📁 WilderHaven  駐野
Artist-in-Residency  and  Writer Retreat
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  WilderHaven Artist-in-Residency   駐 野






WilderHaven Yunnan 2026




About Us


WilderHaven 駐野
is an artist-founded initiative dedicated to fostering creativity, collaboration, and cultural exchange in the breathtaking landscapes and ethnic communities of Southwest China. Established in 2024, we provide immersive residencies in countryside settings across Sichuan, Guizhou, and Yunnan—regions renowned for their natural beauty and rich indigenous cultures.

By gathering visual artists, sculptors, architects, designers, musicians, and writers, WilderHaven thrives on its diverse voices and innovative spirit. More than just a residency, it is a platform for idea sharing, open dialogue, collaborative projects, and experimental artistic practices. By bridging contemporary artistic expression with deep-rooted cultural traditions, WiderHaven aims to cultivate an enduring creative network that transcends borders and disciplines.

Our Mission

  • Creative Convergence: Bring together visual artists, multidisciplinary talents, and writers.
  • Cultural Dialogue: Bridge contemporary art practices with cultural richness ethnic traditions.
  • Open Inquiry: Serve as a platform for critical analysis, open dialogue, and experimental projects.
  • Enduring Network: Cultivate an interdisciplinary community that transcends borders and disciplines.






























Pictures 2025

Residency


WilderHaven Artist Residency (WHAR)

The WilderHaven Artist Residency aims to gather artists, musicians, writers, scholars and local artisans, cultivating a space where creative minds converge to explore, experiment, and connect. In an era marked by a deepening awareness of individuality and the pursuit of freedom, WHAR serves as a sanctuary for interdisciplinary practices. As artists navigate foreign lands and cultures, their work becomes a bridge between traditions and contemporary thought, contributing to a broader understanding of existence and the ever-evolving relationship between art, science, politics, economics, and spirituality.

Residency Structure

  • Cohort Size: 8-12 artists per season, representing diverse media and career stages.
  • Program Length: 2-week or 4 week stays (4 weeks strongly encouraged for a fully immersive experience).
  • Key Events:
    1. Open-Format Artist Presentations (mid-season)
    2. Public Open Studio (final weekend)

Support & Flexibility

To keep fees accessible and creative freedom high, our team:
  • Acts as on-site facilitators, not administrators—assisting with logistics, material sourcing, and technical questions as needed.
  • Provides shared workspaces, amenities (kitchen, snack bar), and curated cultural excursions.
  • Adapts living and studio arrangements to suit individual needs.

Where We Work

Residencies take place in multiple towns and natural retreats across:
  • Yunnan Province (tropical cultural hubs) 
  • Guizhou Province (ethnic Yi and Miao regions) 
  • Sichuan Province (Daliang Mountains, Anning River Valley) 

Each site offers unique landscapes and culture—from misty mountains to terraced fields—and close engagement with Intangible Cultural Heritage and ethinic communities.

Exhibition Opportunities

  • Group Exhibitions: Twice yearly, WHAR curates a showcase in Beijing or Sichuan featuring resident work.
  • Pop-Up & Solo Shows: We can help identify local venues on a case-by-case basis (note: all exhibition costs are artist-borne).
  • Local Space: Informal opportunities to exhibit in the host community for expanded local engagement.

Family-Friendly Environment

WilderHaven happily welcomes residents with children—our spaces are designed to accommodate families and foster a supportive creative atmosphere for all.


Funding

WilderHaven operates as a self-funded program, with residency fees directly sustaining our facilities and local partnerships. While we strive to keep costs accessible, we strongly encourage participants to seek supplementary funding through grants, sponsorships, or crowdfunding initiatives.

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DDL


, April, 1,  11:59:59 PM (EST)

Open Calls

Jingmai Mountain
2026 Artist Residency Program


WilderHaven Residency 2026 is held at Jingmai Mountain in Pu'er, southwest China, near the border with Myanmar. Inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2023, it is the world’s first tea-themed cultural heritage site, representing over 1,300 years of continuous tea cultivation.

Covering 28,000 mu, the landscape features over 3 million tea trees, including 1.1 million ancient trees growing naturally beneath a biodiverse forest canopy. Unlike industrial plantations, Jingmai utilizes a unique “forest–tea symbiosis” system. This traditional understory model—where tea grows alongside protective native trees—has been preserved for centuries without chemical fertilizers or pesticides.

This ecological balance is maintained by the Blang, Dai, Hani, and Wa peoples. Their agricultural practices and ancestral "Tea Ancestor" beliefs have sustained the forest as a living cultural landscape. Historically a vital source for the Ancient Tea Horse Road, the mountain remains a vibrant center of traditional village life, ritual, and craft.

The locals’ agricultural and craft traditions embody a philosophy of ecological balance and coexistence with nature.

Jingmai Mountain’s blend of ancient ecological wisdom and cross-border cultural heritage provides a profound environment for artistic research and slow, place-based practice.

