AN INTERNATIONAL RESIDENCY PROGRAM

The Sacatar Foundation, created in the year 2000, supports and promotes the international artist residency program of the Instituto Sacatar, founded a year later in 2001. The Instituto occupies a stunning beachside property on the island of Itaparica, across the Bay of All Saints from the colonial capital of Brazil and Brazil’s third largest city, Salvador da Bahia.

As of December 2022, Sacatar has provided 465 residency Fellowships to artists from seventy countries. To celebrate our first twenty years in operation, in 2022 we hosted a special session in which we brought back for a second residency eight artists who had come to Sacatar during our first ten years. Much had changed, with the construction of additional studios in 2010 and 2020 and additional apartments in 2021. We periodically make available spaces for former artists to return. They often come with intriguing and incisive projects. To date, forty-four Sacatar Fellows have returned for second residencies.

facilitates the linkage to the local community, even when the Brazilian comes from a very different part of Brazil. A native of Bahia, then, is even more special. When we began hosting artists in 2021, Brazilian artists were unacquainted with the concept of a residency program. Over the intervening years, we have seen an increase in the number of highly qualified Brazilian artists coming to Sacatar, and a larger percentage of artists are Brazilian, lowering the carbon footprint of international travel while maintaining our mission to promote international engagement and collaboration.

Over time, we have learned that the presence of a Brazilian in a cohort of international residents

As we re-evaluate the purpose and effectiveness of international engagement, we give greater emphasis to the significance and value of the proposals artists submit. The percentage of English-speaking artists from North America has decreased as the diversity and number of candidates have increased from elsewhere around the world. Sacatar is first and foremost an international artist residency, and in 2023, we will host artists from 24 nations, including our first artists from Guyana, Ireland, and Mali.

… for me who had never been to Brazil, I appreciated how some of you shared your relationship to certain branches of AfroBrazilian Candomble traditions, and for escorting us to these events and giving explanation as to what was going on. I felt so privileged to have this opportunity. All past and future Fellows are lucky to have your support and effort guiding them during their stay at Sacatar!

As of December 2022 , we have hosted 465 artists from seventy countries.

90 artists 19%

(Spanish speaking) 28 artists 6%

(English speaking) 140 artists 30%

465 artists 100%