Deadline: 30-Sep-2025
The Rimbun Dahan is pleased to announce its Southeast Asian Arts Residency Program to artists in any discipline, including visual and performing arts and literature, who are both from and based in ASEAN nations or Timor Leste, offering a two-month residency between 1 March and 30 November 2026.
This residency is recommended for artists seeking solitude, quiet and/or space to focus on their work, or artists who have specific professional interests in their indigenous Southeast Asian garden and arboretum, Malay heritage textile collection, or contemporary and heritage architecture.
Selected artists will be provided with accommodation that includes a private bathroom and kitchen, as well as electricity and water. A private studio or workspace is also included, with writers welcome to work either in their accommodation or the shared office and artist lounge. A monthly allowance of MYR1000 is provided, along with orientation, limited administrative support, access to the office, library, tennis court, swimming pool, and weekly transport to a nearby supermarket. Travel stipends will be given in the second month of the residency, varying by the artist’s country of departure.
Meals, groceries, art materials, flights, airport transfers, and visas are not included, and residents are responsible for these costs. The program is designed for mid-career artists who are already committed to their practice, are professionally trained, self-motivated, and able to live and work independently. Projects should be feasible within the residency setting and contribute to the artist’s career development.
Resident artists are expected to treat Rimbun Dahan as their full-time home and workplace during their stay. They must participate in at least one scheduled open studio day, and visual artists are required to contribute one artwork created during the residency to the permanent collection. All artists must acknowledge the residency in future outcomes of their work. Non-Malaysian residents must manage their own immigration status, with the requirement that the two months of residency be non-sequential due to visa limits.
To be eligible, applicants must be both citizens and residents of Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, or Timor Leste. The selection is conducted by Rimbun Dahan’s family members, based on the strength of the applicant’s portfolio and alignment with the program’s aims. Applicants whose practice centers on alternative medicine, mystic spirituality, horoscopes, astrology, or the supernatural are discouraged from applying.
Applications must include the completed form, a CV, and a portfolio of previous work, submitted by email. Performing artists should provide links to video samples, and writers must include published work samples. The attachments must not exceed 10MB in total. The deadline for application is 30 September 2025.
For more information, visit Rimbun Dahan.