OPEN CALL
Habitat Broadcast:
Exploring Rural Frequencies
Part I
26.07. - 16.08.2026
For the residency Habitat Broadcast: Exploring Rural Frequencies Part I in Maříž we welcome five participants (musicians, sound artists and/or radio enthusiasts) to spend three weeks (22 days) exploring sonic archaeology, music-making, storytelling, cultural heritage and archiving.
The residency will re-activate the Habitat Ensemble, a sound project which focuses on the cultural heritage of Maříž through the power of collective music-making and storytelling. Music experimentation is a primary tool to connect people locally and internationally, to deeply listen to surroundings, to broadcast sounds from rural areas. The results will comprise of public events and sound activations, which will be included in the early development of our Mini-Maringotka - a mobile community infrastructure, rural research archive, and community radio platform.
APPLY UNTIL 07.05.2026
During our residency we want to gain an in-depth understanding of the village, its nature and history through collaborative music making, field recordings, and improvisation in connection with humans as well as non-human inhabitants. We want to listen deeply and map the frequencies which are resonating from this place. We encourage any type of sonic input whether in the form of melody, spoken word, podcast, soundscape created during the residency in dialogue with the surrounding landscape.
The residency is based in the small village Maříž, around our barn and common Maringotka space. The multi-purpose barn space will facilitate a dorm room, bathroom and DIY music studio. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner will be prepared at Maringotka, in the centre of the village. Other spaces that can be inspiring for the creative process are the local chapel, sauna, museum, castle ruin, and the nature surrounding the village.
Alongside our Leštnice team, the residency will be facilitated by sound artists Marius Houschyar and
Anna Hokešová who will encourage this music exchange and dialogue between artists, community and landscape.
Habitat Broadcast: Exploring Rural Frequencies is
the first part of a three years project for the České Budějovice European Capital Of Culture in 2028, aiming to archive and publish stories, sounds, and music from different rural environments.
WHAT
WE OFFER
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Access to a shared workspace, DIY sound studio and diverse tools and materials
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Residents will be offered accommodation in an open dorm space inside the barn or camping in the garden with access to a shared bathroom
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All daily meals will be prepared at our common Maringotka space - this is a shared effort between the participants and team members. From our experience, a collaborative approach to cooking fosters a sense of community and shared responsibility.
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Basic needs like accommodation and daily meals are covered by our project's funding
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Additionally you will receive a budget for transportation calculated depending on the distance to Maříž from your town of legal residence: 400€ (for under 5000 km) and 700€ (for more than 5000 km) + a green mobility top-up (400€) if you travel by any means other than airplane (only if your town of residence is more than 600 km linear distance of Maříž)
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Feature in our online Research Archive and Publication documenting the residency project
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Possibility to develop or pitch longer term projects in collaboration with team members or other residents expanding beyond the residency
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Individual support of your process through consulting our team, each experienced in different media, materials and fields of expertise.
No participation fee will be required from your side*
*We are still waiting for the results of the funding Culture Moves Europe. We will know more by the beginning of May.
Please feel free to contact us via email if you have further questions of any kind.
HOW TO
APPLY
We are looking for people (18yo+) who are interested in practising music-making, sound design, storytelling, poetry, radio, and other sound-related activities through a cultural heritage framework.
The residency is held in English.
In order to be eligible for applying, independently from your nationality, you have to be legally residing in one of the following countries: Albania, Austria, Armenia, Belgium, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Kosovo Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Moldova, Montenegro, Netherlands, North Macedonia, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Tunisia and Ukraine. (This criteria applies as the residency might be funded by Culture Moves Europe*)
Unfortunately, people legally residing in the Czech Republic cannot apply to this residency.
However, if you are interested in joining the residency (to some extent), but are not legally residing in one of the above mentioned countries, please feel free to get in touch and drop us an email!
It has always been very dear to us to sustain already existing connections within our community.
For this residency, we appreciate if people who know Maříž or have already been involved in former projects, are keen to join and contribute through their experiences from the past years.
To apply, please send a .pdf one-page motivation letter
in English together with a short sample of your work
(in any form you like - for sound we prefer link to a file)
to apply@lestnice.org by May 07 (until 23:59).
In your letter, please include your personal information, contact details (email) and country of legal residence, why you're interested, what you hope to gain from the experience, and how you can imagine to contribute to
the project.
We're excited to hear from you and can't wait to welcome you in Maříž! You will hear back from us by mid-May.
The residency is a biennial project organised by the
non-profit organisation ‘Leštnice z.s.’
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