residencies at the nest

The Nest Residency Programme

As of April 2024, we are delighted to announce that our Hatching residency programme has now re-opened for applications.

If you’d like to come and have a look at the space, or meet us and have a chat about your ideas before you decide whether to apply, we’re really happy to do that. Please just get in touch.

A Hatching Residency offers supported time and space to experiment or play with a ‘What if…?’ idea in its earliest stages.

Nest Residencies are simple, adaptable and flexible, and aim to focus on the very early stages of idea or project development: to give space to the artistic process through supporting time to play, experiment, dream and meander. They are designed by artists (us), for artists (which we define as anyone creating work using words, images, sound or the body). There is no requirement to produce anything, other than a blogpost reflecting on your time with us.

Key Dates

Please note that as our funding is limited this year, we have decided to host two rounds of residencies (with more to follow, subject to successful fundraising across the year). This replaces the usual rolling deadline for Nest Residencies.

Round 1: Closing date for applications is May 19th 2024, for residencies to take place in June/July.

Round 2: Closing date for applications is 15th September 2024, for residencies to take place in October/November.

If you have previously completed a residency at The Nest and are in need of space-in-kind, we may be able to help – please get in touch and let us know what you need.

“Those two weeks were the most creative I have felt in some time…because I had permission to focus on just one project…and because all pressure to produce and share something at the end of the residency was removed.”
(Nicky Bellenger)

Residency as Resistance

To be clear from the start – Nest Residencies cannot support your fully-formed project idea or proposal – there are other funds out there that are better suited to that.

We are interested in how a residency at The Nest can help hatch those really early ideas (or half-ideas); in how being freed from delivery might help you to better develop your process and your practice; in what that might teach you about yourself as an artist; and how that might affect or develop your approach to your work. You might call Nest Residencies a small act of resistance against the prevailing requirement to know exactly where you’re going before you set off.

All residencies are held within the open and caring ethos of The Nest, and form part of our ongoing exploration of regenerative creative practice – so we’re also interested in why you are interested in Talking Birds, in our ways of working at The Nest, and in exploring something together.

We recognise that everyone’s circumstances are different, and we want to be sure that our offer will be a good fit for you, and will best support you to explore your idea.

We can support most multi and cross disciplinary practice (including performance, theatre, dance, writing, music and visual art) which doesn’t require any ultra-specialist equipment or facilities. If you’re not sure whether that includes you, please ask us.

What is The Nest?

The Nest is home base and shared workspace for Talking Birds – created as a place for people to come together to imagine, and rehearse into being, much better ways of doing things.

It is somewhere to host our Nest Residency programme and other artist support, development & collaboration opportunities such as Open Cast, Nestival of Ideas, co-working and F13 and, through all of this activity, to build a welcoming, values-driven, climate-conscious, regenerative, creative community – which we call The Flock.

Our studio spaces each have a desk and chair, separate armchair (and mat/rug if you need to lie down), radiator, pin boards, lamp, opening windows and lockable doors. If you need anything else, just ask. We are pretty resourceful and we’ll try our best to sort it for you.

It is worth remembering that there’s no sound-proofing and, as The Nest is a working creative building with a lively and varied timetable, although relative silence does happen, it can never be guaranteed.

“Having the safety and support of Talking Birds and The Nest gave me the ‘permission’ to create without rigid expectations, to dive in whilst knowing I won’t drown, to hold a gentle and nurturing space where it is impossible to do anything other than play and create without restriction.”
(Sym Mendez)

How to apply for a Hatching Residency

A Hatching Residency is an opportunity to experiment or play with an idea at its earliest stages. It offers you supported time, space and conversation with other artists, and is designed to allow you to think, explore or take a punt on one of those ‘What if…?’ ideas that might otherwise remain flapping around in the back of your head for years.

Who can apply?

Nest Residencies prioritise hyper-locally-based artists and artists who identify as D/deaf, disabled and/or neurodivergent working in any discipline. Applicants can be working solo, or in collaboration with another artist, and this could be an existing or new collaboration. For more detailed guidelines on who can apply, please read through the FAQ‘s.

What does the residency offer?

