Every year, the Fundación Antonio Gala foundation organises 18 calls for proposals, offering residency grants, so that young creators aged between 18 and 30 can complete their literary, artistic and musical projects in Cordoba during an eight-month period. The young participants have the opportunity to live at the headquarters of the Fundación Antonio Gala foundation in Cordoba and to work during their stay there on the projects for which they have been selected. The aim of the grants is to give the opportunity to, in the words of Antonio Gala himself, “live for their work without having to work for a living”. They are provided with everything they need (accommodation, maintenance, work materials) and they are overseen by tutors specialising in each field (literature and theatre, plastic and visual arts, and musical composition).
Several cultural events are also organised, which encourage cohabitation between the group of youths, and the mutual enrichment of their projects. Creators who already have well-established careers visit them during the course to become acquainted with their projects, give their opinions about them and share their personal experiences. In the case of musical composition, the composed piece or pieces will also be played for the first time at the Gala Fest, a chamber music festival hosted by the Foundation every June.
“My project at the Antonio Gala foundation consists of writing what will be my first poetry book entitled “The chiaroscuro of the sea”, where I try to find what our eyes cannot see, to recognise and speak about the existence of what is not visible and to engage in a deep, intimate dialogue with that parallel reality that raises questions through day-to-day occurrences”.
Isabel Riquelme, artist-in-residence at the Fundación Antonio Gala foundation