T A P E x Invisible Women Curatorial Retreat 2026

Invisible Women
1 hour ago
3 min read

Together with fellow collective T A P E we'll be delivering the third edition of our curatorial retreat for independent curators working with film and moving image in October 2026.

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. We ran our first retreat in 2024 and returned in 2025.

Our third retreat will take place from 26 October - 31 October 2026, and we will be returning once again to the beautiful Smygehuk Lighthouse Hostel in the South of Sweden.

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 previous participants have come from all over the world. If you are interested in attending from further afield expressions of interest are welcome. There is a fee for participating in the retreat which we adjust annually to reflect inflation and changing running costs. We will confirm the exact prices ASAP but based on previous years this will be approx. £950 per person for a shared room and £1,200 per person for an individual room (limited spaces available).

The retreat includes:

5 nights accommodation (arrival day 26 October, departure day 31 October)

Breakfast, lunch and dinner provided on all full retreat days (27-30 October)

Daily gatherings, discussions and workshops

Nightly film screenings

Space to write, watch and explore

The cost of travel and visas is not included.

We strongly 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) we are very happy to help. 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 attendance.

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)

EU: Culture Moves Fund Finland: Finnish Film Foundation

France: Afdas

Germany: regional film funds (information in German)

Ireland: Screen Skills Ireland

Italy: FICE

Lithuania: Lithuanian Council for Culture

Netherlands: Netherlands Film Fund

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

Portugal: Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian

Romania: Romanian Cultural Institute

Spain: Fundae