A  video related to the culture: History of Tea
About the location: Jingmai Mountain

At WilderHaven, we remain committed to cultivating an inclusive and non-hierarchical space where artists, researchers, and cultural practitioners from diverse backgrounds can come together to share knowledge, experiment, and learn from the land and its communities. The Fall 2026 residency will continue to prioritize research-driven practices, embodied observation, and community-responsive approaches over fixed outcomes.

Who Can Apply
Artists and reseachers (21+ year-old) working in any medium are welcome. International artists are welcome. All accepted residents receive a dedicated workspace tailored to their practice.

We welcome proposals in areas such as:
  • Visual arts
  • Textile 
  • Filmmaker
  • Digital Media
  • Design
  • Architecture
  • Writing 
  • Poem
  • Sound and music
  • Research-based practice
  • Ecology and botany
  • Social practice
  • Cross-disciplinary experimentation

Housing
  • Shared twobeds rooms (private bathroom)
  • One bed room (private bathroom) 

Studios & Workspaces
  • Shared Open Studio: with a desk and chair in a traditional building, an open ground space as well

Both sessions offer:
  • Time and space for research and creation
  • Opportunities to connect with local communities and knowledge holders
  • Two group meals and openstudio at the end
  • On-site assistant for sourcing materials

Language: Mandarin and English.

Session I — Curated Residency


Practices of Slowness: 
Tea, Textile, and Ecologies of Time

Residency period:

May 25 - June 21, 2026 (4 weeks on site) + July (2 weeks online)

Apply through: March 10th - April 1st 12:00 AM

Application deadline: April 1st 12:00 AM, 2026 (EST)

Notification: Two weeks after Due date ( A Q&A Meeting on March 24th, link will be attacthed soon )

Selected artists will also have the opportunity to present their work in a curated public exhibition in Chengdu in September 2026.

This curated hybrid residency explores Practices of Slowness as a methodology of artistic and cultural practice. In contrast to accelerated production and extractive economies, slow making foregrounds time, care, material knowledge, and ecological awareness.

Located in the ancient tea forest region of rural villages in Pu’er Province, the residency invites participants to engage with living traditions where craft, agriculture, and ecology are deeply intertwined. Tea cultivation and textile practices in this region are embedded within long cycles of observation, seasonal rhythm, and intergenerational knowledge.

The unique under-forest tea cultivation system, maintained for centuries by communities including the Dai, Hani, Wa, and Blang, reflects a worldview in which human activity operates within the limits and intelligence of the forest ecosystem.

Through research, dialogue, and site-responsive practice, the residency encourages participants to explore questions such as:
  • How can artistic practice engage with slowness as resistance to extractive systems?
  • What forms of knowledge are embedded in craft, manual labor, and embodied skill?
  • How might contemporary practice learn from indigenous ecological relationships?
  • What does it mean to create work that unfolds through process, patience, and place?

Participants are invited to develop projects that respond to tea culture, textile traditions, forest ecologies, and the slow life of locals, while reflecting on broader questions of sustainability, material culture, and cultural continuity.


Group Activity
Participants in the 2026 summer residency will have tea making introduction and textile weaving workshop 

Residency Cohort
This residency session will host a cohort of up to 10 artists and researchers.
The small group format is designed to support deeper engagement with the local environment, community exchanges, and collective learning among participants.

Participate fee

APPLY

WilderHaven Award

 To support access and creative momentum, WilderHaven offers an award, a merit-based stipend that automatically reduces the residency fee for selected artists.

No extra application needed—all applicants are considered based on the strength of their portfolio and proposal.

Note: Artists receiving the award will be notified alongside their acceptance. WilderHaven operates as a self-funded program, it’s free to apply, with residency fees directly sustaining our facilities and local partnerships. While we strive to keep costs accessible, we strongly encourage participants to seek supplementary funding through grants, sponsorships, or crowdfunding initiatives.


Session II — Fall Residency

Residency  period:

Oct 12 —- Oct 19 (Two weeks); 
Oct 12 —- Nov 8 (Four weeks), 2026

Apply through: April 1st - May 1st 12:00 AM

Application deadline:  May 1st 12:00 AM, 2026 (EST)

Notification: Two weeks after Due date

The October session is a free-theme residency open to artists and researchers working across disciplines. Participants are encouraged to develop projects inspired by the landscape, culture, and social context of Pu’er, but proposals are not limited to a specific theme.

Residency Cohort
This residency session will host a cohort of up to 14 artists and researchers.
The perfect size group format is designed to support various engagement and networking, community exchanges, and collective learning among participants.

Group Activity
Participants in the 2026 fall residency will also join a group trip to visit local textile communities

Participate fee

APPLY


Apply Jingmai Mountrain Residency 2026


 Session I    
🔗 Apply at :  Apply Form

Session II    
🔗 Apply at: Apply Form


To complete your application, please have the following materials ready:

– Contact Information
– Artist Statement (up to 1,500 characters / approximately 250 words)
– Statement of Interest / Project Proposal (up to 1,500 characters / approximately 250 words)
– Current CV (PDF format)
– Portfolio (PDF, maximum 10MB)
  • Include up to 15 images with title, date, medium, dimensions, and a brief narrative description for each work. (Time-Based / Performance Work Samples)
  • If applicable, include up to three video or audio links within the application.

