Turin, Italy

Why Turin makes sense for residencies

Turin sits in a sweet spot: serious contemporary art ecosystem, industrial and post-industrial spaces, and a pace that doesn’t crush you the way bigger art capitals can. You get museums, galleries, and major events, plus factories, print labs, and manufacturers that still actually make things.

The city’s mix of historic elegance and industrial grit shapes how residencies work here. Programs often pull from three local strengths:

• Media and digital practices – video, multimedia, lens-based work
• Production-heavy practices – installation, fabrication, design
• Social and participatory work – neighborhood projects, workshops, community processes

If your practice is based on experimentation, collaboration with fabricators, or socially engaged work, Turin gives you more infrastructure than a typical “retreat in nature,” while still being calmer and often cheaper than Milan or Rome.

Key residencies in Turin proper

Turin has a dense but relatively approachable residency scene. Here are the main types you’ll encounter in and around the city.

Recontemporary & Great Meadows Foundation (media-focused, fully supported)

Good for: video, multimedia, digital artists who want serious technical and curatorial support.

Recontemporary Fondazione ETS is a Turin space dedicated to media and digital practices. In a recent edition, Great Meadows Foundation funded a month-long residency there for artists from its region (Kentucky and two counties in Indiana). That particular call was geographically specific, but the structure is a useful blueprint for what Recontemporary-style residencies can look like.

You can typically expect:

• Accommodation in Turin – so your budget can go toward materials and living costs rather than rent.
• Access to space and equipment – important if you work with video, sound, or digital installations.
• Curatorial and production support – staff help you think through presentation, exhibition design, and technical details.
• Studio visits and networking – introductions to museums, galleries, curators, critics, and collectors across the city.
• Public outcome – usually a talk, screening, or exhibition at the end of your stay.

This kind of residency is ideal if you want to come out with a concrete project and actual connections, not just time in a studio. Check both Great Meadows Foundation and Recontemporary (or equivalent media-focused spaces) for new calls or evolving versions of this model.

MADE IN | Artissima (art + industry)

Good for: artists who need fabrication, specialized materials, or direct collaboration with companies.

MADE IN is run by Artissima, Turin’s major contemporary art fair. The project connects artists to local companies so you can tap into industrial processes that are hard to access on your own: specialized machining, high-end printing, advanced materials, and so on.

Key features include:

• Collaborations with factories and firms – think of the city’s manufacturing knowledge as your extended toolkit.
• Support from established galleries – past editions involved Luce Gallery, Mazzoleni, Franco Noero, and Simóndi Gallery acting as project patrons.
• Visibility around Artissima – your project sits in an ecosystem that already brings in collectors and curators.

This is not a quiet retreat. It suits artists who want to experiment with new materials or production methods, position themselves within a gallery context, and potentially build long-term relationships with both galleries and local companies.

Aurora Borealis (participatory and social practice)

Good for: artists working with communities, workshops, or participatory processes across any discipline.

Aurora Borealis is an international residency programme in Turin promoted by Kaninchenhaus with partners including Capotrave/Kilowatt, Cooperativa Il Punto scs, and Torino Città per le Donne. It’s structured as a multi-phase process rather than a single stay.

The typical format includes:

• A collective residency/masterclass – a short, intensive period where selected artists meet, share, and plan.
• Individual residencies of about one month – hosted at viadellafucina16 Condominio-Museo, a hybrid condominium and art project space.
• A final festival – where outcomes are shown and discussed with audiences.

Support has included:

• A fee – actual pay for your work.
• Production budget – materials and project costs covered.
• Housing and workspace – independent accommodation at the Condominio-Museo plus space for workshops.
• Travel support in some cases – partial or full reimbursement, depending on the situation.

The call is aimed at artists who already have some exhibition history and prior experience with participatory practices, so treat it as a professional-level program. It’s a strong option if you’re building a practice around social processes, co-creation, or neighborhood-based work.

CRAG Gallery residencies (gallery-as-studio)

Good for: artists who like working in public, in a white-cube context, with clear themes.

CRAG Gallery in Turin periodically turns its gallery into a working studio for a month-long residency. The program is usually organized around a theme and includes a final presentation day when the public can see the work in progress.

