Ten local organizations, with projects spanning different languages and creative practices, together with international artists from eight countries across the Euro-Mediterranean region: from contemporary dance to sound experimentation, from photography to cinema, comics, design and textile crafts. “Terre Immerse – Euro-Mediterranean Creative Communities” is now underway, the artistic residency programme promoted by the Matera Basilicata 2019 Foundation as part of Matera 2026 Mediterranean Capital of Culture and Dialogue, in collaboration with the Municipality of Matera and funded by the Italian Ministry of Tourism and the Basilicata Region.

The programme stems from a co-design process involving ten cultural and creative organisations from Basilicata – Centro Mediterraneo delle Arti, Consorzio Materahub, Edinea, Fondazione Southeritage, Gommalacca Teatro, Momart, Oltredanza, Osmosis, Ombre Meridiane and Strane Nuvole – selected through CALL 1 and subsequently involved in a co-design process to develop the residency proposals and define the artistic profiles to be selected through CALL 2.

This process has resulted in ten projects spanning different artistic languages and practices, developed around the programme’s four major thematic areas: Stratifications, Isolations, Contaminations and Transhumances. Between September and November 2026, the artists selected through the international call addressed to countries belonging to Mediterranean will live and work in Matera for four weeks, supported by the host organisations.

The residencies will unfold across different locations in the city, which will themselves become part of the creative process. The programme will include research and production activities, opportunities for dialogue with local communities, open studios and final presentations. Installations, performances, audiovisual works, publications and other creative outputs will emerge from the encounter between the artists, Matera and the communities involved, leaving a legacy that will extend beyond the individual residencies.

“Terre Immerse – Euro-Mediterranean Creative Communities” is the first project within the broader programme of multidisciplinary artistic residencies that will run throughout Matera 2026 and beyond. Over the coming months, further residency projects will bring artists and creatives to Matera, inviting them to live in and interpret the city through their own artistic research while creating opportunities for exchange, production and engagement with the local area and its communities.

Below are the ten artistic residency projects and the selected artists.

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ORGANISATION: Oltredanza

PROJECT: Testamento del gesto is an international residency in contemporary dance, site-specific research and participatory audiovisual creation, conceived to explore the body as a living archive of Mediterranean memory. The project collects and transforms gestures, rituals, everyday practices and forms of knowledge transmitted through the body and intergenerational relationships into a contemporary artistic language. The residency will take place in Matera, engaging with the Sassi, the Gravina, the historic centre, spaces of everyday life and the ASD Oltredanza headquarters.

ARTIST: Larbi Namouchi, choreographer and artistic director of Compagnie Shafak, based in Saint-Étienne, France. He has developed a choreographic language shaped by encounters between cultures, practices and different ways of interpreting the body. His work explores the body as a space of transformation, transition and encounter through creative processes based on listening, experimentation and the relationship between people and places.

COUNTRY: Tunisia

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ORGANISATION: Gommalacca Teatro

PROJECT: Matera through headphones. A Euro-Mediterranean sound journey through layers, voices and digital heritage is a site-specific research and production project combining performing arts, sound practices, urban dramaturgy, co-creation, cultural heritage and digital storytelling. The artistic residency aims to create an immersive performative and sound journey through headphones dedicated to Matera, conceived as a city of layers: stone, voids, memories of dwelling, tourism, migration, languages and Mediterranean identities.

ARTIST: Agostino Rocca, sound engineer and sound designer. His research combines performing arts, sound experimentation and investigative journalism. He has collaborated with a range of artistic organisations and, since 2024, has worked aboard the NGO vessel Humanity 1, documenting search and rescue operations in the Mediterranean through sound. He is also the founder of Associazione Il Casale, which works on cultural regeneration in the Tuscan-Emilian Apennines.

COUNTRY: Italy

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ORGANISATION: Osmosis

PROJECT: New Transhumances, an artistic residency promoted by Scuola dei Sassi. By engaging young people, students, artists, cultural professionals and local associations, the residency will bring the artist’s international practice into dialogue with Matera’s historical, social and cultural layers. The programme includes public meetings, workshops, in-depth sessions and screenings, culminating in the presentation of a permanent site-specific artwork.

