Khoj International Residency

Exploratory Residency, and Group Residency for Indian and international artists

Residency brief

Khoj is an autonomous not-for-profit contemporary arts organization created in 1997. Through international, on-site, off-site and often hyper-local programmes and residencies, Khoj supports and incubates experimental and transdisciplinary creative practices that look at art and its various intersections with other disciplines such as gender, urbanisms, ecology, and technology. The residency at Khoj provides time and space for the artists to engage, respond and present their work in a historical socio-economic context, allowing for inclusivity, participation, and artistic interventions, in small but palpable ways. The residency acts as a platform for dialogue, supporting the development of personal artistic practices while building a network of interdisciplinary artists.

The Khoj International Residency will host an emerging to mid-career artist for 6 weeks responding to the particular theme of the residency and with a preferred interest in community-responsive modalities. The resident should wish to explore and expand discourse in the field of craft, design and technology through innovative artistic inquiry. Craft or crafting refers to the ways in which an object comes to form. Materiality, skill, repetition, tradition and historicity are core considerations in the process of crafting an object. Sharing histories with craft-based knowledge, design discourse articulates function and intention to objects, systems and environments. Technology - through the evolution of tools, machines and digital technology - has played a significant role in the evolution of craft and design, making new contexts and transpiring new innovations. Through this residency, Khoj wishes to host critical artistic practices that situate the entanglement of craft and design in an ever-changing technological milieu.

  • Thematic focus Arts & Crafts (design, technology, curatorial research), Visual Arts, Community-based work
  • LocationKhirkee Extension, New Delhi (Delhi)
  • Dates July - August 2025
  • Length of stay 6 weeks
  • Apply Now

Our Space

Khirki Extension, New Delhi (Delhi)

The Khirki neighbourhood, a dense urban village settlement in the heart of the city was an erstwhile agricultural farmland with its history dating back to the 13th century. Today, Khirki is a melting pot of cultures where small-time entrepreneurs, labour-based workers, sweatshop workers, artists, migrants and refugees from Afghanistan, Nigeria, Somalia and the Ivory Coast. Artists who are residents at Khoj Studios inevitably begin to respond to this immediate geopolitical context of the Khoj neighbourhood. The Khoj Studios includes exhibition spaces, artists’ studios, residents’ accommodation, a reference library, a media lab, a public cafe, an open-air terrace and an additional multi-purpose space that can be used for film screenings and presentations.

Residency conditions

  • The resident should be willing to participate in the Open Studio Day organized by Khoj by showcasing his/her work-in-progress at the end of the 6-week collective programme. This doesn’t involve showing a finished production, the display is to be decided by the artist depending on the state of his/her research.
  • The resident should be willing to give up to 20% of his/her residency time to participate in various public engagement events such as talks, performances, workshops, etc. organized by Khoj or the French Institute in India.
  • The resident will be provided with studio facilities - which include both independent and collective spaces - as well as basic equipment (hammers, saws, cutters, drill machines, screwdrivers, etc.) to be shared with the other artists.
  • The resident will be provided with on-site accommodation, which includes a shared bedroom (air-conditioned) with an attached bathroom, as well as a common lounge, equipped kitchenette and courtyard. For a better understanding of the residency spaces, find the link to the 360 video tour: https://khojstudios.org/khoj-tour/
  • The resident will receive a fixed stipend of INR. 60,000 per month to cover his/her food and living expenses.
  • The resident will receive a residency grant of INR. 50 000 per month.
  • The resident’s travel costs to and from his/her home address will be covered by the French Institute in India.

Eligibility criteria

  • Proficiency in English is required for the applicant.
  • The resident has to be comfortable working and living in the environment of Khoj and the popular neighbourhood of Khirki which requires a certain level of autonomy. A resident’s guide will be provided by IFI to help navigate the city on a daily basis.