A dedicated studio space for 2-10 days (continuously over 2 weeks or spread out over a longer time frame) to best support the Hatching of your idea.
A fee tailored to suit you and your working pattern, but roughly equivalent to £100 per person per day.
Modest materials budget, if needed.
Tailored support such as mentoring or skill-sharing.
Access to The Nest library, magazine subscriptions and informal chats with the TBs team and other residents, over coffee and/or during communal lunchtimes.
Any additional access support you might need in order to make the opportunity work for you.
Relative silence does happen, but can never be guaranteed as our spaces aren’t sound-proofed.

What do we expect of you?

We expect that you will immerse yourself in your idea, allow yourself to fruitfully meander, free yourself from any external or self-imposed pressure to deliver, and will make the most of this time, space and input to really explore your idea. We also expect that you will write or record a blogpost at the end reflecting on it. We will have a debrief meeting with you afterwards to reflect further and talk about where your idea might go next.

How do I apply?

To apply, fill in the online form (or send an audio/video application covering the following questions to nesting@talkingbirds.co.uk). Tell us about yourself and your practice; what excites you about this opportunity and about Talking Birds/The Nest; any access or support you might need to make the opportunity work for you; and (most importantly) the idea/area of experiment you would use your residency to explore. [You can find a word version of the questions on the online form here]

Application Form Link

How does it work?

We work with artists to structure their residency in the way that best supports them and their practice, and are happy to have a chat with you if you are not sure whether to apply. Our intention with our work at The Nest is to support, and be available for, the wider independent sector – holding a safe space for artists to come together in work and social contexts that are both nourishing and regenerative – to explore better ways of being and doing.

We want to live and work in a world which is equitable and regenerative for all people and for the planet; where there is connection, cooperation and nurture for all. This programme of residencies at The Nest is one of the ways we bring people together to help build a nurturing and regenerative creative community that can make real and lasting change happen. These opportunities are predominantly aimed at artists who are hyper-local to us, in order to enable and encourage active and/or green travel to and from The Nest.

We use the term ‘artist’ to refer to anyone creating work using words, images, sound or the body. We can support most multi and cross disciplinary practice (including performance, theatre, dance, writing, music and visual art) which doesn’t require any ultra-specialist equipment or facilities. If you’re not sure whether that includes you, please ask us.

“What I was least prepared for was the warmth and kindness from everyone at the Nest, the invaluable support from the staff and the fact that Talking Birds has virtually eliminated the barriers to creativity for the residents and cultivated an environment that’s as near to perfect for an artist to work in as is imaginable. This kind of support for artists is rare and, although there are other funding opportunities out there, in my experience they are hardly ever so accessible”.
Mason Le Long

FAQs

Why is Talking Birds running the Nest Residency programme? We want to encourage and mentor under-represented artists, give them space and time to experiment, and to allow this exchange to grow us and our creative community at The Nest.

Who can apply for the Nest residency programme? Artists of any discipline – working solo or with another artist in an existing or new collaboration. Nest Residencies prioritise hyper-locally-based artists and artists who identify as D/deaf, disabled and/or neurodivergent.

We work with artists to structure residencies in the way that best supports them and their practice, and are happy to have a chat with you, or show you round The Nest if you are not sure whether to apply. Our intention with our work at The Nest is to support, and be available for, the wider independent sector – holding a space for artists to come together in work and social contexts that are both nourishing and regenerative, guided by our values.

With The Nest, we have worked to create a space that is genuinely safe, welcoming and nurturing for everyone – Talking Birds’ work here seeks to find better ways of doing things through active practice, and we welcome artists that feel excited by this.

It seems only fair to say that, as there is high competition for residency spaces, if you have completed a Nest Residency in the past, a second application is likely to be a lower priority for us than other artists who we have not previously supported. Although if you have previously completed a residency at The Nest and are in need of space-in-kind, we may be able to help – please get in touch and let us know what you need.

What spaces are available for working in? Within the supportive community at The Nest building, we have created 3 Nest Residence studio spaces with love and care – and we hope you will find them accessible, comfortable and productive spaces to work in. These studios sit alongside studios occupied by Talking Birds artists and other members of the Nest community and residents are encouraged to use communal spaces for co-working and breaks.

The studio spaces are designed as ‘clean’ spaces, but if you need a ‘dirty’ space, this might be possible, depending on how you want to explore your idea. We should flag up, though, that we are pretty hardline about what materials can be used in the building and on waste generation and disposal, as – in line with our climate conscious stance – we want The Nest community to be a beacon of regenerative practice. If this is something you are also interested in exploring, then a Nest Residency may be an excellent fit for you.

