An open call for eight artists to join research teams across eight global locations to explore plastic, healthcare and the possibilities of a more circular future.
Closing date: 23 Oct 2026
Eight locations. Eight research teams. One global conversation about plastic, healthcare, and what comes next.
About the ATSU artist residency:
As part of After the Single Use (ATSU), eight artists will be selected (one per research location) to join the local research team for a residency period between March-May 2027. This is a research-embedded residency, not a production residency: the focus is on curiosity, exchange, and process. Artists will have the time and space to engage deeply with the research, bring their own perspective and practice to bear, and explore what emerges. Artists are not expected to illustrate or communicate the research. They are invited to work alongside it — to observe, question, and respond in whatever way feels true to their practice. The aim is a genuine exchange, in which both the artist and the researchers come away with new ways of thinking. Artistic works in progress will be presented locally at or near the end of the residency period, and the artist will contribute to the ATSU online exhibition after completion of the residency, featuring the results of all eight residencies worldwide.
Location specific calls available via the website. Please read the location-specific call for the site you are interested in before applying.
Duration: One month full time OR up to three months part-time March-May, 2027 (see location-specific call for details)
Fee: Every location has an artist fee and materials budget (see location-specific call for details)
Application deadline: 23 October 2026
Response timeframe: You will receive a response to your application before 20 December, 2026
About: After the Single Use Led by the University of Edinburgh, UK and funded by the Wellcome Trust, the project brings together historians, anthropologists, and public health researchers across eight countries (India, Norway, Papua New Guinea, Scotland, Senegal, Switzerland, Tanzania and USA) to examine the history, present, and future of single-use medical plastics. Driven by the belief that understanding this crisis requires perspectives beyond research alone, each research unit will host an artist in residence. The eight residencies are independent but connected: selected artists will have the opportunity to meet online and exchange with other artists in residence at the other seven sites, and all eight residencies will contribute to a shared internationaly.
Disclaimer:
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