Fogo Island Arts announces an open call for the Labrador Current Foodways Residency, an international program exploring the interconnectedness of food and art with our histories, ecologies, economies, politics, and social worlds.

This immersive residency supports artists working at the intersections of food, art, and the climate crisis. From maintaining subarctic maritime sustenance gardens to traditional cod jigging, foodways represent a living culture on Fogo Island. Through artistic research, harvesting, and sharing local knowledge and food, we invite practitioners to explore how arts and cultural platforms can transform food systems amid the climate crisis.

Particularly relevant to rural, coastal communities, the residency challenges practitioners to move beyond conventional dietary categories—carnivore, omnivore, locavore, vegetarian, or vegan—to examine new seasonalities that impact global systems and local food access. Residents will have the opportunity to engage with Fogo Island’s unique landscape and connect with local chefs, growers, harvesters, as well as environmental stewardship through Shorefast’s seaweed farming initiative.

The island’s subarctic maritime climate and socio-political history provide rich grounds for research and practice related to foodways. Residents will work closely with Chef Timothy Charles, a founding Kitchen team member at Fogo Island Inn who draws on local heritage practices to create a sustainable future using the region’s natural resources.

The residency offers unique experiences that residents can meaningfully incorporate into new or existing projects and research.

Deadline for Applications: June 30, 2025


Residency
This residency will provide an opportunity for an artist, curator, writer, farmer, chef, food historian, forager, eater, or researcher to live and work on Fogo Island, Newfoundland, Canada for a period of one month. A living expense per diem of $400 CAD per week will be provided.

The resident will also be provided with private accommodation, a studio, and a vehicle on Fogo Island. Travel expenses will be reimbursed up to a certain amount, depending on travel origin.

Residents will have access to: scheduled use of Fogo Island Inn’s kitchens; assistance in sourcing and purchasing product; orienting to local producers, harvesters; and the possibility of sub-contracting the kitchen team.

Residents will be encouraged to give one public presentation, performance, workshop, or similar event during their residency in Fogo Island.

Residency periods
August 1-30, 2025
September 1-30, 2025


Application criteria
Applications are welcome from international practitioners working in a wide range of disciplines including visual art, film, writing, farming, cooking, curating, design, and theory.

Successful candidates will be responsible for acquiring the necessary visas and driver’s license permissions, Fogo Island Arts will help facilitate this process.

How to Apply
Applications must be submitted using the SlideRoom online portal. Step-by-step application instructions are available on the portal.

When applying, should you have any issues with the SlideRoom online portal, please contact Slideroom. For all other questions, please contact opencall@fogoislandarts.ca.


Applicants will be asked to provide
–Portfolio/link to a website
–A statement of interest addressing how a residency would provide a meaningful experience for the applicant’s practice/research and how they would contribute to research into foodways of the Labrador Current through their proposed project (200 words max)
–CV
–Name and contact info of two referees (no letters required)


Awardees will be notified by July 5, 2025.


About Fogo Island Arts (FIA)

Fogo Island Arts (FIA) is the founding program of Shorefast, a registered Canadian charity dedicated to unleashing the power of place so local communities can thrive in the global economy. Fogo Island Arts was founded in 2008 as an international artist residency program with the belief that artists are visionaries with a unique capacity to reveal and respond to the complexities of our time.

The residencies enable artists, curators, and writers to think, create, and connect on Fogo Island, promoting discovery across perspectives and disciplines. The geographic specificity as an island off an island in the North Atlantic is a foundational platform for engagement around issues of sustainability, ecology, economy, and belonging. Over the last 15 years, Fogo Island Arts has grown into a program of exhibitions, public programs, publications, and research projects that aim to explore art and ideas and bridge connections between the local and the global.

Fogo Island Arts is a charitable program of Shorefast, a registered Canadian charity with the mission to build economic and cultural resilience on Fogo Island, making it possible for local communities to thrive in the global economy.

Image: Photo by Steffen Jagenburg

Previous Next