Will I get paid for my time? The whole point of a Nest Residency is to allow you time, space and conversations to help you experiment and develop your idea – so we will offer you financial support for your time, in addition to a project mentor/sounding board and other appropriate support if needed. We value wellbeing and don’t believe artists should do more work than is reasonable for the money available. As a general rule of thumb, we calculate an offer at a modest £100 per day (in addition to studio space, access, mentoring support etc) and we will work with you to shape your work to the residency resources and ensure that you do not over-stretch yourself.

“It’s good to experiment with new techniques and reinvent your processes. But also to trust that by allowing your hands to work in familiar ways, you let go of the striving and accept the limitations (and possibilities) of what you can do…surprise yourself – bring in something that wasn’t in the original plan. This is why The Nest works; it’s a place of learning and trust. In this time and space, the work will emerge.”
(Anne Forgan)

I’m on benefits, can I still apply? Yes, we’ll do our best to make the residency work for you,

I’ve got a part time job, can I still apply? You need to be able to commit enough time to your residency to make it worthwhile, but if you can give us a plan for your working pattern that works around your other work, that’s fine by us.

I’m a student, can I still apply? Current Undergraduates are not eligible, but postgrads will be considered as long as you can demonstrate that it will fit around your studies.

I’ve got particular access needs, how will these be taken into account? We’ll do our level best to tailor the opportunity to you. We will discuss their “Support Rider” with every successful applicant so we can put in place the things they need to make a residency work for them.

I’m a d/Deaf / disabled / neurodivergent artist based outside the region but interested in developing work in Coventry. Am I eligible? The Hatching Residency is place-based. It is targeted at building the sector in the Midlands, with an emphasis on Coventry – and at building up the Flock (the creative community around The Nest) in particular. These opportunities are predominantly aimed at artists local to us in order to enable and encourage active and/or green travel to and from The Nest, however, if you are not Midlands-based, but can make a good case for connecting with The Nest community through coming to explore your idea in Coventry, please get in touch for a conversation.

If I Hatch an idea that I then want to take further, can Talking Birds help with that? At the end of each Hatching residency, we have a reflective conversation with the resident artist(s) – and part of that is about where the idea might go next and how Talking Birds might be involved in, or otherwise support, that next step.

Do I need to produce an outcome at the end of the residency? No – although we know, as artists ourselves, you probably will! We want to allow residents the time to really explore their idea, to honour the creative process and to take the pressure off being led by having to produce an outcome.

For all residencies we ask for a blogpost reflecting on what you have explored during your time at The Nest, including your journey on environmentally conscious practice.

Does my practice fit into the artforms and disciplines Talking Birds supports? It’s the idea, rather than the artform that interests us most, so if you’re not sure whether your idea fits the bill, please get in touch and let’s have a chat about it. We support most multi and cross discipline practice including performance, theatre, dance, music and visual arts that don’t require any ultra-specialist equipment or facilities – and we do our best to support wherever we can.

Who is funding this? Arts Council, England, through its support of Talking Birds as a National Portfolio Organisation supports a small number of residencies each year. We fundraise to support further residencies in addition to those supported through our NPO funding.

Who/what is Talking Birds? Talking Birds is a nationally renowned, Coventry-based company of artists specialising in Theatre of Place. You can find out more about our values, our work, Theatre of Place and our home, The Nest, on this website.

What are Talking Birds’ core values and do mine have to align with them? Our values (Kindness, Brilliance, Transformation, Curiosity, Wellbeing, Collaboration) combined with our ‘six big ideas’ (about artist process & support; access & participation; climate conscience; agency, equity & diversity; nurture & resilience) – weave through our work and guide our choices and interactions. You can find out more about our values and our six big ideas here.

We want to live in a world which is equitable and regenerative for all people and for the planet; where there is connection, cooperation and nurture for all. The development of The Nest is the next step for us – our opportunity to put down roots – to bring people together and build a nurturing and regenerative creative community that shares our values and can make real and lasting change happen. We want to champion, encourage and support inclusive, nurturing, environmentally conscious living and working – finding better ways of doing things through active practice.

As artists we use a wide range of materials, and we try to make better choices when creating work, we don’t think ‘sustainable’ (or breaking even) is good enough, and instead we champion regenerative working practices (in our relationships with people as well as the planet). We are working towards The Nest being a zero waste building/community so that it treads as lightly on the world as possible.