ARTIST: Emily Jacir, artist, Golden Lion at the 52nd Venice Biennale. Emily Jacir’s practice spans different media and combines historical documentation, archives, performance and site-specific interventions. At the heart of her research is an exploration of movement through public space and its physical, political and social implications, with particular attention to relationships between space and time in the trans-Mediterranean region. She is the founder and director of Dar Yusuf Nasri Jacir for Art and Research, based in Bethlehem.

COUNTRY: Palestine

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ORGANISATION: Centro Mediterraneo delle Arti

PROJECT: Kun’tʃar, an artistic residency that uses music and theatre to tell the story of Matera as a crossroads of Mediterranean peoples, trade and cultures. Drawing on historical and architectural traces of exchanges with the Arab and Eastern worlds, the project brings past and present into dialogue while exploring the role of Matera within the contemporary Mediterranean. The residency will culminate in an itinerant performance through the spaces of Palazzo Venusio, engaging communities and visitors and highlighting Sabir, the ancient Mediterranean lingua franca, as a symbol of encounter and cultural exchange.

ARTIST: Stefano Saletti, musician and composer who has long been engaged in researching and promoting Mediterranean music. His work explores connections and cross-fertilisations between Mediterranean cultures, with particular attention to Sabir, the ancient language of the Mare Nostrum, which he uses in his compositions. His latest album, Mediterranima (2025), was a finalist for the Targhe Tenco awards.

COUNTRY: Italy

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ORGANISATION: Materahub

PROJECT: Syncretic Bio-Shelters, an artistic residency dedicated to creating functional garments and accessories designed to respond to the challenges of the climate crisis. The project combines digital technologies, biomaterials and traditional Mediterranean textile techniques, bringing innovation into dialogue with artisanal knowledge. Through a participatory process, artists, experts and the local community will identify needs related to climate change and translate them into a collection of “Bio-Shelters”: wearable devices designed for protection, adaptation and awareness-raising. The residency will conclude with a fashion show and a public exhibition.

ARTIST: Jovana Gunjova, fashion and textile designer and stylist. She studied at the University of Ljubljana and EASD Valencia and has presented her creations at festivals, galleries and Ljubljana Fashion Week. She works as a Fashion Stylist for Slovenia’s national broadcaster RTV Slovenija.

COUNTRY: North Macedonia

ARTIST: Paula Meier, digital fabrication artist. Her practice lies at the intersection of craftsmanship and technology. She runs digital fabrication laboratories (FabLabs) and develops creative projects using digital fabrication machinery. She is actively involved in community projects and cross-border artistic residencies, including Crossborder Creatives, combining education, technological innovation and collaborative design.

COUNTRY: Spain

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ORGANISATION: Edinea

PROJECT: EKHO, a residency exploring Matera as a landscape of geological, cultural and Mediterranean stratifications. Through field recording, acoustic mapping of symbolic locations across the city and interaction with repertoires and sounds from the Mediterranean musical heritage, the artist will transform the soundscape into a collective artwork. An Open Studio, final live performance, IR Library, Sample Pack and album are among the outputs that will make the creative process accessible beyond the residency itself, promoting Mediterranean Matera as a sonic, plural and accessible city.

ARTIST: Sara Persico, sound artist. Her research explores voice and electroacoustic experimentation, combining analogue electronics and field recording. She has taken part in numerous international artistic residencies and performed at festivals including Berlin Atonal, CTM, Romaeuropa, Mutek Montréal and Santarcangelo Festival. She released Boundary (2023) and Sphaîra (2025) and was selected by the European platform Shape+.

COUNTRY: Italy

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ORGANISATION: SoutHeritage Foundation

PROJECT: Unfolding Pathways: Fluid Forms and Hybrid Interpretations of Paper Craft Design, a residency project bringing contemporary design and fine craftsmanship into dialogue through a reinterpretation of traditional paper and papier-mâché techniques. Matera becomes a laboratory for experimentation and co-creation, where the artist, craftspeople and communities work together to produce prototypes and “narrative objects” inspired by the cultural identity of the city and the Mediterranean. Through workshops, Open Studios and participatory activities, the project promotes local craft knowledge through a contemporary and sustainable approach, prioritising natural materials, local supply chains and creative reuse.

