The Wayaka Current invites artists, researchers and transdisciplinary practitioners to a site-specific residency in the Atacama Desert in Northern Chile, near San Pedro de Atacama. The program facilitates creative practice in dialogue with land, ecology and planetary change, through a combination of independent work, guided field visits and sessions with local collaborators. Participants stay in simple, shared facilities in a rural oasis area surrounded by volcanic plains, salt flats and high mountain landscape.

The residency is nomadic in nature and moves base depending on season and conditions, but is currently anchored near San Pedro de Atacama. The program balances approximately 50 percent structured group activities such as field visits and knowledge sharing with local collaborators, and 50 percent independent inquiry and artistic work. Participants gain access to shared kitchen and work facilities, local transport to programmed activities, and access to national parks as part of the program.

The program is financed through a participant fee on a sliding scale, as the organization is an independent, artist-driven non-profit without fixed institutional funding. Partial or full financial support is offered each season, as well as reduced rates and fully-funded places for Latin American and BIPOC artists. Application is made through an electronic form with no application fee, where applicants describe their background, desired period and motivation.

• Who can apply: Artists, researchers and transdisciplinary practitioners from various backgrounds and career stages, openly international with no requirement for citizenship or residency in a specific country.
• Field of culture: Visual art, transdisciplinary art and ecological/site-based research
• Covered / paid out: Accommodation in shared rooms, access to communal kitchen and basic equipment, drinking water, local transport to field visits and weekly shopping trips, entrance tickets to national parks, sessions with local collaborators, and access to alumni network. Partial or full financial support can be applied for through the program's sliding-scale scheme.
• You pay yourself: Participant fee (program fee) covering the actual operating costs of the residency; the exact amount is not specified on the site, but is described as substantial enough that financial support and reduced rates are offered to certain groups.
• Application deadline: 31.10.2026
• Place: Atacama Desert, Northern Chile (near San Pedro de Atacama)
• Organizer: The Wayaka Current