Parallel Playground

Residency Open Call

Applications deadline:
August 15, 2026 at 23:59 EDT.

UKAI Projects + World Creation Studio launch Parallel Playground, a residency exploring creative autonomy, technology, and collaborative systems.

Taking place in Montréal throughout September 2026, Parallel Playground brings together 8 artists and creation practitioners across two connected streams: a Research Stream exploring questions around automation, knowledge, archives, and human experience; and a Technical Stream focused on peer-to-peer networks, digital infrastructure, and artist-built systems.

The hybrid residency combines online discussions, collective sessions, and in-person experimentation at World Creation Studio in Tiohtià:ke/Montréal. Through shared research, technical exploration, and collaborative exchange, participants will investigate alternative approaches to making, sharing, and sustaining creative practices within rapidly changing technological landscapes.

The program will culminate in an intensive residency week bringing both streams together, followed by a public presentation of participants’ experiments and discoveries.

Full residency details, eligibility information, and the application form are available through UKAI Projects.

UKAI Projects

UKAI Projects is a Canadian non-profit and collective dedicated to cultural research, material & systems prototyping, and artistic interventions that open curiosity to emerging challenges and volatilities.

Based in Canada, UKAI Projects operates internationally, building networks and projects across diverse regions―including Egypt, Mexico, Malawi, China, Japan, South Korea, Switzerland, Germany, Nigeria, the UK, Hong Kong, Iceland, and Taiwan―while addressing the entangled conditions of technology, ecology, and society.

Since our founding, we have designed, prototyped, and implemented programs, research projects, and artistic productions aimed not only at exploring new ways for the arts to create meaning for the public, shape social and cultural change, and foster collective imagination in Canada and around the world.

Partnering with us means leading with curiosity and facing uncertainty with courage.

We acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts

News

Residency Open Call – Parallel Playground

Parallel Playground is a new residency by UKAI Projects + World Creation Studio exploring how artists can engage with technology, infrastructure, and emerging tools while maintaining creative autonomy. Throughout September, residents will gather through online discussions, collective sessions, and in-person experimentation at World Creation Studio in Tiohtià/Montréal. The residency will culminate in a shared public presentation bringing together research, experiments, and unexpected collaborations.

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