Application deadline: 11.11.2026, 23:59 CET
Jury selection: 12.11.2026
Onboarding: 16.11.2026
Powered by Œuvre Nationale’s Fonds Prix culture et création
Exploring co-habitation in a quarter in transition
hqLX’s research residency programme at the former CIS (Centre d’Incendie et de Secours) Luxembourg in Belair.
At the outset of the area’s masterplan transformation, hqLX is recasting Luxembourg City’s 1968 fire station into a hybrid third space for contemporary residencies and spatial experimentation, located in the future Wunnquartier Stade in Belair. Informed by academic research and activated through playful encounters, hqLX operates as a living laboratory across 1,000 m²: a lieu de vie with a daily cafeteria service, where informal community life and activities from the surrounding city converge.
For the winter season 2026/27, hqLX invites one cultural practitioner to join 4L “Quarterlife”, its research residency format, for three months. You will engage with the immediate surroundings of the firehall through a cycle of territorial mapping, open discussions and public presentation.
4L takes the operational logic of the fire station as its methodological starting point. Just as a fire brigade trains “within” in order to intervene “beyond”, you move from the project’s relational attitude towards an extra muros deployment that strengthens public engagement.
This edition builds on the first residency (summer season 2026), which delivered hqLX’s atelier prototype. It continues that territorial investigation in order to consolidate the founding step towards a longer-term academic framework at hqLX.
The continuous research as relay race
A cycle of repetition and deliberate intervals, sparking unexpected events.
Mapping: You map the past stories of an evolving quarter through archival review, institutional visits and civic encounters with CGDIS firefighters, the National Archives, the City’s Service des Sports and others.
Engaging: You bring your field research into 4L’s seminar-like exchanges, co-hosted with the guests you invite and accompanied by thematic interlocutors. Together you design a collaborative agenda that stays open for related art collectives and cultural initiatives to respond to.
Testing: You develop public-facing outputs that translate real neighbourhood data into imagined spatial narratives, through an installation, a performance or a participatory game.
The residency in practice
- Duration: 3 months, with weekly contributions
- Stipend: €6,000
- Workspace: anywhere between hqLX and the University of Luxembourg.
- Eligibility: open to all artistic disciplines, cultural and scientific fields currently in academic development & already engaging in spatiality and social context
Applicants must demonstrate a significant connection to Luxembourg.
How to apply
Send your application by 11 November 2026, 23:59 CET, to 4L@h-q-l-x.org.
One PDF or ZIP file, max. 20 MB, in English, including:
- a letter of intent (max. 500 words) situating your practice in relation to co-habitation;
- a CV with contact details;
- a portfolio (max. 12 pages, max. 15 MB).
For questions, please reach out to 4L@h-q-l-x.org.