Currently 7 active paid grants, fellowships and residencies taking place in Italy, across AI, arts, film, journalism, research, tech and cross-disciplinary practice. Many are open to applicants of any nationality; check each entry for residency and citizenship requirements. Hand-curated and updated weekly. Browse the list below, or use the interactive desk for filtering and shortlisting.
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The European Cultural Foundation invites artists to research its historical archives, held at the Historical Archives of the European Union in Florence, through a new Artistic Research Fellowship with a EUR 10,000 grant covering travel, accommodation, and living costs; the artistic output is delivered within two years. A strong fit for archive-driven, research-based, and critical data practices. Deadline 30 September 2026, 17:00 CET. ELIGIBILITY: professional creatives in visual arts, performing arts, film and audiovisual practices, podcasting and audio storytelling, documentary, journalism or literary practices, who can demonstrate a research-based practice and a clear dissemination strategy. Applications and all supporting documentation must be in English, submitted via the online form. Fellows work at the HAEU inside the scholarly community of the European University Institute, with the archives housed at Villa Salviati. A parallel Academic Research Fellowship of EUR 5,000, for PhD and postdoctoral researchers, early-career researchers within ten years of their master's or doctorate, and independent scholars, is listed separately on the desk and shares this deadline.
The academic track of the ECF Fellowship Programme, which fosters new research engaging with the history of the European Cultural Foundation and the broader role of culture in European integration. The ECF was established in 1954 by figures including Denis de Rougemont, Robert Schuman, Hendrik Brugmans and Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands, on the belief that Europe will not be built by treaties alone. Over seventy years it has produced programmes, institutes, campaigns and collaborations, including a contribution to shaping and implementing the ERASMUS student mobility scheme. That legacy is now preserved at the Historical Archives of the European Union in Florence alongside the records of the EU's main institutions, a placement that itself recognises the Foundation's role in European integration. ELIGIBILITY for the Academic Research Fellowship: researchers in European studies, cultural studies, history and related fields across the humanities and social sciences, specifically PhD and postdoctoral researchers, early-career researchers within ten years of completing a master's or doctoral degree, and independent scholars with an active research profile. Fellows work at the HAEU embedded in the international scholarly community of the European University Institute, with the archives housed at Villa Salviati. Applications and all supporting documentation must be submitted in English through the online form. NOTE: this is the EUR 5,000 academic track. The EUR 10,000 Artistic Research Fellowship, open to professional creatives in visual arts, performing arts, film and audiovisual practices, podcasting and audio storytelling, documentary, journalism and literary practices, is listed separately on the desk and shares the same deadline.
The Supporting Act Foundation, the charitable foundation established by WeTransfer, awards ten unrestricted Artist Grants of EUR 10,000 to emerging artists from underrepresented groups whose work involves collaborative, collective or creative processes that benefit their communities. The grant is paid as EUR 1,000 per month over one year and can be used freely; applicants should explain how it would help them overcome economic, social, cultural, physical or health barriers to their practice. ELIGIBILITY: identify as an emerging artist with at least two and no more than ten years of professional experience; identify as belonging to an underrepresented group or face systemic barriers to your career; be born in or before 2005; be based in Belgium, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain or the United Kingdom with a personal IBAN bank account there; and have an updated website or public social media profile. Former and current TSAF grantees cannot apply. TIMELINE: applications close 1 October 2026 at 11:00 CET, notifications go to all applicants in late October 2026, shortlisted applicants get a final review in November 2026, and the public announcement and first transfer follow in January 2027. APPLICATION: free, via the open call platform on the foundation's website. The parallel Impact Grant strand for arts nonprofits runs on the same deadline.
The Supporting Act Foundation, the charitable foundation established by WeTransfer, awards ten unrestricted Impact Grants of EUR 50,000 (EUR 25,000 per year over two years) to arts-focused nonprofits that empower emerging artists from underrepresented groups through non-financial support: improving artists' living conditions, enabling practice development, increasing the visibility of their work and building their confidence. ELIGIBILITY: nonprofits registered as arts organizations between 2016 and 2024, based in Belgium, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain or the United Kingdom, or working with a fiscal host in one of these countries; annual expenditures between EUR 50,000 and EUR 300,000; an active website demonstrating supported projects; and an IBAN bank account. Individuals, commercial entities, current or past TSAF grantees, and proposals for ongoing projects rather than established organizations are not eligible. TIMELINE: applications close 1 October 2026 at 11:00 CET, are reviewed in October, notifications go out in late October 2026, shortlisted organizations get a final review in November 2026, and the public announcement and first installment follow in January 2027. APPLICATION: free, via the open call platform on the foundation's website. The parallel Artist Grant strand for individual emerging artists runs on the same deadline.
The International Bad Video Art Festival (BVAF) is an independent, artist-run initiative founded in 2017 by video artists and B-movie fans Natalia Monakhova and Andrey Slaschilin to explore whether something like bad video art exists. While B-movies have long formed a cultural niche with their own heroes and fans, the concept of bad has not been explored as actively in other art sectors; the festival studies extreme forms of video art and singles out certain works as bad videos or B-videos, probing questions of quality and boundaries in art. The IX edition takes place in November 2026 at Civico 23 Art Space in Salerno, Italy. WHAT THEY WANT: videos at the intersection of bad art, bad painting and bad cinema, meeting any of these criteria: technically poor (low resolution, over- or underexposed, unstabilized, wrong focus, poor or absent sound, bad editing, wrong color correction); lacking content (irrelevant, empty, shot just for the sake of it, without purpose, idea or concept); or consciously or unconsciously exploiting the aesthetics of camp, trash or B-movies. When submitting, explain why you consider your video to be bad; no concept statement needed. RULES: one video per artist or collective, between 1 and 8 minutes. No animation, no videos made by people under 18, no family home videos, no porn. Dialogue in languages other than Italian needs Italian subtitles, or send an SRT file and the festival will assist with translation. APPLICATION: free, via Google Form linked from the festival site. DEADLINE: 5 October 2026.