Recent editions have involved themes like “Sublime” and multi-artist lineups guided by curators and writers. You can expect:

• Gallery space as atelier – you work in the same space where shows are normally presented.
• Curatorial framing – a theme or conceptual axis that ties residents together.
• Open studio format – fixed days when audiences come through to see the work.

CRAG’s model suits artists comfortable working visibly, who want to meet collectors and curators in a gallery environment rather than in a secluded studio.

nthspace Torino (quiet villa retreat inside city reach)

Good for: artists who want peace and space, but still need quick access to Turin’s institutions.

nthspace Torino is set in an 18th-century villa in Borgo Pilonetto, on the hillside above the Po river. It’s surrounded by about four acres of land, with views that stretch across the city to the Alps.

Residency setup:

• Private live/work suite – a double bedroom plus an ample studio with kitchen.
• Green, quiet environment – essentially a retreat on the edge of the city.
• Easy access to the center – you can cross into town for museums, galleries, and events.

This kind of program works well if you are self-directed and want deep focus time on a project, while still having the option to drop into openings and meetings in central Turin.

Near-Turin residencies worth knowing

If you’re coming from another country, it can make sense to group a Turin city residency with a quieter nearby stay. These aren’t in the city center, but they plug into the same regional ecosystem and often connect back to Turin for travel or collaborations.

Stone Oven House (Rorà)

Stone Oven House is in Rorà, a hillside area in the Pinerolo district, reachable from Turin. The residency supports visual artists, musicians, designers, writers, theater and cinema practitioners, and other disciplines.

Environment:

• Old farmhouse – converted into studios and living spaces.
• Landscape – forest with mushrooms and chestnuts, meadow, young orchard, and vegetable garden.
• Quiet hillside setting – a clear contrast to urban Turin.

Logistics link you back to the city:

• Turin-Caselle Airport as the main hub.
• Transfer via car or public transport through Pinerolo and nearby towns.
• Direct transfer arranged by the organization after your stay is confirmed.

This is a good pairing with a more city-based residency if you want to balance intense networking time in Turin with a slower, rural studio period.

Glosolì International Residency for Artists (Ivrea)

Glosolì is based in Ivrea, a historic town in the Turin region. The residency focuses on creation and choreography, especially dance and music-related performance, but is also open to visual artists, photographers, video artists, new media, and social projects.

What stands out:

• Equipped dance studio – suitable for performances, workshops, and conferences.
• Emphasis on cultural exchange – mixing different art forms, with a particular focus on dance and Afro-contemporary movement.
• Connection to local theatre – located in front of Ivrea’s main theatre, which anchors the residency in an active cultural setting.

Glosolì works well for performance-based artists who still want ties to a larger regional art circuit, including Turin.

Print Club Torino (for print-based practice)

Print Club Torino is not a classic live-in residency but a crucial resource if printmaking, risograph, screen printing, or editions are part of your work. They run artistic residences and projects that give you access to specialized print facilities and a community of designers and illustrators.

This can be combined with another residency or a self-organized stay in the city. It’s especially useful if you want to produce multiples, artist books, or print-based installations while you’re in Turin.

Choosing your neighborhood and living setup

Even with housing covered by a residency, it helps to understand where you’ll land in the city. If you’re self-organizing your stay or arriving early/late around a residency, these areas are particularly useful.

Central and gallery-adjacent areas

• Centro / Centro Storico – close to major museums, galleries, and institutional venues. You pay more, but you waste less time commuting to events and openings.
• Vanchiglia – near the river, popular with students and creatives, good for a mix of bars, studios, and smaller spaces.
• San Salvario – dense, lively, and well-connected; good if you like to be out at night and walk to things.

These areas are convenient if your residency involves frequent public events, open studios, or gallery meetings.

Quieter, residential, and industrial edges

• Borgo Pilonetto – hillside and green, where nthspace Torino is located. Great for focus time, still within reach of the center.
• Aurora / Dora district – more industrial, evolving, and sometimes used for studios and experimental spaces.
• Cit Turin – residential but central enough to stay connected, with good transport.

If your residency doesn’t provide a studio, look for shared spaces in these areas and factor in tram/bus routes to key venues.

