Made in Sat Rural Art Residency / Open Call 2026

The residency offers a quiet, rural environment in the North-West Romania, where artists can focus and work independently, while also engaging with the local community, environment, and cultural landscape

Made in Sat Art Residency is an international program designed for visual artists of all fields, writers, and researchers who wish to temporarily relocate to a rural context in order to develop a new project, deepen an ongoing body of work, or focus on long-term research. .

Residencies take place once a year, between June and September. Each 4-week session hosts two individual artists and one artist duo (a total of four residents), who live on-site and have access to the resources and facilities offered by Made in Sat.

About Made in Sat

Made in Sat (grown from MarinArt local project) was created to build a local cultural infrastructure in a rural area where opportunities for creative exchange were extremely limited. Since 2015, the team has been developing cultural, community, and artistic projects in Marin with a commitment to:

• ethical documentation of local stories, craft practices, and everyday life,

• curating a textile collection and documenting the practices around textiles

• strengthening intergenerational dialogue,

• providing access to cultural experiences for children and adults in the village,

• supporting collaborative practices between artists and local craftspeople,

• developing long-term archives related to textiles, traditional knowledge, material culture and contemporary rural lifestyle.

Between 2016–2019, we organized gatherings and a local festival; in 2021, we opened the MarinArt village library, which also functions as a studio space and hosts short micro-residencies for Romanian artists leading art-education workshops with local children.

Starting from the winter of 2024, the residency opened to international artists, aiming to create a space where contemporary art, documentary practices, anthropology, environmental studies, and rural life can intersect in a respectful and mutually beneficial way.

During the year, we focus on long-term documentation of traditional practices, textile knowledge, crafts, and the work of regional artisans. We organize workshops with local embroiderers, cultural heritage and textile tours, collaborate with artisans and researchers, and produce documentary films and visual materials. Our mission centers on ethical ethnographic work, cross-cultural exchange, interdisciplinary collaborations, and the integration of artistic practices within documentation and research. 

We welcome multidisciplinary artists, especially those working at the intersection of visual arts, cultural studies, environmental research, and social sciences.

Location

The residency is based in Marin, a village in Sălaj County, North-West Romania, with around 600 Romanian inhabitants, mostly elders, small-scale farmers or families who divide their time between Romania and Western Europe. Marin is surrounded by multiethnic villages inhabited by Romanians, Hungarians and Roma communities, creating a diverse cultural background.

Although the village has become more dynamic in recent years, with locals returning from abroad to renovate houses, open small businesses, and bring their children home for the summer, the format of the residency primarily offers a focused, slow rhythm, suitable for artists who want time, and mental space for their practice.

Both residency houses, The Main House and The Blue House, are located on the main street, within walking distance of hills, fields, and forests. The surroundings are ideal for outdoor work, field research, writing, photography, or long walks.

Studio – MarinArt Library & Workspace

The studio is located in the same building as our textile collection and the courtyard of The Blue House.
Residents have access to:

• One shared studio room

• Work tables, chairs, benches, couch, single day-bed

• Basic tools and materials

• Full access to books and textile archive

• Two outdoor working areas (table, hammock)

• Shared kitchen

• Shared bathroom

Materials

Artists are expected to bring their own materials, although the studio provides basic supplies (acrylics, paper, some brushes, simple ceramic tools, no wheel).Nearby towns Zalău and Șimleu Silvaniei (25 km) have arts & crafts shops; we can help with transport when needed and online orders from Romania.

For ceramic artists:
We collaborate with Szabo Attila Ceramic Studio (Zalău) for glazing and firing. Please note the process can take up to one week.

