AMP: Artists' Meeting Place and Resource Collective

from e-flux Agenda

Application deadline: June 14, 2025

Sonic Acts
Weteringschans 6–8
1017SG Amsterdam
The Netherlands
https://info@sonicacts.com
https://sonicacts.homerun.co

Sonic Acts and De Ateliers/Woonhuis present The Walls Have Ears—a fully funded sound studies writing residency taking place in Amsterdam in February 2026. Open to one established artist, researcher, or scholar working in the field of sound studies, the residency offers time, space, and critical support to develop a focused writing project. Submit your application before June 14, 11:59pm: https://sonicacts.homerun.co/the-walls-have-ears

Residency theme
Before Pauline Oliveros’ seminal Sonic Meditations (1974) taught us how to listen deeply, there was Yoko Ono’s Grapefruit (1965). This publication invites us to engage with sound in unexpected ways. Ono tells us to scream against a wall, capture the sound of an ageing stone, or walk in another’s footsteps without making a sound. Objects have unique resonances, which we should attune to closely and attentively—through listening or by using recording devices that, in turn, possess an alchemical ability to capture and preserve memories.

Under the title The Walls Have Ears, this residency invites a dialogue on how we engage with the practice of close listening. If listening is an act of connection, it should become a way of attuning to one another—of hearing voices unheard and unlistened to. At its core, listening is an act of empathy—an offering of attention and care that acknowledges histories, emotions, and the lingering echoes of violence and silencing. This residency wishes to hear otherwise—to consider listening as a disruptive force in the status quo; an act of slowing down, tuning in, and giving space.

Offer
–Accommodation at De Ateliers’ Woonhuis at Stadhouderskade 86 in Amsterdam, February 2–March 3, 2026;
–Travel expenses within the EU (up to 500 euros);
–Artist fee of 3,000 euros (including artist fee, studio visits, and production budget; excluding presentation budget);
–Tickets to the Sonic Acts Biennial 2026 events.

Expectations
–Joining scheduled studio visits with De Ateliers participants;
–Public event at Woonhuis (listening session, workshop, conversation, e.g.);
–Lecture at the Sonic Acts Biennial 2026 Symposium at the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam;
–Text for Ecoes magazine and/or the Sonic Acts online portal, later in 2026.

Eligibility and applications
EU-based individual artists with at least one publication—such as a peer-reviewed article, book, or equivalent—in the field of sound studies are eligible to apply for this residency. Prospective residents are invited to present a project they will be working on during the residency. Applicants are required to submit:
–CV;
–A link or pdf to the applicant’s publication/article/book;
–Research proposal of up to 600 words.

Applications are accepted through Homerun until June 14, 11:59pm: see here: https://sonicacts.com/agenda/the-walls-have-ears

For further enquiries, please contact us at residency@sonicacts.com.

Jurying committee and results
The jurying committee comprises members of Sonic Acts and Woonhuis’ curatorial teams. The resident will be notified by 15 July, and the results will also be published online on the Sonic Acts website.

About Sonic Acts
Founded in 1994 to present new developments in electronic and digital art forms, Sonic Acts has gained prominence with its biennial international festival – an intensive art, theory and technology gathering motivated by changes in the ecological, political, technological and social landscape. Sonic Acts is also a leading platform for international projects, research and the commissioning and co-production of new artworks, often working together with local and international partner organisations such as independent and institutional cultural incubators, universities and kindred festivals.

About De Ateliers/Woonhuis
De Ateliers is an artists’ residency and postgraduate programme based in Amsterdam. Situated within the former caretaker quarters of De Ateliers, Woonhuis hosts an exhibition space and a fellows programme. With its own separate entrance and approximately 200 m2 of project space, Woonhuis programmes exhibitions and events featuring (inter)national artists, all by invitation of De Ateliers participants.

More information about De Ateliers (including accessibility) can be found here: https://www.de-ateliers.nl/en/contact/

More information about Woonhuis can be found here: https://woonhuis.de-ateliers.nl/nl