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The Artistic Research Residency program happens every year from January till March.
Instituto Tropical offers up to 21 days residency with no specific outcome required. There are opportunities to work with different communities in the village and vicinities.
The weekly fee of a funded residency is 400 Euro, this includes:
Accommodation
Accommodation is a single room with double bed, and own bathroom, linen and towels All meals are provided, an introduction to local food culture.
Laundry is provided.
Studio/ workspace
We have many areas of work and a large studio (7m x 10m) which is shared between the artists. Not all artists require a studio and we have plenty of quiet spaces and places in which to work.
Application information:
To apply send us your CV, short biography, examples of your work and most importantly a statement no longer than one A4 page about why you want to come to Instituto Tropical and what you hope to achieve from your time here.
Selection process:
We try to be prompt with replying – and sometimes more dialogue is required before we can accept your application. The process is personal, it takes time but we try to accept within the month.
You will be required to pay a non-refundable deposit in advance of your stay.
The residency program funds the work with indigenous knowledge practitioners and the residencies with first nations representents
Instituto Tropical offers up to 21 days residency with no specific outcome required. There are opportunities to work with different communities in the village and vicinities.
The weekly fee of a funded residency is 400 Euro, this includes:
- Accommodation for two artists at the same time at the institute’s rural estate
- Workspaces for artistic and research-based practice
- Access to the agricultural lands of Instituto Tropical and collaboration with its local farming practitioners.
- Networking opportunities with local actors in arts, crafts, and organic agriculture, with a focus on Indigenous knowledge
- Connections to scholars in the fields of anthropology, ecology, and history
- Support in sourcing working materials
- Opportunities to exhibit in Mexico City and Vienna
- All the help and advice we can give you to make the most out of your time with us.
- Pickup and return to Cuautla's bus station arrival and departure.Cuautla is the town you would catch the bus to from Mexico City we are located about 30km from Cuautla. The transfers are included on the proviso that you arrive and leave on the dates advertised for the residency, otherwise there will be a charge of 450 MX for each transfer.
Accommodation
Accommodation is a single room with double bed, and own bathroom, linen and towels All meals are provided, an introduction to local food culture.
Laundry is provided.
Studio/ workspace
We have many areas of work and a large studio (7m x 10m) which is shared between the artists. Not all artists require a studio and we have plenty of quiet spaces and places in which to work.
Application information:
To apply send us your CV, short biography, examples of your work and most importantly a statement no longer than one A4 page about why you want to come to Instituto Tropical and what you hope to achieve from your time here.
Selection process:
We try to be prompt with replying – and sometimes more dialogue is required before we can accept your application. The process is personal, it takes time but we try to accept within the month.
You will be required to pay a non-refundable deposit in advance of your stay.
The residency program funds the work with indigenous knowledge practitioners and the residencies with first nations representents
Previous Residencies
It is necessary to choose a visual aid that is appropriate for the topic and audience.
23.02-05.03.2026
La residencia de investigación de diez días de Mafalda Rakoš se centró en explorar las relaciones humano-vegetales a partir del contexto del cultivo de higos, en colaboración con agricultores del Instituto Tropical. El proyecto forma parte de un proceso de investigación artística que examina cómo las estrategias artísticas pueden dialogar con los sistemas de producción alimentaria.
Research residency of Mafalda Rakoš. In this ten days residency the artists started a work on human-vegetal relations in collaboration with the fig farmers at Instituto Tropical, applying artistic strategies to transform feeding systems. In the first stages of her artistic research, she applied multi natural perspectivism to human-plant relations within the context of fig farming; In her work photography is applied as a strategy to promote forms of listening to the plants, in order to enable new forms of relating with the vegetal world.
La residencia de investigación de diez días de Mafalda Rakoš se centró en explorar las relaciones humano-vegetales a partir del contexto del cultivo de higos, en colaboración con agricultores del Instituto Tropical. El proyecto forma parte de un proceso de investigación artística que examina cómo las estrategias artísticas pueden dialogar con los sistemas de producción alimentaria.
Research residency of Mafalda Rakoš. In this ten days residency the artists started a work on human-vegetal relations in collaboration with the fig farmers at Instituto Tropical, applying artistic strategies to transform feeding systems. In the first stages of her artistic research, she applied multi natural perspectivism to human-plant relations within the context of fig farming; In her work photography is applied as a strategy to promote forms of listening to the plants, in order to enable new forms of relating with the vegetal world.
La familia del artista y Mara'akame Wixarika al rededor del fuego durante la ceremonia y rogativa por la continuidad del maiz.