Costs, logistics, and how to budget your stay

Turin is often more affordable than Milan and some other European art hubs, but your costs will still add up if you’re not careful. When comparing residencies, pay attention to the exact support structure.

What to check in each residency

• Housing – Is accommodation included? Is it shared or independent? Is it in the same place as the studio?
• Stipend or fee – Is there an artist fee or only a production budget? Programs like Aurora Borealis explicitly include a fee, which changes how much extra funding you need.
• Production budget – Are materials, printing, or fabrication covered? This is crucial in a production-heavy context like Turin.
• Travel support – Any reimbursement or do you need to fund your trip entirely?
• Technical support – For media or complex installations, check if there is staff to help with editing, installation, or tech.

For a self-organized month in Turin, plan for rent or a room in a shared flat, food, local transport, and some production costs. Residencies with housing and a fee will dramatically lower what you need to bring.

Getting in and out

Turin’s main airport is Turin-Caselle (TRN). Many residencies outside the center, like Stone Oven House, will help coordinate transfers from the airport or from Turin by train and bus. Inside the city, the metro, buses, and trams are usually enough, plus a very walkable center.

If your residency is on the hillside or outside the city, clarify:

• How you reach the site from Turin or the airport.
• How often you can realistically go into the city for meetings.
• Whether you need or are allowed to rent a car.

Timing your stay: seasons, fairs, and festivals

Turin has a strong rhythm built around its major events, especially Artissima and other fairs or festivals. Aligning a residency with these can make a big difference to your visibility and networking.

When the city is most active

• Autumn – gallery programs, Artissima, and satellite events create a dense art calendar.
• Spring – good weather, active institutions, photography and media events often cluster in this period.

Some residencies time their public outcomes to coincide with local festivals. The Great Meadows/Recontemporary residency, for example, overlapped with the EXPOSED Torino Foto Festival and the IKT Congress, giving the resident access to expanded audiences and professionals already in town.

When scanning calls, look beyond the dates and ask what else is happening in the city during your stay. A modest residency can become very powerful if it lands in the middle of a fair or festival ecosystem.

Connecting with the local scene

Turin’s real strength for artists is the way different layers overlap: residencies, galleries, foundations, print labs, and community projects. You get more out of a residency if you treat it as an excuse to build a longer-term relationship with the city.

Institutions and spaces to know

• Artissima – anchor fair for contemporary art, pulling in galleries and professionals from many countries.
• Recontemporary Fondazione ETS – media and digital art platform, useful for video and multimedia work.
• CRAG Gallery – runs theme-based residencies and exhibitions.
• Luce Gallery, Mazzoleni, Franco Noero, Simóndi Gallery – established galleries sometimes tied into residency projects like MADE IN.
• Print Club Torino – print facilities, workshops, and residencies for print and edition-based work.
• Kaninchenhaus, viadellafucina16 Condominio-Museo, and Borealis – key players for participatory and socially engaged work.

Spending even a few days visiting these spaces before or during your residency will give you a better sense of how your work could live in the city beyond a single project.

Using Reviewed by Artists and other resources

Cross-reference that with platforms like Res Artis, TransArtists, and the websites of individual spaces mentioned here. Then shortlist the programs whose structure, timing, and support actually match your practice.

How to decide if a Turin residency is right for you

Use a few simple filters when you’re looking at opportunities in Turin and the surrounding region:

• Practice fit – media and digital work, socially engaged practice, and production-heavy projects are especially well supported here.
• Support structure – do you need a fee, housing, and production budget, or is exposure and a studio enough at this stage?
• Context – do you want a retreat (nthspace, Stone Oven House), a public-facing gallery context (CRAG, MADE IN), or a neighborhood/community project (Aurora Borealis, viadellafucina16)?
• Timing – can you sync your stay with Artissima, a festival, or a major institutional program?

Once you’re clear on those, Turin is much easier to read. Instead of a long, abstract list of residencies, you’re choosing between concrete ways to work: in a hillside villa, a factory or print studio, a condominium-museum, or a central gallery. That clarity makes it much more likely you’ll pick a residency that actually moves your practice forward.