Open call for Artist in residency for After a single use
Eight locations. Eight research teams. One global conversation about plastic, healthcare and what comes next.
Contact: info.noba@vitenparken.no
Deadline: October 23, 2026
After the Single Use (ATSU) is a five-year international research project led by the University of Edinburgh and funded by the Wellcome Trust. It looks at the past, present and future of single-use medical plastics: how healthcare came to rely so heavily on disposable products, and what it would take to move towards a circular economy built on reuse. If the healthcare sector were a country, it would be the fifth-largest carbon emitter in the world, and single-use plastics are a big part of that.
The project brings together historians, anthropologists and public health researchers in eight countries: Norway, Scotland, the USA, Senegal, Tanzania, Switzerland, India and Papua New Guinea. Norwegian BioArt Arena (NOBA) at Vitenparken coordinates the artist residency programme on behalf of the project.
About the residency
Eight artists will be selected, one for each research location, to join the local research team between March and May 2027. This is a research-embedded residency, not a production residency. The focus is on curiosity, exchange and process.
Artists aren’t expected to illustrate or communicate the research. They’re invited to work alongside it: to observe, ask questions and respond in whatever way feels true to their practice. Works in progress will be presented locally towards the end of the residency, and all eight artists will contribute to a shared international online exhibition.
The residency in Norway
The Norwegian residency is hosted by the Institute of Health and Society at the University of Oslo, with a research team led by Professor Anne Kveim Lie. Their research follows three threads:
- how the Scandinavian welfare state moved from reusable to single-use equipment, with Rikshospitalet as a central case
- the single-use speculum as a gendered technology
- the industrial history of medical plastics in Norway, including the Baxter factory in Halden
Period: full-time in May 2027, or part-time (2–3 days a week) from March to May 2027
Fee: NOK 62,800 artist fee plus NOK 10,000 for materials
Workplace: a desk at the University of Oslo (accommodation not included)
Who can apply: artists from any discipline, including visual art, performance, film, photography, installation, design and socially engaged practice. No prior experience of working with researchers is needed. Norwegian is an advantage for archive work, but not required.
Read the full call for Oslo: English (.pdf) / Norwegian (.pdf)
Other locations
Calls are also open for Baltimore, Dakar, Edinburgh, Geneva, Hyderabad and Tanzania. The call for Goroka, Papua New Guinea, opens later.
🔗 Find all calls and apply here
Key dates
Application deadline: 23 October 2026
Decisions by 20 December 2026
Questions? Contact NOBA at info.noba@vitenparken.no
