Resistance is
taking up space
Occupy
Occupy
Occupy
Residency Program
A residency program designed to take up space, spark community connection, and invest in the vibrancy of grassroots arts + culture.
The Occupy Residency is an 11-week program for artists, makers, designers, writers, performers, film makers + multidisciplinary practitioners. Suitable for emerging-to-established creatives who wish to birth a project, get lost in new research, and/or expand their practice.
Hosted at Vacant Assembly in West End, this program dedicates time, space + a mini smorgasbord of resources to push boundaries within creative practice. Made possible by partnerships, patrons + Assemble Art Bank , 4 x residencies will be offered across each year.
UPCOMING
↓
UPCOMING ↓
RESIDENCies
Applications Open
July 27th
For Aboriginal + Torres Strait Islanders
Applications Close
17th August
Successful Applicant Announced
2nd Sept
Sept 30th - Dec 16th
Feb 2nd - April 19th ‘27
April 23rd - July 9th
July 12th - Sept 27th
Occupy What???
Are you actively exploring new forms of material practice, social engagement, or experimental ways to approach practice?
Next residency (for Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islanders) opens July 27th, 2026
Interested in applying + the suitable date range is not open? Submit an expression of interest (EOI)and we will let you know when it opens. Please note that the April - July and September - December are funded for First Nations applicants.
Current Resident
July 12th - Sept 27th, 2026
Occupy
Occupy
Occupy
Bianca Tainsh has been exploring perceptions of interconnectedness through an enquiry spanning 4 years of art + science collaborations and artistic experimentation. This enquiry materialised the ‘terra-biome’ - living sculptures sustaining millions of organisms, their electrical communications revealed through embedded electronics. Terra-biomes implicate humans as convergent, visceral bodies.
During her OCCUPY residency, she wants to push these perceptions of interconnectedness into new material territory. “I will be drawing from an archive of found artefacts shaped by entropy, organism, and element, testing how organic forms translate across materials. Unlike Ernst Haeckel's Artforms of Nature - a survey entranced by symmetry - my archive seeks the wild asymmetries of decay, sexual manifestation, and symbiosis”.
Photograph left by Teddy Horton.
Residency Outcome Exhibition
at Vacant Assembly
Sept 18th - 20th, 2026
SAVE THE DATE…
Artist Residency Talks/ Community Events
TBC
Free event / open to all community
“Vacant Assembly is partnering with local community to build residency opportunities that occupy or take up space. Lets’ push boundaries , create space for more stories + find ways to thrive together”
Occupy Residency
Partners
Image right: Aboriginal Art Co Founders - Troy Casey (Chair) and Amanda Hayman (Managing Director)
Our Occupy Residency partner for 2 of the 4 residencies in 2026 is Aboriginal Art Co (AAC), a First Nations–led gallery, store and arts organisation based in Meanjin/Magandjin/Brisbane. They present Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art and create meaningful opportunities for artists to develop, exhibit and share new work. Guided by strategic pillars, Artistic Presentation, Cultural Leadership and Capacity Building, AAC provides a culturally safe, artist-centred environment that supports creative experimentation, professional growth and community connection. As a partner and neighbouring gallery, AAC is excited to offer extra support for First Nations participation in the OCCUPY residency program.
Our 2nd residency, July 12th- Sept 27th, 2026 is funded by anonymous patrons of the VA community who are passionate about building opportunities for Brisbane’s creative community.
This residency is in honour of Adam R H Bennett 1997 - 2024.
Be kind to yourself