Bodhi Khaya Artist Residency is an annual two-week, funded residency created by artists, for artists. It was founded in 2021 by a small group of artist friends who, after experiencing international residencies, recognised how few comparable opportunities existed within the South African arts landscape. They decided to create the kind of space they themselves had been searching for.

The residency offers emerging and mid-career South African artists the rare gift of time: time to step away from the demands of everyday life and to immerse themselves in creative exploration. Here, artists are invited to deepen their relationship with place and environment, approaching it through historical, political, social and personal perspectives. What emerges from this encounter may take many forms — visual, performative, poetic or ephemeral — but always seeks to make our relationship with the world around us visible, audible and tangible.

Bodhi Khaya Residency is run entirely by artists on a voluntary basis. No one involved receives a salary. The residency continues through a spirit of shared commitment, the generous provision of accommodation by Bodhi Khaya Retreat Centre, and a modest application fee. Fundraising and administrative support are provided through SCANart NPO 320-324.

Artists spend their time within a remarkable landscape that includes three neighbouring nature reserves — Bodhi Khaya, Blomerus and Platbos — surrounded by ancient Afro-montane forests, fynbos, streams and ongoing regenerative farming and reforestation projects. The land itself becomes a collaborator.

Through dialogue, experimentation and collaborative practice, participants explore how art can act as a catalyst for change: nurturing ecological awareness, questioning social structures, and imagining new forms of connection between people, land and community.

The residency is application-based, calls usually opens in May, the residency takes place in October. Leave us your email address to be informed about opening of call.