🧺
1. KYOTO LAUNDRY CAFE / Residency focuses on community, everyday practices, the act of cleaning, and care
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kyotolaundrycafe/
- The host residences in this open call are newly selected micro-residency spaces supported by the *** in Residence Kyoto office. As many are still shaping their approach to hosting creators, the programme has an experimental character. We welcome creators who are open to exploring the residency experience together with the hosts.
- Important Notice: Due to our limited administrative capacity, applications are limited to the first 30 submissions per residence. The application form for each residence will be closed once this quota is filled. We encourage early submission to ensure your application is considered.
About the Residence
KYOTO LAUNDRY CAFE is a residency site that welcomes creators who explore relationships with local communities, taking everyday practices such as laundry, food, housework, care, and conversation as starting points.
Located near the border of Nakagyo Ward and Ukyo Ward in Kyoto City, KYOTO LAUNDRY CAFE brings together a coin laundry, cafe, shared kitchen, and event space. It is a place where people doing laundry, people enjoying meals, local residents, students, and others come and go on a daily basis. A major characteristic of this residence is that it is not a special exhibition space or an independent studio, but an open space that exists as an extension of everyday life.
This programme does not focus on a format in which creators work quietly in a closed studio. Instead, it values the ways in which creative practice and research can be deepened through chance encounters with local people and visitors, daily conversations, and the atmosphere of the place. Creators are expected to enter into the everyday space of KYOTO LAUNDRY CAFE and explore themes such as laundry, food, housework, invisible labour, multicultural exchange, and the creation of local places of belonging through their own practice.
Local Context and Community
The area surrounding KYOTO LAUNDRY CAFE is home to a diverse range of people and activities, including local residents, families with children, elderly people, students, foreign residents, local creators, and business owners.
During the residency, creators can develop their research and practice not only through activities inside the facility, but also by building connections with people in the neighbourhood and local practitioners. Through existing networks, it may also be possible to connect with local residents, university students, foreign residents, volunteers and practitioners involved in multicultural coexistence, and others. Resident creators are expected not to treat the local community as a one-sided object of observation, but to gradually deepen their activities while building relationships through conversation, collaborative work, workshops, open studios, and other forms of engagement.
There is also a possibility of connecting the residency with a local festival-like event planned around 31 October. Rather than keeping activities only inside the cafe, creators may also expand their work towards people and activities in the surrounding area.
We are looking for creators who
This residence welcomes creators who:
- Are interested in themes such as laundry, housework, food, care, invisible labour, everyday life, local communities, and multicultural coexistence
- Understand dialogue and exchange with local people as part of their creative practice or research
- Are interested in opening up not only final outcomes, but also their process and questions during the residency, to the local community
- Can enter into everyday places and develop their work from people’s movements, conversations, habits, and relationships
- Are willing to engage with the local community through workshops, talks, open studios, exhibitions, documentation, and other forms of sharing
- Can relate flexibly to people of different ages, nationalities, and cultural backgrounds
- Work across fields such as art, photography, film, music, performance, community art, social design, food culture, research, writing, and other interdisciplinary practices
Facilities and Environment
- Production and activity space: The cafe space, exhibition walls, event space, and other areas can be used for research, production, exhibitions, workshops, talks, open studios, and related activities.
- Kitchen: Activities related to food using the shared kitchen or cafe kitchen may be discussed depending on the content of the proposal.
- Laundry facilities: The coin laundry inside the facility may be referred to or used in relation to the creator’s research or activities.
- Exhibition and presentation environment: Opportunities can be arranged to share the process or outcomes of the residency using the exhibition walls, cafe space, and event space.
- Connections with the local community: Creators can develop their activities while connecting with local residents, foreign residents, volunteers involved in multicultural coexistence, university students, local creators, and others.
Support Provided
Selected creators will receive the following support:
- Accommodation during the residency period
- Basic coordination support from KYOTO LAUNDRY CAFE and the *** in Residence Kyoto team
- An orientation upon arrival covering how to use the facility, the surrounding environment, transportation, daily routes, local rules, emergency contacts, and related information
- Coordination support for production and presentation using the cafe space, exhibition walls, event space, and other areas
- Consultation and coordination for activities using the shared kitchen or cafe kitchen
- Support in connecting with local residents, students, creators, practitioners involved in multicultural coexistence, and others through the Blending Community and Meetup networks
- Support for holding at least one public programme, outcome-sharing event, or exchange opportunity
- Travel support: up to 100,000 JPY
- Production and activity support: up to 100,000 JPY
The production and activity support may be used, depending on the project content, for costs such as printing, materials, consumables, equipment related to exhibition installation, and consumables for documentation. For public programmes such as workshops, talk events, and exchange gatherings, support may also be provided for venue setup, operation, publicity, and related matters, depending on the content. In all cases, any purchase or order must be discussed and confirmed in advance with the organiser or host facility.
Costs Not Covered
Unless otherwise stated, the following costs are not included in the support:
- Food, daily necessities, and other everyday living expenses
- Personal transportation costs within Japan
- Visa application fees
- Overseas travel insurance, health insurance, and other insurance fees
- Additional accommodation outside the official residency period
- Large-scale production costs that have not been agreed upon in advance
- Personal shopping or expenses not directly related to the project
Selected creators are responsible for arranging their own overseas travel insurance and health insurance for the duration of their stay.
Possible activities during the residency
During the residency, creators may carry out activities according to their proposal, including research, fieldwork, interviews, documentation, exhibitions, talks, workshops, screenings, performances, and open studios. Small experiments and prototypes that make use of the cafe, laundry, shared kitchen, and local events are also welcome.
The format of the activity is open. However, we expect that the people, places, conversations, and everyday practices encountered during the stay in Kyoto will become starting points for the creator’s work or research.
The expected residency periods are as follows:
- September – October 2026
- December 2026
*Please note that November is excluded from the residency period.
The specific residency period and dates will be adjusted according to the creator’s proposal. In particular, activities that can connect with the local event planned around 31 October are considered highly compatible with this residence.
Notes for Applicants
This residence is not a programme based on the assumption of a quiet private studio or a completely independent production environment. During the residency, creators will share the space with cafe and laundry users, local people, event participants, and others. Therefore, not only planned exchanges, but also daily conversations, everyday sounds, and unexpected events may influence the creator’s practice or research.
This residence is more suitable for creators who can work while responding to people and situations in an open place, rather than those who prioritise working alone in a highly concentrated environment.
Accommodation is planned to be located near the facility, but the surrounding environment may include sounds such as trains. Applicants who are highly sensitive to noise should confirm this in advance.
Information about the kitchen during the stay
Japanese home-cooking classes are regularly held in the shared kitchen on the first floor of the accommodation facility. Creators may also be able to experience these classes. However, for those who plan to cook for themselves regularly, there may be some restrictions on the times when the accommodation kitchen can be used. Available times will be shared during the residency.
In addition, this facility is a simple accommodation facility in a guesthouse style, using shared shower rooms and toilets. The living space is equipped with a dedicated refrigerator, and facilities are prepared so that creators can stay without major inconvenience. However, please note in advance that the environment is different from a standard hotel.
Photos of the spaces
Work space
Residency room
Kitchen (shared)
Cafe
