Villa Erzzi Research Residency is a two-week interdisciplinary retreat for artists, curators, researchers, PhD candidates, designers, media practitioners, and experimental thinkers working across art, science, technology, and curatorial practice.
RESIDENCY DATES:
- March 1–14, 2027
- March 15–29, 2027
Located in the Lovran/Opatija region of Croatia, the residency provides time and space for focused research, writing, collaboration, prototyping, and artistic production. Participants may engage with topics such as the heritage of media art in former Yugoslavia, postcolonial perspectives on the Adriatic region, digital culture, art and science, curatorial research, media archaeology, and experimental technologies, while self-directed projects are equally welcome.
The program includes archive and research support, introductions to the Croatian contemporary art scene, visits and meetings with museums, galleries, and cultural institutions in Rijeka, invited lectures, discussion sessions, and crash courses in Unity and Blender/Rhino.
Selected projects and research outcomes may be presented through online exhibitions and international collaborations, including partner initiatives in Japan.
The residency culminates in an on-site exhibition and curated walking tour through Villa Erzzi, activating the house and its collection of screens, televisions, and shared spaces, alongside a hybrid online exhibition developed with our Japanese partner platform O-ME https://www.o-me.io/, presenting the research findings, prototypes, and artistic outcomes generated during the residency.
Rebecca Merlic (*1989, Germany; HR/AT/DE) is a European digital artist, architect, experimental filmmaker, researcher, and founder of the Villa Erzzi Artist Retreat Research Residency. Formerly a Senior Scientist at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna, her practice is based on artistic research and operates at the intersection of art, technology, architecture, game design, and critical cultural inquiry.
Drawing on experiences of migration and a commitment to decolonial and feminist methodologies, she develops immersive digital environments, collaborative research platforms, and experimental forms of storytelling that explore identity, collective memory, social transformation, and the relationship between technology and society. Her work combines artistic practice with scientific and archival research, creating spaces for participation, dialogue, and new forms of knowledge production.
Beyond her own artistic work, Merlic is dedicated to building international networks that connect artists, researchers, curators, technologists, and local communities across disciplines and generations. As organizer and artistic director of the residency, she fosters a space for critical exchange, interdisciplinary experimentation, and long-term collaboration between art, science, technology, and cultural heritage.
Her work has been recognized with the Marianne von Willemer Prize for Digital Media, the DKB VR Art Prize, and the Theodor Körner Prize for Art and Science. Projects have been presented internationally at Slamdance Film Festival, Ars Electronica, Belvedere 21, the Austrian Cultural Forum Tokyo, V2_ Lab for the Unstable Media, the National Museum Oslo, and Expo 2025 Osaka, among others.
The Villa Erzzi Artist Retreat extends her commitment to artistic research, international dialogue, and experimental forms of collaboration, providing a platform where artists and researchers can collectively explore urgent cultural, social, technological, and environmental questions.
Villa Erzzi Artist Retreat Research Residency MARCH 2027 