We’d like to know why The Nest is the place for your idea and how your residency will be consistent with Talking Birds’ values and/or show a commitment to exploring them, as these residencies are designed to help grow our welcoming-inclusive-change-making-creative-climate-conscious community in Coventry. In a Nest Residency, we want to work with you, to support you to experiment and to try some things out. We are interested in your idea, and in why you think that idea is best explored with us here at The Nest

What is Talking Birds’ track record in supporting artists in this way? On top of running the Nest Residency Programme since 2018, and the additional Nestival and Remix Residencies in 2022, Talking Birds has a track record of curating project development and residency opportunities for other artists. We previously ran the FarGoSpace programme in (what’s now) FarGo Village, we run a series of open auditions for performers called Open Cast, and we convene the F13 Artists’ Network. We have also developed a mobile captioning tool called the Difference Engine to help make experimental performances (by us and other artists/companies) more accessible.

Can I still apply for a Nestival or Remix Residency? Nestival and Remix were one-off residency strands that we created especially for our 30th Anniversary Nestival Programme during 2022. Our Hatching Residencies can support small collaborations as well as individuals focused on exploring new ideas.

Will my project supporter/mentor be one of the TBs team? Yes if we have the right skills to support you – but we will work with you to identify what sort of support you need and may draw on one of our many partner/collaborators/networks to work with you too. In-house expertise and interests include: creative development, theatre-making, site-specific work, design, composition and sound design, making work accessible, digital technologies, workshop, graphic and web design, peer critique, strategic planning, evaluation, finance and funding. Theatre makers also benefit from Talking Birds’ ITC (Independent Theatre Council) Hub membership.

Sounds brilliant! How do I apply? Either complete the online application form here. Or you can submit your application in video or audio format to cover the questions asked.

Artists who have already undertaken a residency with us include:

Andy Sargent, Lucy Hayward, Theatre in Black, Sylvia Theuri, Mahendra Patel, Jasmine Moreton, Katie Walters, Rosa Francesca Hinksman, Sinéad Brady, Luísa Isabel de Freitas, Chloe Allen, Emily Woodruff, Alan Van Wijgerden, melissandre varin, Tara Rutledge, Angela Mhlanga, Tom Walters, Patsy Browne-Hope, Tom Simkins, Holly Clark, Alex Hilton, Tina Hofman, Elizabeth Hudnott, Corinne, Dion Ellis-Taylor, Indira Prasad, Sarah Owen, Amanda Randall, Emily Tyler, Vimal Korpal, Becky Taylor, Paul Tafaro, Dom Fleming, Duncan Whitley, Wes Finch, Leanne Moden, Adele Mary Read & Paul Daly, Speak Up Theatre, Calico Theatre, Double D Divas, Andrea Mbarushimana, Steph Gray, Adi Dowling, The Killer Show, Vortex Creates, Saleena Masih, Pavani Konda, Ana Jesus, Sym Mendez, Nicky Bellenger, Tom Edwards, Olugbemi Moronfolu, B.O.O.K., Kim Hackleman, Butterfly Moon, Colour to Colour Theatre Company, Nicky Bellenger, Shorna Tamjid, Rosalind Harvey, Cody Maycock, Michael Snodgrass, Navkiran Kaur Mann, Matt Rheeston, Mason le Long, Erinn Dhesi, Anne Forgan, Sam Holley-Horseman, Cait Buckley, Pippa Church, Bally Sembi, Tom Godwin, Lisa Franklin, Michelle Bailey Le-Long, Jake Barrowcliffe, Po-Shin Chao, Kemi Awoyemi, Craig Clarke, Marianne White, Rachel Bunce, Izzy Hadlum, Hannah Adereti, Amy Kakoura, Tizzie Frankish, Craig Clarke, Julia O’Connell, Veronica Grant, Marianne White, Jaz Morrison

Artforms include:

Painting, drawing, theatre-making, digital visual art, music, installation, audio, writing, electronics, sculpture, film-making, radio, video, postcard, mixed media visual, dance, performance, online, poetry, interactive…

Each resident writes a blogpost at the end of their residency – and these can be found here .

“this residency has been transformative….Talking Birds, and its residencies programme is an essential example of what mothering could mean when it comes to the arts sector.”
(melissandre varin)