What It’s Like at an Art Residency in Fez

An art residency in Fez Medina brings together living and working within the same environment, blurring the boundaries between daily life and artistic practice. Rather than moving between separate spaces, artists are immersed in a setting where work, observation, and experience happens continuously. Work spaces are often flexible, sometimes shared, sometimes part of the accommodation itself, leading to a more fluid approach to how and when work happens.

Daily life is shaped by the rhythm of the city, which gradually becomes part of how artists structure their time:

• Mornings are quieter and more focused
• Midday brings activity, sound, and movement
• Evenings shift towards a more social and atmospheric pace

This natural rhythm creates a loose but effective framework for working. Instead of imposing a rigid schedule, artists begin to align their practice with the flow of the Medina:

• Time for focused work
• Time for exploration and observation
• Time for rest and reflection

One of the defining aspects of an artist residency in Morocco, particularly in Fez, is the role of context. The city’s long-standing craft traditions and visual culture are not presented as curated experiences or isolated points of interest, but exist as part of daily life, embedded in architecture, objects, and the pace of work itself.

Artists encounter:

• Zellige and geometric pattern
• Wood carving and architectural detail
• Textiles, colour, and surface
• Processes that are repetitive, precise, and material-led

These elements are not framed as something to be studied in a formal sense. Instead, they are encountered through movement, observation, and repeated exposure - observed in workshops, doorways, interiors, and public spaces. Over time, what initially appears as visual richness begins to reveal underlying systems: structure, rhythm, repetition, and a deep relationship between material and process.

This gradual familiarity often leads to a shift in how artists think about their own work. The influence is rarely direct or imitative. Instead it happens through changes in attention, how detail is observed, how process is approached, and how materials are understood and handled.

Development in this context tends to come through exposure and reflection, rather than instruction - a slow accumulation of insight that begins to redefine how practice takes place from within.

Fez Art Residency is designed to support independent practice rather than impose a fixed programme. This approach recognises that artists work in different ways, and that worthwhile development often comes from having the space to explore, reflect, and respond to context on your own terms.

Rather than following a predefined structure, artists are able to engage with both the city and their practice in a way that supports their individual approach and intentions.

Within this context, artists have:

• Time for independent work
• Flexibility in how they structure their days
• Opportunities to explore the Medina
• Access to local context and introductions where relevant

This creates an environment that is open but not directionless. There is support where needed, but no pressure to follow a specific path or produce a particular outcome.
There is also no requirement to produce finished work. The emphasis is placed on process, research, and development, allowing ideas to appear gradually and evolve over time. For many artists, this move away from outcome-driven expectations creates the conditions for more considered and meaningful work.

Time in Fez can feel both highly social and profoundly introspective, often moving between the two throughout the day. Artists move between periods of focused, solitary work and moments of connection, with artisans, with local people, or simply with the environment itself.

This dynamic is shaped by the nature of the Medina. It is a place of constant interaction, where proximity and movement create opportunities for exchange, while at the same time offering moments of pause and observation. Within this, artists begin to find their own balance.

This can include:

• Informal conversations and shared meals
• Exchanges of ideas, perspectives, and feedback
• Moments of solitude and reflection

These interactions are often unstructured, but they play an important role in the overall experience. Conversations can influence thinking, shift perspectives, or open up new directions within a practice. At the same time, periods of solitude allow these ideas to settle and develop.

At times, the intensity of the environment can feel overwhelming, particularly in the early stages of the residency. At others, it can feel deeply grounding and energising, offering a sense of connection that is difficult to replicate elsewhere.
It is within this contrast, between social engagement and quiet reflection, that many of the most meaningful shifts in practice begin to take place.

Fez is widely recognised as the artisan capital of Morocco, and this has a direct impact on how artists work during their residency. Craft is not presented as something separate from contemporary practice, but as an active, living system of making that exists throughout the Medina.

