Open Call for Residency On Posthumanism from Nature’s Perspective

Applications are open until July 13 for the new cycle of Bosque Pehuén Residencies organized by Fundación Mar Adentro (FMA). This cycle poses the question: From nature’s perspective, what is human?, aiming to foster research-based explorations that open up new possibilities of cohabitation beyond dichotomous notions that separate our species from other beings and their environments.

This new Bosque Pehuén Residency open call: From nature’s perspective, what is human?—invites artists and researchers of diverse disciplines (art, anthropology, philosophy, natural sciences, new media, etc.) residing in Chile, Latin America, and Spain, to submit proposals that contribute to expanding representations and dichotomous boundaries in the relationship between humanity and nature. Starting from the central question that titles this cycle, participants are called to rethink the human and relational ecologies through epistemic overflows. This edition is jointly organized  with the Centro Cultural de España (CCE) of Santiago and the Institute for Postnatural Studies (IPS), and locally collaborating with the Universidad Católica of Temuco and Casa Varas Cultural Center.

This program includes residing and conducting research at the Bosque Pehuén Reserve of Fundación Mar Adentro – located in the Araucanía Region – as well as opportunities for exchange with researchers and local stakeholders. Maya Errázuriz, Director of Art and Publications at FMA, explained that, through reflections with the CCE and the IPS, “we seek to bring together the curatorial perspectives of the three institutions, and it seemed pertinent, given our location within a conservation area, to reflect on and imagine nature’s perception of humans.” She adds, “it is an interesting exercise to think about interspecies relationships not necessarily defined by the boundaries or translations we impose as humans, but rather by placing ourselves in the position of nature and adapting to its languages and ways of understanding collectively.”

In this way, the call expresses the need for a critical recalibration of contemporary concepts and discourses about nature, informed by philosophical and ecological approaches that converge in Latin America to decentralize and mobilize boundaries that have long separated the notions of nature and humanity—through binaries such as natural/artificial, human/animal, subject/object, among others.

Over five weeks—from November 3 to December 5, 2025—the residency will take place in Bosque Pehuén, Fundación Mar Adentro’s (FMA) nature reserve. The program will offer accommodation in this protected area located in the Andean Araucanía region, as well as field trips and exchanges with the FMA team, local community leaders, and affiliated researchers: Gabriel Alonso and Yuri Tuma, artists and co-founders of the IPS, who explore relationships between nature and culture and sonic ecologies, respectively; Cristóbal Pizarro, director of the Anthropocene Studies Laboratory at the University of Concepción; and Laura Luna Figueroa, director of the Local Development Center at the Pontificia Universidad Católica (CEDEL UC).

From IPS, Gabriel Alonso has emphasized that “the human ideal has been transposed into the landscape representation of nature, where moral representations permeate our view as a species. It is a mirror of thought hierarchies. In response, we call for the pursuit of new forms of empathy to raise awareness of what surrounds us—of beings with other voices—and by listening to them, we can shift away from the center and move beyond our species’ egocentrism.”

Meanwhile, Natasha Pons, Visual Arts Coordinator at CCE, stated that  “this residency aligns with our commitment to fostering new ways of generating knowledge, strengthening the creative and research sectors, and enabling spaces to develop new poetics and lines of thought. In light of a context marked by socio-ecological crisis and the separations between species that this reproduces, this call invites participants to engage in reflections  from the collective, the sensitive, and the interdependent—reconfiguring ways of inhabiting and connecting beyond the anthropocentric paradigm.”

Given the inescapable self-referential nature of thinking or rethinking the human, this program seeks alternative positions that contribute not only to a reformulation of language, but also to a profound transformation in how we perceive, feel, and take responsibility toward building ecologies of care, affection, and reciprocity through imagination and action nourished by diverse geographies, temporalities, and knowledges.

About the 2025 Residency Program Conditions

This cycle of Bosque Pehuén Residencies—open to individuals from Latin America and Spain—is conceived as a transdisciplinary laboratory for research on the conservation, dissemination, and education of temperate forests, as well as on ecological, social, and cultural interrelationships, in order to promote a critical and conscious perspective on our society and its relationship with nature.

Regarding the territorial context of the natural reserve where the residency will take place, this reserve  is located in Palguín Alto, about 40 minutes from Pucón, in the La Araucanía region. It comprises 868 hectares of natural environments in the South American temperate forest ecoregion, an ecosystem recognized as a global conservation priority. The reserve is home to species considered focal conservation values, such as the monkey puzzle tree (Araucaria araucana), Darwin’s frog (Rhinoderma darwinii), and the monito del monte (Dromiciops gliroides). Due to its location, there is no cell phone signal, though there is a designated area with Wi-Fi access.

In addition to including a stipend and accommodation at Bosque Pehuén, the program includes two public activities to be held in collaboration with the Universidad Católica de Temuco and Casa Varas in Temuco, as well as at the CCE in Santiago. The residency does not cover international travel expenses or domestic travel within Chile to the Araucanía Region. One slot will be reserved for a selected resident from the Araucanía Region, and another for a researcher of Spanish nationality or residency, supported by the CCE. The results will be announced during the week of August 4.

Application Form HERE |Download the guidelines HERE

Inquiries can be sent to convocatorias@fundacionmaradentro.cl

• We are only receiving applications in Spanish