If you have any questions, please email us at: wilderhavenproject@gmail.com

The application should be written in Chinese or English.


NOTE: 
For applicants do not have access to the online Apply Form, please contact us and send out your applicaltion to the email at wilderhavenproject@gmail.com, with a subject line WHAR2026+FristName+LastName. 















Daliang Mountains 2025 Artist Residency Program


WilderHaven Artist Residency (WHAR) is launching its inaugural program in the Daliang Mountains of Sichuan Province, China. In partnership with GuiYuan Garden, we’ve transformed this tranquil retreat into a dynamic hub for artists, anthropologist, and meditators from around the world.

About GuiYuan Garden
Nestled in the Anning River Valley, GuiYuan Garden was created by visionary artist Gu Jian. Traditional and contemporary wooden watchtower houses rise above a flourishing dragon fruit farm, all surrounded by vibrant native flora. Located within a Yi and LisĂș autonomous region, GuiYuan blends ancient traditions with modern design to offer an inspiring backdrop for creative exploration and mindful living.

At WilderHaven, we are committed to fostering an inclusive and egalitarian space. Here, creators and educators of every discipline can come together to exchange ideas, collaborate, and draw inspiration from the rich cultural heritage and natural beauty of Southwest China. Join us as we build a community where artistic innovation flourishes, and age-old traditions meet fresh perspectives.


Get to know the culture of Daliangshan (Daliang Mountains)

Opportunities: Daliangshan International Theatre Festival, exhibitions, local interviews.Application Deadline: Monday, June 30, 2025 at 11:59 pm EST

Notifications: Monday, July 14, 2025

Residency Dates: September 1 – December, 2025

Duration: 2 weeks, 4 weeks ( more than 4 weeks are determined case by case)

Stipend available

Who Can Apply
Artists (21+ year-old) working in any medium are welcome. International artists are welcome. All accepted residents receive a dedicated workspace tailored to their practice.

Special Opportunities
  • Writers & Musicians: Collaborate with local Yi and LisĂș communities on storytelling, music-making, and cross-cultural exchange.
  • Dancers & Performers: Choose between our indoor studio or the surrounding natural garden for rehearsals and presentations.

Housing
  • Shared double rooms (2-bed, private bathroom)
  • Private suites (private bathroom)

Studios & Workspaces
  • Shared Open Studio: Accommodates 3–4 artists—ideal for big size projects.
  • Individual Studio: 10–20 mÂČ (200-250 sq ft) shared/private workspace, with desk and work chair.

Support & Resources
  • 24/7 access to your studio
  • Shared snack bar and fully equipped kitchen with ingredients
  • Curated cultural excursions to Yi and LisĂș villages
  • On-site assistant for sourcing materials 

Language: Mandarin and English. 


Participate fee

WilderHaven Award

 To support access and creative momentum, WilderHaven offers an award, a merit-based stipend that automatically reduces the residency fee for selected artists.

No extra application needed—all applicants are considered based on the strength of their portfolio and proposal.

Note: Artists receiving the award will be notified alongside their acceptance. WilderHaven operates as a self-funded program, it’s free to apply, with residency fees directly sustaining our facilities and local partnerships. While we strive to keep costs accessible, we strongly encourage participants to seek supplementary funding through grants, sponsorships, or crowdfunding initiatives.




Residency Fees



 As a non-profit organization we strive to keep our fees as low as we can.  Residency fees per term include a room in an artist house + one studio space + food supplies:

Participants contribute a residency fee to support accommodation, program coordination, and shared activities. As WilderHaven operates in multiple locations, the fee varies depending on the residency site and accommodation arrangement.

Applicants will receive detailed information before confirming participation.



  Jingmai Mountain 2026 Artist Residency Program  

Session I: 13,000 CNY-14.500 CNY (4 weeks onsite + 2 weeks online)

Session II: 5.700 CNY - 11.800 CNY 

For 2026 residency, applicants can find the full fee structure in the application materials.




 Daliang Mountains 2025 Artist Residency Program  

4-week term

One person:
  • 7,600 CNY for one bed in a double room for two person  (same gender),  one studio space in  open plan communal studio. 

    • 9,000 CNY for a suite with work space. (Only for writers)

    • 10,600 CNY for a single room for one person and private studio. 


    All rooms with private bathroom, it is like hotel suites. And we are offering cooking ingredients for lunch and dinner. Artists are welcome to cook group meals by take turns. Breakfast is also privided, and is self helped. Private studio is available if there are more space left without extra fee.  Size of studio spaces are assigned based on the needs of each artist’s practice, and availability of the space.

    If you have any question about housing and studio space, please contact us for more information. 


    We understand that financial situations vary and encourage applicants to seek external funding or grants where possible.



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