Artists may:

• Observe traditional processes in workshops
• Engage with local materials
• Develop relationships with artisans
• Experiment with new approaches to making

These encounters are often informal and happen over time. Rather than being introduced through structured sessions, they take place through movement, curiosity, and repeated exposure to the same spaces and processes. This allows artists to engage in their own time, and at their own pace, deciding how deeply they want to explore these connections.

The influence of this engagement varies from artist to artist. For some, it leads to direct material experimentation. For others, it influences how they think about process, repetition, precision, or the relationship between hand and material. In many cases, it results in a stronger relationship between concept and making.

At Fez Art Residency, professional development is tied closely to artistic practice. The residency is not only a time to make work, but an opportunity to understand how that work exists beyond the studio, how it is encountered, interpreted, and sustained over time.

This reflects a broader shift in how artistic practice is approached. Making the work is one part of the process, but understanding how it connects to an audience, how it is positioned, and how it continues to develop is equally important. At FAR, these elements are not treated as separate from practice, but as something that emerges through it.

This is supported through an approach that encourages artists to consider:

• How their work is encountered
• Who their audience is
• How their practice can be sustained over time

These questions are explored in a way that is integrated and reflective, rather than instructional. They arise naturally through conversations, observation, and the experience of working within a new context.

This happens through the CARES framework used within FAR, which focuses on the relationship between context, audience, response, exchange, and sustainability. It provides a way of thinking about practice that connects creative work with how it operates in the world, without reducing it to purely commercial terms.

Development happens through practice, not as a separate activity, but as part of how artists engage with their work in Fez. Over time, this leads to greater understanding, stronger positioning, and a more intentional approach to building a sustainable artistic career.

The outcomes of an art residency in Fez, are not always immediate or easy to define. Unlike more production-focused environments, the emphasis here is not on generating a completed project or large volume of finished work within a fixed timeframe. Instead, many artists leave with something less visible, but often more significant - a shift in how they think, approach work, and position their practice.

This can include:

• New directions within their practice
• A deeper relationship to material and process
• A clearer sense of positioning and intent
• Ideas that continue to develop over time

These outcomes often appear gradually, and as a combination of environment, experience, and reflection. What starts as observation or experimentation during the residency can evolve into more defined work months later, once ideas have had time to settle and develop.

For many artists, the most valuable aspect of their time in Fez is not what is completed during the residency, but what it sets in motion - new lines of inquiry, different ways of approaching material, and a stronger sense of how their work connects to a wider context.

The role of Fez Art Residency is to provide an environment that allows artists to work meaningfully within the specific conditions of the Medina. Rather than attempting to standardise the experience, it recognises that the value of being in Fez comes from engaging directly with its complexity, and context.

Instead of imposing a fixed structure, FAR offers a set of foundations that support artists while leaving space for individual approaches to develop.

This includes:

• A base to live and work
• Orientation within the city
• Access to local context and networks
• Space for independent development

This framework is guided by a clear set of principles:

• Context, not constraint
• Support, not prescription
• Direction, not pressure

Together, these create an environment that is both open and grounded. Artists are not directed towards a specific outcome, but they are supported in navigating the city and making sense of their experience within it.

This approach acknowledges that meaningful work often emerges through interaction with place, through time spent observing, moving, and responding, rather than through externally imposed structure.

The focus is on enabling artists to work within the city, rather than around it, allowing the context of Fez to actively shape both process and development.

Spending time at Fez Art Residency is not defined by a single outcome or a fixed measure of success. Instead, it is shaped by a combination of environment, experience, and reflection, all of which contribute to how an artist’s practice evolves over time. The impact is often gradual, building through moments of observation, interaction, and response to the city itself.

At Fez Art Residency, this process is supported rather than directed. Artists are given the space to explore, question, and develop their work within a context that is both challenging and inspiring. Rather than being guided toward a specific result, they are encouraged to engage with the Medina on their own terms, allowing their practice to shift in ways that feel natural and considered.

Over time, this can lead to a deeper understanding of both the work and the wider context in which it exists, strengthening not only what is made, but how it is approached and positioned.