Upė Foundation and Gasworks announce a new multi-year partnership supporting emerging artists and curators connected to the Baltic region (Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia) and their diasporas. Taking place across 2027 and 2028, the partnership brings together a 12–18-month, full-time paid Curatorial Fellowship at Gasworks and a fully funded artist residency in London, followed by a solo exhibition at Gasworks in 2028.
Launching today are open calls for an early-career curator with a connection to the Baltic region, and for an artist who is at a pivotal stage in their career based in Lithuania, Latvia or Estonia. Together, the opportunities will provide a sustained framework in which curatorial development, artistic research and exhibition-making can take place in dialogue over an extended period.
The partnership marks a new step in Upė Foundation’s programming, expanding its support through more integrated, institutionally embedded and longer-term opportunities for curators and artists. Upė seeks to offer sustained conditions for practitioners to develop their work internationally, bringing perspectives from the Baltic region into dialogue with the working cultures and expansive artistic contexts of international partners such as Gasworks.
Upė Foundation develops new frameworks for exchange between the Baltic region and global contemporary art communities. Upė’s inaugural Curatorial Fellowship programme was launched in 2025 to support the next generation of curators, carving out space for new conversations, perspectives, and under-researched subjects and approaches in contemporary art.
Upė Foundation Curatorial Fellowship at Gasworks
The Upė Foundation Curatorial Fellowship is a 12–18-month, full-time paid position embedded within Gasworks’ curatorial team. Conceived as a professional development opportunity for an early-career curator with a connection to the Baltic region, the Fellowship offers sustained experience across Gasworks’ exhibitions, residencies, public programmes and wider artistic activity.
Working closely with Gasworks’ Curator and Assistant Curator, the Fellow will contribute to the coordination and delivery of the artistic programme and collaborate across the organisation with artists, partners, external contributors and freelancers. The role requires care, curiosity, strong organisational ability and administrative skills within an artist-focused, fast-paced working environment.
A particular focus of the Fellowship will be supporting the artist selected through the parallel Upė Foundation open call. The Fellow will work closely with the selected artist during their 2027 residency and contribute to the research, development, production and logistics of their subsequent solo exhibition at Gasworks in 2028.
Application deadline: Monday, November 9, 2026, 1pm GMT
Full details about eligibility, the Fellowship and how to apply are available on the Gasworks and Upė Foundation websites.
Artist residency and exhibition at Gasworks
This opportunity is open to an artist who is at a pivotal stage in their career based in Lithuania, Latvia or Estonia. It combines an eleven-week, fully funded residency at Gasworks in 2027 with a solo exhibition at Gasworks the following year. The residency will take place in London from July 7 to September 21, 2027.
Gasworks’ residencies are self-led, non-prescriptive and process-based, providing artists with time and space to develop their practice, undertake research, engage with the city and build new professional networks.
Following the residency, the selected artist will continue developing their work towards a solo exhibition at Gasworks in July–September 2028. Throughout this process, they will work in dialogue with Gasworks and the Upė Foundation Curatorial Fellow, allowing the residency, research and exhibition to develop within a longer-term framework of exchange and collaboration.
Application deadline: Tuesday, February 2, 2027, 1pm GMT
Full details about eligibility, the residency and exhibition, and how to apply are available on the Gasworks and Upė Foundation websites.
About Upė Foundation
Upė Foundation is a London-based platform that draws currents between global and Baltic (Lithuanian, Latvian, Estonian) art communities, setting new artistic, curatorial and research possibilities in motion. Upė focuses on horizontal, long-term exchange through a range of partnerships, fellowships and initiatives, amplifying new ideas, risk-taking work and underexplored perspectives. Upė is drawn to a field that is living, cross-disciplinary and imaginative, open to encounters between practices, contexts and communities.
About Gasworks
Gasworks is a leading non-profit arts organisation based in south London. Working at the intersection of UK and international contemporary art, we have supported more than 750 artists from over 100 countries since our founding in 1994.
We commission and produce exhibitions by emerging and underrepresented artists, and host residencies that enable artists from all over the world to research and develop new work. We also provide studios for London-based artists and develop participation projects for local children, young people and families together with community partners.
Above all, Gasworks is a home for artists. We are committed to building long-term relationships with all the artists we work with. Thanks to our award-winning history, we have developed an unparalleled reputation for cultivating new artistic talent.
Gasworks is a registered charity, the London hub of Triangle Network, and part of Arts Council England’s National Portfolio.