Accommodation

The Main House, former local family house - for individual artists

• Two bedrooms for residents (+1 for the residency organiser)

• Shared kitchen

• Two bathrooms with hot water

• Common living space

• Transit room for each bedroom

• Washing machine

• Courtyard and orchard

• 3 minutes to the fields, 15 minutes’ walk to the forest

Rural Art Residency in the the Blue House - for artist duos

• Two bedrooms (up to 4 people)

• One bathroom with hot water (wood-heated; must be heated before showering)

• Shared kitchen (during the day is shared with the artists in the studio as well)

• Washing machine

• Private outdoor area
  Find out more about this location here - The Blue House in Marin
  

Dining & Groceries

• Fully equipped kitchens (induction, electric oven, utensils, spices, shared fridge, coffee maker)

• Coffee and tea

Local options:

• One small grocery shop in the village

• Supermarkets in Crasna (7 km) and Valcău de Jos (4 km)

• Weekly markets: Tuesday & Saturday in Crasna

• Local farms offering cow/buffalo cheese, milk, eggs (availability varies depending on the seasons or requests)

Transport

• Nearest airport: Cluj-Napoca (CLJ)

• Direct hourly buses from Cluj-Napoca to Vârșolț (10 km from Marin)

• Train/bus line Budapest – Ciucea (with onward travel to Cluj)

• Pickup available from: Vârșolț, Zalău, Ciucea, Nușfalău

For weekly markets, hitchhiking from Marin to Crasna is common and safe, practiced by local elders as well. When possible, we accompany residents by car, especially during the first visit.

Duration & Available Periods

4-week residencies (longer stays upon request)

2026 Sessions:

• 1 June – 29 June

• 3 July – 31 July

• 3 August – 31 August

• 2 September – 30 September

Each session hosts: 2 individual artists + 1 artist duo

Costs (Paid by the Artist)

• Individual artist (4 weeks): €1000

• Artist duo residency in the Blue House (4 weeks): €1800

Additional costs to consider:

• Travel from your location to Romania & return

• Groceries, personal expenses, travel insurance, VISA

Visitors:
Partners or friends are welcome any time for free up to 7 days. For more than 7 days, we charge a contribution of 10 euro/night/per person (sharing the bed with the artist).

Activities

The residency offers full flexibility: artists manage their own schedule.

Optional programmed activities may include:

• Sheepskin embroidery workshop (local vest-decorating technique)
  / Ceramic decoration workshop

• Visits to regional sites, wooden churches, Grădina Zmeilor, Jibou Botanical Garden, etc.

• Birdwatching on Vârșolț wetland & lake

• Facilitation of community connections for interviews, collaborations, or fieldwork

• Attendance at village festivals or cultural events around the region, when available

Residency Application

Open to:

• Visual artists (mixed media, textile, painting, illustration, photography, film, etc.)

• Writers

• Cultural, social science, and environmental researchers

• Artist duos

Application file to be sent to office.madeinsat@gmai.com :

1. CV / Biography

2. Portfolio, website (if available) + description of artistic practice or research

3. Motivation letter explaining in 150-300 words:

• Why you want to join the residency

• What you expect from the program

• What you plan to work on

We encourage residents to share their research or outcomes at the end of the stay, participate in interviews, and allow documentation of their process by the Made in Sat team.

Funding & Support

Made in Sat is a woman-artist-run, self-funded initiative.

Residency fees directly support the maintenance of the space, the team, and the continuation of cultural and documentary projects in the village.

Selected artists are encouraged to apply for grants; we provide:

• Official invitation letters (available for VISA as well)

• Residency confirmations

Selection Process

Applications will be reviewed by the Made in Sat team based on the following criteria: clarity and coherence of the artistic proposal, genuine interest in rural contexts, openness to working within a community setting, and the relevance of the project to the themes and facilities of the residency. 

We will consider both the portfolio and the applicant’s motivation, as well as the potential for the proposed project to develop during the residency. The selection does not aim for “perfection” but for a match between the artist and the context. Only selected candidates will be contacted. 

We review applications on a rolling basis. This means that strong applications may be selected before the final deadline.

Selected artists will receive an acceptance email and must confirm their participation within 5 maximum days.
If we do not receive a confirmation within this timeframe, the invitation will be withdrawn and the spot will be offered to an artist from the waiting list.

To secure their place in the program, confirmed artists are required to pay a 50% deposit within the same 5-day confirmation window. The remaining amount can be paid up to 30 days before the start of the residency. 

The final deadline for submissions is 20 February 2025.

We are looking forward to reading your applications and meeting you!

Stay inspired!✨