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T A P E x Invisible Women Curatorial Retreat 2025

  • Writer: Invisible Women
    Invisible Women
  • 2 days ago
  • 3 min read

Updated: 6 hours ago







We're teaming up with fellow collective  T A P E  to deliver the second edition of our curatorial retreat for independent curators working with film and moving image.



As independent curators, we know how challenging it is to find professional development opportunities at the mid-career stage. We also understand the difficulties of navigating the art and film world as freelancers. Independent curators are a vital resource for creative institutions, offering genuinely diverse perspectives, challenging orthodoxies, championing artists and bringing hard won specialist knowledge to the table. Yet our work is often undervalued, with low pay and bad working conditions meaning too many of us are burning out or losing momentum. We firmly believe we need to build our own eco-system and networks to help break these cycles and to ensure that progressive, innovative curation can continue to survive in the industry. That's why, with our friends T A P E, we have established a new retreat for like-minded fellow working with film and moving image. After a wonderful first retreat last year, we're excited to be returning once again to beautiful Smygehuk in Sweden for our second trip.


The retreat will take place 28 Oct - 31 Oct at the Smygehuk Lighthouse Hostel in the South of Sweden. We recommend participants arrive on 27 Oct, and leave after the final sessions on the 1 Nov.


In the peaceful and restorative surroundings of the hostel we will join together for creative workshops, talks, film screening, group meals and gatherings. Our aim is to create together an open and safe space to talk about the reality of working in the sector, to build new connections and support networks and to reconnect to our creativity and purpose as curators. The retreat is primarily aimed at curators, but may also be suitable for writers, project managers, event producers and other practitioners working in the cinema and moving arts sector. If you have questions about whether the retreat is for you, just get in touch.


This opportunity is primarily aimed at curators working in Europe and the UK, but if you are interested in attending from further afield expressions of interest are welcome.

The cost of participating in the retreat is £950 per person for a shared room and £1200 per person for an individual room (limited spots available).

The retreat includes: 

5 nights accommodation, breakfast, lunch & dinner, daily gatherings, discussions & workshops, nightly film screenings

Space to write, watch and explore 

The cost of travel and visas is not included.


We encourage applicants to explore opportunities for external funding to offset the costs of attending. Depending on your country of residence / nationality you may be able to access professional / artistic development funding. We cannot apply for funding on your behalf, but if you need support with an application (e.g. a letter of intent / early notification of the likely outcome of your application just let us know). You don't have to have funding secured yet to express interest, but it's helpful to have a plan as to how you might fund your place.

To express your interest in the retreat, please fill in the below form by 18 August!

Any questions and you can contact us directly via invisiblewomen.archives@gmail.com


The organisation CICAE have a useful list of international organisations who potentially support professional development in cinema on their website, which we're re-sharing below: Prince Claus Fund (For participants from DAC countries)

Belgium / Flanders: Flanders Audiovisual Fund (info in Dutch)

France: Afdas

Germany: regional film funds (information in German)

Italy: FICE

Poland: Polski Instytut Sztuki Filmowej (look for “Promocja polskiego filmu za granicą – stypendia”)

Spain: Fundae

Switzerland: Federal Culture Office (information in French)

United Kingdom: Creative Skillset, Film Hubs



 
 
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