open to appeal. The results will be communicated individually by email starting December 1st. To be definitively accepted, those selected must sign a contract with the conditions stated here and the transfer of image rights.
The 500€ residency fee covers accommodation (330€), materials (30€), bank and platform fees (30€), and 21% taxes (110€). The director's salary is paid by the Experimentalphotofestival Association thanks to a public subsidy.
To carry out the registration, you must download the form (1) and then submit the candidacy (2) with the following information:
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the text of your biography should be between 250 and 500 words;
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a PDF dossier about your work;
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a selection of 10 images of your work in JPG (10 MB maximum);
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the workshop proposal form in PDF with the list and estimated price of materials for 8 people, and the characteristics of the required space;
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a high-quality portrait in JPG.
Are you ready to share, learn, and discuss experimental photography?
Residency Coordinator
Célica Véliz
Photographer, Visual Arts Teacher, and Ceramics Technician. Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina. She trained in the city of Tandil at IPAT and the School of Ceramics. Upon completing her studies, she became interested in 19th-century photographic techniques and began to research and experiment with them. Currently, she coordinates workshops on experimental photography and alternative photographic processes in her virtual space "Superficies Sensibles" and at the Ágora del ExpFestival. Since 2023, she has been the director of the artistic residency at the Experimental Photo Festival (Barcelona). She has held several solo exhibitions in museums and galleries in her country. She has also participated in group exhibitions and festivals in Argentina, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, and Spain. She has published the mini-books "MADER" (2014), "El Cuerpo Roto" (2019), and "Las Vías de Escape" (2020). Her work mainly addresses autobiography, self-portraiture, the editing of photographic zines, storytelling through images about the body and illness, family ties, as well as experimentation with materiality, media, and various techniques without limiting herself to ancient processes.
Do you dare to apply for other calls?
EXHIBITIONS
UNTIL NOVEMBER 3
Participate in the open call for exhibitions and share your work with an international community passionate about alternative photography. Your work could be included in the festival's exhibitions, opening a space for dialogue, exchange, and visibility for artists exploring unconventional photographic processes.
UNTIL NOVEMBER 3
ARTISTS
Participate in the open call for artists to give workshops and conferences. It's a unique opportunity to share your work in a hands-on way with all the other festival participants and artists!
See you
in Barcelona!
General conditions
Registration entails automatic acceptance of the following rules, the same for all participants
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The tickets purchased for the festival and for the residency cannot be returned in any case. If the participant decides not to come to Barcelona, their ticket can be converted into an online festival ticket so that the participant can live the experience from anywhere in the world.
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The participants give the Experimentalphotofestival Association the non-exclusive right to distribute and reproduce the photographs sent digitally (always indicating the name of the photographer and the title of the work) for promotion (for example: newsletters, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, Linkedin, the festival websites, Ágora, IEFC, Centro Cívico Pati Llimona and the galleries where the exhibitions are held), for exhibition, educational and commercial purposes. No royalties or compensation will be paid for these purposes. The photographer retains all copyright and ownership rights in the works. However, please also note that third parties such as educational institutions, journalists, search engines or individuals may download, save, store or archive images from our website with or without our knowledge. The Experimentalphotofestival Association will have no control over such downloading and the subsequent use and therefore cannot accept responsibility for such use. Participants assume and accept all legal and financial responsibility for any infringement of the privacy, property or copyright rights of others, caused by the creation or presentation of their work in public.
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Participants assign their image rights to the Experimentalphotofestival Association and it does not have the power to assign them to third parties without express consent. By registering, they authorize it to capture, reproduce and disseminate the images of the festival where their person is in still image or video format without geographical or temporal limitation and free of charge.
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The Experimentalphotofestival Association reserves the right to exclude from the festival those dossiers and participants who violate the general conditions of participation or who violate our values, copyright, and human or privacy rights.
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The Experimentalphotofestival Association is the organizer of the Experimental Photo Festival and the Ágora, School of Experimentation, which means that the assignment of rights to the association automatically allows its use by both events.