€10,000 Research Residency: Medialab Matadero Residency 2027

Seven months in Madrid for three research and creation projects working across art, design, science, technology, and society

Medialab Matadero Residency has opened its fifth annual research residency Madrid call for its Situated Research Program. Three projects will be selected for seven-month residencies running from January through July 2027. Each selected project receives a €10,000 financial allowance before applicable taxes and withholdings, workspace at Matadero Madrid, institutional support, and access to shared facilities. The residency supports experimental, critical, collaborative, and transdisciplinary research connected to contemporary social, technological, cultural, ecological, political, or urban questions.

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Medialab Matadero Residency Snapshot

What: Three seven-month Situated Research residencies supporting research and creation projects that engage with art, design, science, technology, and society.
Who: Individuals, groups of individuals, and nonprofit legal entities working across art, design, architecture, urban planning, economics, film, photography, journalism, digital media, environmental sciences, philosophy, engineering, social studies, political science, digital tool programming, material sciences, activism, and other relevant fields.
Where: Medialab Matadero, Matadero Madrid, Madrid, Spain.
Award / Support: €10,000 financial allowance for each selected project, subject to legally required taxes and/or withholdings. Residents receive workspace and support from Medialab Matadero. Medialab Matadero will arrange and cover a maximum of one economy-class return trip for selected residents living outside Spain. For collective projects, travel is covered for one designated member.
Application Fee: FREE
Residency Duration: Seven months, January through July 2027. Exact start and end dates will be communicated following completion of the call.
Deadline: September 27, 2026, 23:59 CEST.
Official Link: https://www.medialab-matadero.es/en/announcements/situated-research-2027
Strategy Coach Notes: https://www.patreon.com/pformart/posts/medialab-2027-170372477

Get The Application Strategy

This application has a defined evaluation structure. The committee will assess the applicant’s trajectory, the depth and relevance of the research, thematic alignment with Medialab Matadero, feasibility, transdisciplinary and collaborative experience, relationships with Madrid communities, the proposed public dimension, and the project’s methodologies and use of technology. Applicants submit a 1,000 to 2,000-word project description, a preliminary public-program proposal, portfolio, biography and motivation letter, and a three-minute video. Contemporary Performance members can access Strategy Coach Notes that break these requirements into an application strategy.

About Medialab Matadero Residency

Medialab Matadero’s Situated Research Program supports projects that operate across disciplines, methodologies, and fields of knowledge. The program centers research and creation processes that use experimentation, collaboration, documentation, knowledge exchange, and public engagement. Projects must connect explicitly with one or more areas developed through Medialab Matadero’s recent programs: LAB 1 Sentient Media, LAB 2 The Metabolic Sublime, LAB 3 Synthetic Minds, LAB 4 Weird Futures, and LAB 5 The Mechanics of Truth.

The residency takes place in person at the Centre for Artists in Residence at Matadero Madrid. Each project must use the CRA as its primary base during the residency, with agreed absences possible for field research, travel, external collaboration, or other project needs. Residents participate in monitoring meetings with the Medialab team at least monthly. Each project must also develop a public program consisting of between one and six activities and participate in a final public showcase scheduled for June or July 2027.

What Is Offered

€10,000 financial allowance for each selected project, subject to legally required taxes and/or withholdings.
70% of the allowance following signature of the residency acceptance document and submission of required documentation.
Remaining 30% following acceptance of the final residency report and submission of the relevant receipt or invoice.
Physical workspace at the Centre for Artists in Residence at Matadero Madrid.
Internet access, lighting, electricity, and basic work furniture.
Access, subject to authorization, booking, project needs, and availability, to shared facilities that may include meeting rooms, presentation spaces, a black box studio, sound booth, editing suite, dirty-work spaces, and digital fabrication lab.
At least one monthly monitoring meeting with the Medialab Matadero team.
A maximum of one economy-class return trip for selected residents living outside Spain. Collective projects receive travel coverage for one designated member.
Participation in a final public showcase in June or July 2027.

The €10,000 allowance must be dedicated to development of the selected project. Eligible project-related uses described in the regulatory framework include research, creation, production, documentation, mediation, travel, materials, equipment, collaborations, and other directly related expenses.

Who Should Apply

The call accepts applications from individuals, groups of individuals, and nonprofit legal entities conducting research and creation projects related to the program. Applicants must be of legal age and possess the necessary legal capacity.

Applicants must hold Spanish nationality or nationality of an EU member state. Citizens of non-EU countries must hold the necessary administrative authorization to reside or remain legally in Spain throughout the residency.

Commercial entities cannot apply. Applicants cannot have a current employment relationship or commercial contract with Madrid Destino during the residency. Previous beneficiaries of the Medialab Matadero Open Call for Situated Research Projects during the three years preceding publication of this call are also ineligible.

Individuals, collectives, and entities may submit only one application.

Medialab Matadero Residency Timeline

Deadline: September 27, 2026, 23:59 CEST.
Residency: January through July 2027.
Open Days: Research findings or part of the research may be shown during Open Days scheduled for the first week of March and first fortnight of June 2027.
Final Public Showcase: June or July 2027.
Final Report: Due within a maximum of one month following completion of the residency.

Why The Medialab Matadero Residency Matters

The residency dedicates seven months to a research and creation process rather than requiring the production of a finished artwork. Its structure gives significant weight to research methodology, experimentation, public knowledge, collaboration, and engagement with Medialab Matadero and Madrid. The regulatory framework specifically excludes proposals consisting exclusively of producing a finished work, activity, or service without a research, experimental, or public dimension.

Applicants therefore need to articulate a research process that can develop through the residency. The proposal must also demonstrate how that process connects with Medialab Matadero’s thematic work, communities, facilities, public programming, and institutional context.

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