Residencies 

This new programme brings making into the museum, giving artists, designers, performers and creators unprecedented access to world-class arts resources, mentorship, studio space, creative programming and the opportunity to publicly display their work.

Each year, three creatives work for 12 months, full-time, based in a studio space at the V&A South Kensington. Each Adobe Creative Resident is paired with a curator-mentor who acts as a guide to the collection throughout their time. Residents also work with a designated audience (schools, families or young people) and collaborate with the learning team to expand access to creativity, design and making. The programme ends with a display of their work at V&A South Kensington.

The Adobe Creative Residency is supported by the Adobe Foundation.

Open calls for the Adobe Creative Residencies 2025 are now open. Information about the open calls and how to apply are available in a number of formats:

Mosaics and Ceramic Tilework Residency information in British Sign Language here.

Inclusive Design Residency information in British Sign Language here.

Photography Residency information in British Sign Language here.

For information about how to apply in British Sign Language, please watch this video.

Information Sessions

To find out more and meet the Residencies Team, please come to an information session either online or at V&A South Kensington. Upcoming information sessions:

The Application Process

The application process for this Residency opportunity is a four-stage process.

Stage One

At Stage One, please complete a brief expression of interest via a short form on the V&A Residency programme Awards Force platform:

British Sign Language users are welcome to email a filmed expression of interest to residencyprogramme@vam.ac.uk, please see the open calls in British Sign Language for further information.

At this stage of the application, we want to:

These will be shortlisted to around 20 applications by the V&A Residencies team to go to the second stage. Unfortunately, we will not be able to offer any feedback on Stage One applications.

Shortlisted Applicants will be notified by the end of the day on Monday 22 July 2024 and invited to Stage Two.

Stage Two

Applicants at this stage will be invited to develop a short proposal for their residency, more details will be shared with those successful. Successful entrants at this stage will be invited to interviews held the week commencing Monday 9 September 2024.

For all information about the application process, please see our guidance notes.

For any further information please contact the Residencies Team residencyprogramme@vam.ac.uk

Luca Bosani

Adobe Creative Resident: Costume Design
Focus audience: Young people

Exploring the intersections between wearable/performance art and gender diversity, Luca reimagines innovative ways to portray identity and challenge stereotypes.

Guided by a commitment to equality and creativity for all, Luca provides tools for non-conforming identities to flourish, as well as introducing inclusive modes of being to the wider community. In conceiving the concept of UPOs (Unidentified Performing Objects), Luca opens up limiting binaries and widens artistic categorisation.

They are collaborating with the Young People's Programme team to make the collection accessible for young people in new ways.

Rachel Sale

Adobe Creative Resident: Illustration
Focus audience: Families

Bringing her explorative, collaborative, and neighbourly energy to the V&A, Rachel's practice centres around community-building and illustration. Her residency focusses on the process of map-making as a method of relationship-building.

Founder of FAT Studio CIC, a not-for-profit creative studio based in an ex-shop on Old Kent Road, south-east London, Rachel regularly collaborates with people of all ages and backgrounds on community-focussed art projects.

Rachel is working with the Families Programme team and inviting adults and children to create maps together, as a way to playfully connect with the collection.

Jacqui Ramrayka

Adobe Creative Resident: Global Ceramics
Focus Audience: Schools

British-Guyanese ceramicist Jacqui centres her practice around the intangible nature of personal and collective memories – giving them form through the medium of porcelain vessels. She takes residue, remnants, fractures and erosion and uses them to embody memories, decay and time, particularly in relation to the Indo-Caribbean diaspora's experience, memory and grief.

For her, vessels have a dual purpose. They symbolise a history of sacred and domestic rituals, but can also be seen as a metaphor for the body and self, separation and entrapment. At the same time, they hold things together, preventing them from being lost or forgotten.

Jacqui is exploring the wider themes of diaspora, home, and belonging, working with the Schools Programme team to inspire the next generation of makers.

Meet and learn about our residents with drop-in creative workshops, open studio sessions, and resident-led activities. Aimed at families, young people and schools.

Our Residency programme has hosted a wide range of practitioners since it was established. Watch our films to get a first-hand account of the research and projects that our residents have carried out.