ARTIST: Sophie Usunier, visual artist. Her research transforms everyday objects, gestures and sounds into tools for connection, memory and imagination through installations, performance, video, sound and participatory practices. Her works, closely connected to places and communities, have been presented at numerous international art institutions, including FRAC Lorraine (Metz, France), International Video Festival (Tallinn, Estonia), CAB – Centre d’Art Bastille (Grenoble, France), Pavillon Kayserguet (Strasbourg, France), Placentia Arte (Piacenza, Italy), Neon (Bologna/Milan, Italy), Fabbrica del Vapore (Milan, Italy), Triennale Design Museum (Milan, Italy) and Haarman Bloedow Haus (Berlin, Germany).

COUNTRY: France

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ORGANISATION: Momart

PROJECT: Crossings: visual memories of Euro-Mediterranean Transhumance, a residency that transforms Matera into a laboratory for artistic research and production. Starting from the oral tradition of Arbëreshë fairy tales, the project explores how narratives change over time, connecting them with contemporary digital languages and algorithms. Through testimonies, workshops and urban walks, the community will be involved in creating a “living archive” of memories and stories. The residency will culminate in an exhibition and site-specific video installation, accompanied by a digital archive and photo book.

ARTIST: Driant Zeneli, visual artist and filmmaker whose research spans film, installation, drawing and participatory practices. Through narratives combining reality, fairy tales and utopia, he explores themes such as failure, dreams, power, science, ecology and mythology. Central to his work is the relationship with gravity and the desire to overcome physical and symbolic boundaries, often using architecture as a space for action and involving audiences in the creation of the work. Also active in teaching and education, he has exhibited at major international institutions and events including the Venice Biennale, Kochi-Muziris Biennale, Sharjah Biennial and MAXXI in Rome. He is also the winner of the 13th edition of the Italian Council.

COUNTRY: Albania

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ORGANISATION: Ombre Meridiane

PROJECT: IN-LAND, an artistic residency that uses cinema to explore the social and cultural identity of Matera and Mediterranean communities, reflecting on the power of images, cultural stratifications and the relationship between centre and periphery. It engages residents, visitors and students in a co-creation process involving interviews, observation, testimonies and Open Studios. The residency will result in a short film blending documentary and fiction, created together with the community and offering a new perspective on Matera’s tangible and intangible heritage.

ARTIST: Miquel Puddu Roca, filmmaker, anthropologist, musicologist and musician whose work uses contemporary cinematic language and co-creation processes to develop stories connecting social transformation with artistic practices and professions. His works, which bring together knowledge and skills from different fields, include Tremolo, a short film centred on the reflections of an accordion maker, and Palestinian Vibes, a film following several Palestinian artists working in Europe.

COUNTRY: Spain

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ORGANISATION: Strane Nuvole

PROJECT: Med Comics: des explorations artistiques au-delà de la page, an artistic residency designed to promote comics as a language capable of portraying both the beauty of the Mediterranean and its contradictions. The residency will offer the guest artist a space for artistic experimentation through an ongoing dialogue between the Ninth Art, digital technologies, music and performing arts. The project will result in two works. The first will be a comic story portraying the Mediterranean through the artist’s perspective and her experience in Matera. The second, which will form the centrepiece of the final presentation, will be a live performance in the form of a drawn concert. Professionals from the local area will also be involved throughout the residency.

ARTIST: Karen Keyrouz, visual artist and illustrator. Her research explores memory, identity, alienation and everyday life. A member of the Samandal Comics collective, she has participated in major international festivals and institutions and, in 2022, won the Mahmoud Kahil Award for Illustration.

COUNTRY: Lebanon

Discover the upcoming events. The calendar will be continuously updated over the coming days.