19-28.02.2026
Residencia de la familia de Juan José Ramirez Katira. Los Artistas Wixarika (Huichol), Clemente Uweni Temae Ramirez y Josefina Tuwima Ramirez, together with Jaime Werikate Carrillo Lopez Y Lucila Yukaima Ramirez trabajaron en obra de chaquira en su residencia de 10 dias en el instituto. Se realizaron pláticas sobre conocimientos Wixarika en relación a la siembra del maiz y en relación al agua y los ciclos temporales rituales. La residencia de una semana de duración incluyó una ceremonia final en la que se hicieron rogativas y ofrendas por la continuidad del maiz.
Residency of the Juan José Ramírez Katira Family at Instituto Tropical
During their ten days residency at Instituto Tropical, Wixarika artists Clemente Uweni Temae Ramírez and Josefina Tuwima Ramírez, together with Jaime Werikate Carrillo López and Lucila Yukaima Ramírez, developed beadwork (chaquira) pieces while in residence.
The program included conversations and knowledge-sharing sessions focused on Wixarika understandings of maize cultivation, water, and ritual temporal cycles. The residency concluded with a ceremonial gathering in which prayers and offerings were made for the continuity of maize.
Residencia de la familia de Juan José Ramirez Katira. Los Artistas Wixarika (Huichol), Clemente Uweni Temae Ramirez y Josefina Tuwima Ramirez, together with Jaime Werikate Carrillo Lopez Y Lucila Yukaima Ramirez trabajaron en obra de chaquira en su residencia de 10 dias en el instituto. Se realizaron pláticas sobre conocimientos Wixarika en relación a la siembra del maiz y en relación al agua y los ciclos temporales rituales. La residencia de una semana de duración incluyó una ceremonia final en la que se hicieron rogativas y ofrendas por la continuidad del maiz.
Residency of the Juan José Ramírez Katira Family at Instituto Tropical
During their ten days residency at Instituto Tropical, Wixarika artists Clemente Uweni Temae Ramírez and Josefina Tuwima Ramírez, together with Jaime Werikate Carrillo López and Lucila Yukaima Ramírez, developed beadwork (chaquira) pieces while in residence.
The program included conversations and knowledge-sharing sessions focused on Wixarika understandings of maize cultivation, water, and ritual temporal cycles. The residency concluded with a ceremonial gathering in which prayers and offerings were made for the continuity of maize.
It is necessary to choose a visual aid that is appropriate for the topic and audience.
02-15.02.2026
Residencia del artista Federico Protto apoyada por el Bureu de la Jeunesse Wallonie-Bruxelles y ARTICHOK en la que trabajó en obras de pequeño formato sobre materiales naturales variados encontrados en el predio. tambié confeccionó un nuevo vestuario para su performance 'Aprender Ser Ese Ser' que presentó en ymuseum en la ciudad de México.
Residency of the artist Federico Protto
Residency supported by the Bureau de la Jeunesse Wallonie-Bruxelles and ARTICHOK, during which Federico Protto developed a series of small-format works using diverse natural materials found on site.
He also created a new costume for his performance Aprender Ser Ese Ser, which he presented at Ymuseum in Mexico City.
Residencia del artista Federico Protto apoyada por el Bureu de la Jeunesse Wallonie-Bruxelles y ARTICHOK en la que trabajó en obras de pequeño formato sobre materiales naturales variados encontrados en el predio. tambié confeccionó un nuevo vestuario para su performance 'Aprender Ser Ese Ser' que presentó en ymuseum en la ciudad de México.
Residency of the artist Federico Protto
Residency supported by the Bureau de la Jeunesse Wallonie-Bruxelles and ARTICHOK, during which Federico Protto developed a series of small-format works using diverse natural materials found on site.
He also created a new costume for his performance Aprender Ser Ese Ser, which he presented at Ymuseum in Mexico City.
En el taller de don Clemente aprendiendo tecnicas tradicionales de hacer barro
Residencia de los artistas Jozef Wouters y Lila John en la que realizaron talleres sobre conocimientos ancestrales de la zona. Jozef trabajó en el taller de Don Clemente Barreto aprendiendo el proceso tradicional de producción de barro y sus aspecto corporal. Lila investigó y aprendió sobre técnicas de teñido natural textil junto a la agrupación de mujeres tejedoras indígenas de Hueyapan SOAME.
Residency of the artists Jozef Wouters and Lila John
During their residency, the artist family Jozef Wouters and Lila John conducted workshops focused on ancestral knowledge from the region.
Jozef worked in the workshop of Don Clemente Barreto, where he learned the traditional process of clay production and explored its physical and embodied dimensions.
Lila researched and studied natural textile dyeing techniques alongside the Indigenous women weavers’ collective SOAME in Hueyapan.
This blog will be actualized on a monthly basis. Documenting the work at INSTITUTO TROPICAL in Mexico and Austria.
