A nomadic research residency for curators.
When CPR launched in 2015, there was no shortage of talented curators — only a shortage of funded ways for them to do serious research abroad. Most residencies were built for artists or assumed a private income. The Core Program was CPR’s answer, and remains our foundation: each year we select 6 to 8 curators through an open call for a fully funded, three-to-four-week immersion in a regional art scene, with international flights, accommodation, and some meals covered, so participation depends on curatorial promise, not personal means. The program combines lectures and workshops with studio and institutional visits, connecting each cohort directly with the artists, curators, and institutions actively shaping the scene.
Each edition travels a route built around one question — how does this region’s art scene actually work, and who is holding it together. In 2026 that took eight curators through Algiers, Tunis, Rabat, and Marrakech; in 2023–24, through Oslo, Bergen, Tromsø, and Sámi communities of northern Sweden to Helsinki, from independent spaces like Box24 and LE18 to institutions like the National Museum and Kiasma. Unlike the single-city, career-focused format CPR has since built for artists, such as Hello New York!, the Core Program is built on travel, direct contact, and local partners — OCA, Frame Finland, Mouhit Space, L’Appartement 22 — who make each edition possible. Now in its tenth edition, it has helped fund more than 137 fellowships since 2015.