Following the success of Punctum’s Ballarat 2024 Seedpod program, Punctum and the City of Ballarat are pleased announce the return of the Ballarat Seedpod residency in 2025. Proposals are invited from artists at all stages of their career working in any area of live arts or contemporary performance who live, work or study in the City of Ballarat.

Seedpod is a renowned residency program created and produced by award-winning, regionally based live arts company - Punctum. It is research led, and artist centred. By ‘live arts’, Punctum means innovative or experimental performances or events that disrupt traditional ways of working together or propose new ways of interacting with audiences.

A 2025 Seedpod residency offers the successful artists time, funding, resources, and space to test ideas, push the boundaries of their creative practice, and understand how their work makes meaning with members of the public. Artists seeking to grow their practice in a responsive, rigorous setting of enquiry, experimentation and collaboration are invited to apply.

Seedpod artists/organisations will be expected to offer a public sharing of their exploration as a way of testing and understanding how their proposition works.

Getting started with your proposal

Please get in contact with Punctum via hq@punctum.com.au if you would prefer to apply in an alternative format, or if there are any barriers we can assist you with during your proposal process. To prevent loss of progress in case of an internet outage, we recommend writing your responses on a Word document and paste them into the Call Out form.

To help you start thinking about your proposal, here are some tips from the review panel to consider:

• If your work draws from cultural traditions, tell us about those traditions.
• If your work is process based, tell us about your process.
• If you need assistance translating, let us know.
• Be specific about your ways of making which you are seeking to use during your Seedpod residency.
• Propose URL links that give an indication of your past work.
• If you link to your web page or blog, make sure it’s up to date.
• If you mention how your work has been received in the past, include links to reviews/responses.
• If the Seedpod residency is a step in a new direction, talk about what has informed your work in the past and how it is influencing this new direction.
• Tell us where you understand your approach, concept, materials used, or form might sit within, or contribute to, contemporary performance and live arts practice.
• Use short phrases or if you prefer, dot points.

The opportunity to submit your proposal is now open and closes at midnight 28th January 2025. Artists will be advised of the results by March 7th, 2025.

We strongly recommend you arrange to discuss your idea with Punctum’s Artistic Director ahead of submitting it.