OBRAS RESIDENCIES

Portugal

Mediums Welcome

About This Residency

OBRAS is an international art residency offering artists and researchers time, space, and solitude. Located on land known as Herdade da Marmeleira near the village of Évoramonte in the Alentejo region of Portugal, OBRAS exists to foster the conditions necessary for deep work. During your time here, the aim is simple: to create enough distance from daily obligations that you can concentrate fully on your work. The value of being here is not measured by what you complete, but by the quality of attention you are able to give…practice is ongoing. OBRAS was built on the belief that research, revision, and sustained concentration are central to artistic practice. The property has developed over generations. Casa Principal, the main house, is a traditional Portuguese monte built more than two hundred years ago. Other buildings were added later, including studios and cottages. The buildings sit close enough to feel connected, but far enough apart that you can move through the day without interruption. OBRAS was conceived as a place where your practice can thrive. That remains the same: to maintain the conditions that allow serious work to develop without pressure to produce or perform.

Experience & Atmosphere

Residencies at OBRAS are self-directed. Residents are given time to work without expectations of finished outcomes. The emphasis is on process rather than results, and on allowing work to develop at its own pace while living alongside a small group of international artists on the property. Opportunities to share work exist, but participation is informal and never required. About every five days, we gather for a shared dinner. Each resident prepares a dish, and we eat together. It is a simple way of marking time and staying connected without turning the residency into a social program. During their stay, residents are invited to give an informal talk. This can be about their background, their current work, or the questions they are working through while here. These talks are conversational rather than formal, and often reflect work that is still in progress.

Mission & Goals

The focus here is not on finishing something or producing a result, but on giving your work the attention it needs to develop. Sometimes a residency leads to a completed work. Sometimes it leads to a shift in direction, a series of experiments, or a deeper understanding of what you are doing.