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CataláWalking Practices Laboratory 2027
Intensive Collaborative Residency
These laboratory-format residencies invite artists, writers, and researchers from diverse disciplines to explore walking as an artistic and research methodology through an intensive process of collective work situated within the landscape of Montserrat.
The program proposes a sustained period of immersion in which walking is understood as a generative practice for perceiving, mapping, and narrating place through embodied experience. Over several weeks, participants will develop an ongoing process of research, exchange, and production, combining sensory exploration, ecological observation, site-responsive creation, and reflective practices.
The laboratory is structured as a trajectory that moves through storytelling, the body, processes of thought, ecological narratives, and food, culminating in a phase of synthesis and formalization of the work developed. This process unfolds through proposals involving group movement, writing, reading, sound, video, visual practices, and feedback sessions grounded in conversation.
The landscape of Montserrat functions as both terrain and collaborator: a living archive that is traversed, interpreted, and collectively reimagined through shared movement.
While Can Serrat and its collaborators propose a semi-structured framework, the laboratory is built through active participation, inviting participants to share methods, approaches, and working processes within a context of collective experimentation.
PROGRAM STRUCTURE
The program is organized into two main phases, each divided into three weeks focused on different themes, and is conceived as a progressive process combining autonomous units and a full trajectory.
Weeks 1 and 2 can be taken independently as intensive modules.
The full trajectory (weeks 1 to 3) allows for the development of a continuous process of research, exchange, and production, and constitutes the recommended form of participation.
Week 3 is conceived as a phase of synthesis and formalization and is not available as an independent module.
PROGRAM I — PALIMPSESTS (Weeks I–III)
Focus: storytelling, sensory relationship with the landscape, and the connection between movement and thought.
Week I (January 10–16) — Storytelling, mapping, and territory
Exploration of Montserrat as a stratified territory shaped by legends and historical and personal narratives.
Work with storytelling, mapping exercises, and collective reflection sessions using sound, video, and writing.
Sarah Goodchild Robb will lead a walk and propose exercises to connect with local legends and personal narratives.
Week II (January 18–23) — Climate, body, and sensory landscapes
A sensory approach to place, exploring how climate, atmosphere, and the body shape the perception of landscape.
A guest practitioner from the somatic field will guide a series of exercises to connect with the environment.
Week III (January 25–30) — Walking and thinking
Walking as a mode of thought. This phase focuses on the articulation between embodied experience and conceptual processes, oriented toward the formalization and development of individual or collective materials.
Sophie Blais will lead a session focused on thinking processes.
PROGRAM II — PHOTOSYNTHESIS (Weeks IV–VI)
Focus: ecological relations, transformation, local plants, food, and collective creation.
Week IV (February 1–6) — Ecological histories
Exploration of the ecological histories of Montserrat, considering the impact of tourism and climate change through botanical walks and material practices.
A local practitioner will guide a plant identification walk.
Week V (February 8–13) — Gathering, cultivating, and feeding the landscape
Engagement with the landscape through practices of foraging, cultivation, and cooking.
Work around food, composting, and ecological cycles, designing and preparing shared meals.
Dialogue with Can Serrat’s Gardening Project.
Week VI (February 15–20) — Synthesis and creation
A phase dedicated to integrating experiences and developing individual or collective outcomes.
ACCOMMODATION CONDITIONS
Weeks can be taken independently or as part of a full 3-week trajectory, which constitutes the core format of the program.
The three-week format allows for the development of a continuous process of research, exchange, and production and is the recommended form of participation.
Early Bird
The open call begins with an Early Bird phase, aimed at the first selected participants.
During this phase, participants can access the residency at a reduced rate. Early Bird places are limited and assigned progressively as applications are received and evaluated.
Once this phase ends, standard rates will apply:
– 1 week: Shared room €460; Private room €630
– 3 weeks: Shared room €1100 ; Private room €1550
Applying in the early stages increases the chances of participation and provides access to the best available conditions.
Program I — Palimpsests (January)
Option 1 — One-week intensive participation (I or II)
Shared room: €433.23
Private room: €580
Option 2 — Full trajectory (recommended) – 3 weeks (I–III)
Shared room: €1037.80
Private room: €1440
Program II — Photosynthesis (February)
Option 1 — One-week intensive participation (IV or V)
Shared room: €433.23
Private room: €580
Option 2 — Full trajectory (recommended) – 3 weeks (IV–VI)
Shared room: €1037.80
Private room: €1440
Extended full program
– 6 weeks (I–VI)
Shared room: €1890
Private room: €2730
The full six-week trajectory allows participants to move through the program in its entirety, connecting both phases and expanding the development of individual and collective work over time.
This price includes:
- Accommodation at Can Serrat
- 2 communal dinners per week
- Coffee and tea available in the kitchen
- Shared workspace
- Access to common areas and equipment
- Support and technical resources
- Connection with the local context and Can Serrat networks
- Visibility through communication channels
- Publication in the digital archive
The real value of the residency is estimated at €967/week. Thanks to partial funding, participants access a reduced cost.
The house operates as a space of shared living and responsibility. All participants are expected to contribute to weekly maintenance tasks in common areas.
APPLY
WHO CAN APPLY
People of any background and age (minors with authorization).
It is not necessary to be an artist or writer.
Individual, duo, or collective applications are accepted.
APPLICATION PROCESS
- Complete the application FORM
- Submit a PDF titled: “lastname_name_CC2027”. The document must include:
- Statement (max. 500 words or 3 min audio/video): practice, interests, context, and lines of research.
- Motivation to participate in the laboratory: experience in collective processes or interest in movement and creative practices (max. 500 words).
- Work sample: video (3 min), or images (max. 10), or audio (3 min), or 1 page of writing.
Include links (Soundcloud, YouTube, etc.) within the PDF. Applications can be submitted in Catalan, Spanish, or English.
JURY
Sarah Goodchild Robb — Activities Coordinator at Can Serrat.
She received her BA in Art History and French from Bard College at Simon’s Rock and completed an MFA in Studio Practice at The City College of New York, CUNY. There, she was nominated for the Dedalus Foundation MFA Fellowship and received the Therese Ralston McCabe Connor Award for Study Abroad, which allowed her to undertake a residency at Picture Berlin, Germany. While completing her MFA, she worked as a research intern at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York. Prior to her studies, she worked as an arts administrator and educator at a nonprofit organization in Portland, Oregon. In 2018, she co-founded MODS with visual artist Maria Kim (2018–2023), an international virtual support initiative for working artists.
Paola Caballero Daza — Cultural manager and Director of Fundación guion bajo.
She studied literature (UniAndes), holds a master’s degree in Asian and African Studies (El Colegio de México), completed the diploma Expanded Writing: Language, Science and Art (Cátedra José Emilio Pacheco, UNAM), and is currently enrolled in the Master’s in Literary Creation (UPF). She has served as a pre-reader, reader, and juror for various national and international grants, awards, and funding programs. Her publications include Voy y vengo (El Peregrino Ediciones). Camas gemelas, published by Cajón de Sastre, was part of the Reading Colombia 2022 and 2023 catalog and was a finalist for the 2022 National Prize for Published Novel awarded by the Ministry of Culture. She is currently working on her second novel.