---
title: "2026 Curated Summer Residency: Practices of Slowness - Tea, Textile, and Ecologies of Time"
description: 4-week curated residency in Pu'er Province, China exploring slow-making practices, tea culture, and textile traditions. All-inclusive with merit-based stipend.
url: https://www.artsume.com/programs/a3a0250e-f645-42cf-9638-bb3ca8d765ab
type: program
status: closed
createdAt: "2026-03-20"
updatedAt: "2026-09-30"
programType: Residency
organization: WilderHaven Artist Residency
organizationUrl: https://www.artsume.com/o/wilderhaven-artist-residency
deadline: "2026-04-02"
location: Puerto Rico, PR, United States
isOnline: false
compensationRange: All-inclusive experience (lodging, studio access, local transport guide). Merit-based stipend that automatically reduces the residency fee for selected artists.
disciplines:
  - architecture
  - art education
  - art history
  - biology
  - costume/fashion design
  - criticism
  - dance
  - digital media
  - documentary
  - ecology
  - environmental arts
  - film
  - history
  - installation
  - interdisciplinary arts
  - journalism
  - landscape architecture
  - literature
  - mixed media
  - moving image
  - multimedia arts
  - performance art
  - philosophy
  - photography
  - public art
  - sound art
  - urban planning
  - visual arts
  - writing
careerStages:
  - Emerging artist
  - Established
  - Mid-career
---

# 2026 Curated Summer Residency: Practices of Slowness - Tea, Textile, and Ecologies of Time

**Hosted by:** WilderHaven Artist Residency

**Type:** Residency | **Location:** Puerto Rico, PR, United States | **Deadline:** April 2, 2026

## About This Program

> "Practices of Slowness: Tea, Textile, and Ecologies of Time"

This curated hybrid residency explores **Practices of Slowness** as a methodology of artistic and cultural practice. In contrast to accelerated production and extractive economies, slow making foregrounds **time, care, material knowledge, and ecological awareness.** 
 
Located in the ancient tea forest region of rural villages in Pu'er Province, the residency invites participants to engage with living traditions where craft, agriculture, and ecology are deeply intertwined. Tea cultivation and textile practices in this region are embedded within long cycles of observation, seasonal rhythm, and intergenerational knowledge. 
 
The unique **under-forest tea cultivation system**, maintained for centuries by communities including the **Dai, Hani, Wa, and Blang**, reflects a worldview in which human activity operates within the limits and intelligence of the forest ecosystem. 
 
Through research, dialogue, and site-responsive practice, the residency encourages participants to explore questions such as:

- How can artistic practice engage with **slowness as resistance** to extractive systems?
- What forms of knowledge are embedded in**craft, manual labor, and embodied skill**?
- How might contemporary practice learn from **indigenous ecological relationships**?
- What does it mean to create work that unfolds through **process, patience, and place**?

Participants are invited to develop projects that respond to tea culture, textile traditions, forestecologies, and the slow life of locals, while reflecting on broader questions of sustainability, material culture, and cultural continuity.

***Selected artists will also have the opportunity to present their work in a curated public exhibition in Chengdu in September 2026.*** 
 
**All-Inclusive Experience** (Lodging, studio access, local transport guide).

A merit-based stipend that automatically reduces the residency fee for selected artists

## Eligibility & Requirements

- **Career Stage:** Emerging artist, Established, Mid-career
- **Geographic Eligibility:** International
- **Disciplines:** architecture, art education, art history, biology, costume/fashion design, criticism, dance, digital media, documentary, ecology, environmental arts, film, history, installation, interdisciplinary arts, journalism, landscape architecture, literature, mixed media, moving image, multimedia arts, performance art, philosophy, photography, public art, sound art, urban planning, visual arts, writing
- **Age Requirements:** 21+ years old
- **Note:** Artists and researchers aged 21 and older working in any medium are welcome. International artists are welcome. Artists may apply as a team for collaborative residencies.

### Additional Requirements

Contact Information; Artist Statement (up to 1,500 characters / approximately 250 words); Residency Proposal (up to 1,500 characters / approximately 250 words); Current CV, two pages max (PDF or doc format); Portfolio (PDF, maximum 10MB) - Include up to 15 images with title, date, medium, dimensions, and a brief narrative description for each work (Time-Based / Performance Work Samples within 3 mins). If applicable, include up to three video or audio links within the application.

## Compensation & Benefits

All-inclusive experience (lodging, studio access, local transport guide). Merit-based stipend that automatically reduces the residency fee for selected artists.

**Includes:** Stipend

A merit-based stipend that automatically reduces the residency fee for selected artists

## What's Provided

- **Housing:** Provided
- **Studio Access:** Provided - All accepted residents receive a dedicated workspace tailored to their practice.

## Timeline

- **Opens:** March 20, 2026
- **Deadline:** April 2, 2026
- **Program Start:** May 25, 2026
- **Program End:** July 31, 2026

## Contact

**Email:** wilderhavenproject@gmail.com

## How to Apply

Apply at: https://forms.gle/8fuA1umCFDEJ4M7SA