To apply for the PRIM | MAI residency

• Must be an independent artist.
• This joint residency fellowship applies to Indigenous artists (First Nations, Inuit,
  Métis), racialised artists (this includes those recently immigrated artists), members
  of the 2SLGBTQQIPAA+ community and/or to the Deaf, neurodivergent, living with a handicap and/or chronic illness.
• Must be a Canadian citizen or a Permanent resident. In the case of a collective, at least one member must meet the criteria.

or

• Artist collectives with a majority of members part of the communities mentioned
  above, and creating independent artworks.

Assistance granted

By PRIM

• • $8 000* access to all filming equipment and video and audio post-production studios and rooms for two year
  • $1,000* for audio and/or video training and support
  • Two-year membership fee of $75 (2026-2028)
  • Project guidance and technical support

*Calculated on the non-member rate. Applicable when the rooms and studios are used with a PRIM technician (if available) or if the artist works alone.

By the MAI

○ Financial support of $ 5,000 for the creation of the project.
○ Presentation option among one of the 3 following options:
– Visual projection of the artwork on the site of the MAI for 14 days in
2026-2028
– Installation of the artwork in the Café-Bar for a maximum of 7 days
in 2026-2028
– Film screening event of the project in the MAI’s Theatre

General eligibility rules

This joint residency fellowship is unique in its nature, and is intended for artists who have a draft of their project application already prepared (including a project description and budget) or are in the next phase from research to creation.

Eligible projects

All proposals for producing independent media works in any artistic practice using sound or moving images are eligible.

Note: Projects that are part of a school curriculum are not eligible.

PRIM :

Access to equipment

• • Sound and image capture (shooting)
  • Sound recording
  • Sound editing and exploration
  • Image editing and finishing
  • Colorization
  • Sound mixing (cinema and music)
  • Digitization, transfer and DCP creation
  • Virtual reality

Training

• • Workshop and training fees

MAI :

Professional training and artistic development

• • Workshop and training fees
  • Honorariums (mentors and/or consultants)
  • Software acquisition and other tools related to the training of the applicant
  • Writing, translation, and editing services
  • Consultation and assistance in preparing a grant application

Artistic research and creation

• • Honorariums for a mentor and/or consultants
  • Honorariums for production or technical assistance
  • Honorarium for a dramaturg, rehearsal director, an outside eye, production manager, technical director, sound engineer, composer, lighting designer, videographer, or other artistic collaborator
  • Publication coordination and/or production fees
  • Studio rental fees

Fees related to creation or updating a website

• • Writing, translation, and editing services
  • Support from a media relations agent
  • Support for incorporating a company or cultural enterprise and the drafting of related corporate documents
  • Consultation and assistance in preparing a grant application
  • Consultation and assistance drafting budgets

Non-eligible costs

The following expenses are not covered by the residency and remain the responsibility of the artist:

PRIM:

• • Technicians’ fees
  • Distribution media and supplies
  • Travel and accommodation costs, if applicable

MAI:

• • All direct payments to the artist
  • Fees for practices and performances, commercial rental spaces, commercial space service costs (ex. utilities – internet service, telephone, electricity etc..)
  • Fess related for crowdfunding a project, per diem for sustenance, travel and accommodation
  • Production fees (ex. technical materials; art supplies, decor, costumes and materials, musical equipment etc…)

How to apply

To submit your application, you must complete the registration form online and attach the following documents:

• • CV of the artist or the members of the artists’ collective applying
  • Completed form of technical requirements (Excel spreadsheet to download, attach form to the application)
  • Presentation of a budget and distribution of funds for the project
  • Audio/video supporting documentation (15 min max in total) in the form of links to Vimeo or other
  • Any other documentation that the artist feels is pertinent (photos, illustrations, script…)

Thursday, July 31, 2025 at 11:59 p.m.

Evaluation process

Applications are first evaluated by the person in charge of the program at MAI, based on the program’s eligibility requirements.
Eligible applications are then evaluated by a committee made up of representatives from both organizations.

The committee evaluates on merit based on the evaluation criteria of the program. At the end of the evaluation, the jury members decide whether to award the residency. The decisions are final and without appeal

Evaluation criteria

The projects are evaluated according to the following criteria:

1. 1. Innovative nature of the proposal
   2. Relevance of the subject matter in the context of image-based artistic practices
   3. Adequacy between the contents developed and the technologies used
   4. Relevance of the projects connection in intercultural and/or intersectional arts practice

Ethics

Committee members must follow Jury Member Professional Ethics Code and the Conflict of Interest rules.

Response time

PRIM and the MAI will provide a response within 3 months at the latest, after the published date of the call for proposals.

Due to the large number of proposals we receive, only artists whose projects are selected will be contacted. We understand that a lot of preparation work goes into a proposal and we are appreciative of all the artists who share their work with us.

Artists’ obligations

In order to benefit from the PRIM | MAI residency, the recipient must become a member of PRIM, carry out their project within one year of the date of signature of the agreement and respect the terms and conditions.

Recipients

Previous recipîents of the PRIM | MAI Joint Residency Fellowship are:

Gabriela de Andrade (2024)
Tam Khoa (2023)
Hadi Jamali (2018)
Corinne Beaumier (2017)
Maia Iotzova (2016)
Kim-Sanh CHAÛ (2015)
Nika Khanjani (2014)