An open call for at least 10 short performances of maximum 15 minutes for the 12th edition of Teatri Riflessi in Zafferana Etnea, Sicily. THE FORMAT: the competition champions the short performance in its own right, not as a reduction of a longer work nor as a sketch for a full-evening adaptation; its strength is the artistic immediacy and urgency it carries. The framing connects ancient Greek theatre, conceived as an outdoor competition for a large audience, to the more provocative tendencies of happenings and performance art that lean on the beholder's desire to participate. STRUCTURE: semi-finalists perform on the evenings of Thursday 15 and Friday 16 July 2027; the Programmers' Panel and the Scholars' & Critics' Panel determine the finalists, who perform again in the final on Sunday 18 July. The panels bring together around 30 Italian and international artistic directors, curators, festival and theatre programmers, journalists, critics and performing arts scholars, many from the Teatri Riflessi Network and Anticorpi XL Network; the full list is published in June 2027. Past partner organisations include Antistatic Festival (Sofia), ATER Fondazione, BIG Festival, Cantieri Danza, Circuito CLAPS, COORPI, Dance ICONS (Washington DC), Danza Urbana, Derida Dance Centre, EN-KNAP and Spanski Borci (Ljubljana), Fabbrica Europa, Festival Ammutinamenti, Cluny Danse (France), Danza Canarias dentro y fuera (Tenerife), FIND Festival, Fondazione Armunia and Festival Inequilibrio, Fondazione Claudia Lombardi per il teatro (Lugano), Fondazione Sipario Toscana, Fondazione Toscana Spettacolo, Galway Dance (Ireland), Interplay Festival (Turin), L'Arboreto Teatro Dimora, La Piccionaia, Movimento Danza, New Dance For Asia International Festival (Daegu), Puglia Culture, Toplocentrala (Sofia) and Umbria Danza Festival. MONEY: each selected performance receives a gross fee of EUR 500 to EUR 1,100 depending on cast size, plus a possible travel contribution of up to EUR 250. Awards are Best Performance EUR 1,200 (from the combined weighted scores of both panels, the Jury of the Final, the Youth Jury and the Citizens' Jury), Best Dramaturgy EUR 500 and the Scholars' and Critics' Award EUR 500 (both from the Scholars' & Critics' Panel), Best Direction EUR 500 and Best Performer EUR 500 (both from the Programmers' Panel), the 'Valentina Nicosia' Fund of EUR 500 (joint decision of both panels), the 'Sandra Bressan' research fund of EUR 1,800 (awarded by the Citizens' Jury to reinvite a company to Sicily to work with the community), and the Youth Jury Award of EUR 300 to a semi-finalist, alongside the Audience Special Mention, the Companies' Choice Award and the Technical Crew Award. Fees, reimbursements and prizes are paid after the festival, provided all regulations and deadlines are met. FEES TO APPLY: none. Only selected companies pay a EUR 50 deposit on selection, fully refunded after the festival. RULES: performances should aim for 15 minutes, with total stage occupancy including set-up and dismantling capped at 20 minutes. Multiple entries are allowed but need a separate form each. No major changes are permitted after selection; minor adjustments, especially cast substitutions, must be communicated in advance and authorised by IterCulture APS. Works in languages other than Italian are welcome and are presented with Italian and English surtitles prepared by IterCulture APS. APPLICATION: a digital form linked in Article 5 of the open call regulations, with Annex A for dramaturgy (the complete script where one exists, or for dance, physical theatre and non-text work a short document on the dramaturgical research and choreographic structure) and a full video recording of the complete work; excerpts and teasers are not accepted, and for rehearsed readings, directorial notes on costumes, lighting and set design are mandatory. COMMITMENT: rehearsal attendance is compulsory, with the day assigned by the Competition Manager after selection; companies must arrive in Zafferana Etnea by their rehearsal day (rehearsals run 13 and 14 July 2027) and stay until the festival closes at 23:30 on Sunday 18 July. Rehearsals and public events run mainly in afternoons and evenings; the only compulsory morning commitment is the panel feedback session on Sunday 18 July. Online information sessions are held on Google Meet on Tuesday 22 September 2026, with the English session at 19:30 CEST. Deadline 15 October 2026 at 5pm CET.
The European Media Art Platform (EMAP/EMARE) is a network of leading European media-art organisations offering fully funded two-month production residencies for artists working with digital media, including media art, bio art and robotic art. Each residency provides a EUR 4,000 grant to the applying artist (including subsistence), a EUR 4,000 project budget, host-provided accommodation, travel covered according to EU ceilings, and access to technical facilities and media labs; a collaborating artist receives an additional EUR 2,000 (EUR 6,000 total for a duo). Residencies take place at one of 15 host institutions across Austria, France, Slovakia, Portugal, Belgium, the Netherlands, Slovenia, Croatia, Spain, Italy, Cyprus, Greece, Latvia, Germany and Poland. ELIGIBILITY: applicants must be EU residents or taxpayers in an EU member state, or residents/taxpayers of one of the eligible non-EU countries (Netherlands-based artists qualify). Undergraduate and Master's students are not eligible; PhD candidates and emerging artists of any age and academic background may apply. IMPORTANT: applicants must apply as a duo or collective, or propose a collaborative project, rather than as a purely solo applicant. The 2027 open call runs from 3 September 2026 to 6 November 2026 at 14:00 CET. Apply online at call.emare.eu. No application fee.