Research and Experimentation Grant at Hangar’s Soft/Hardware and Interaction Lab – Barcelona Crea

Introduction
The “Barcelona Crea – Fàbriques de Creació 2025 Grants” are an initiative of the Xarxa de Fàbriques de Creació, supported by the Institut de Cultura, aimed at supporting the pre-production stages that accompany the development of artistic proposals: conceptualization, incubation, research, experimentation, documentation, and rehearsal. These grants aim to contribute to the cultural and scientific vitality of the city by providing resources to support artistic research and innovation processes.

Hangar’s mission is to maintain (i.e., generate, update, revise, repair, and sustain) the conditions necessary to facilitate artistic production and research, understood as practices and forms of critical speculation capable of responding to contemporary debates and urgencies. Hangar understands art as a knowledge-producing practice and therefore upholds artistic research as a legitimate mode of inquiry, endowed with its own specific methods of discovery and knowledge production.

Hangar is announcing one Barcelona Crea – Fàbriques de Creació 2025 grant to award an artist, collective, researcher, or developer working with open-source technology to undertake a research, development, or pre-production residency at Hangar’s Soft/Hardware and Interaction Lab. The grant provides recipients with a budget, workspace, and the technical conditions necessary to carry out their research and contribute to its dissemination in a professional context.

About Hangar’s Soft/Hardware and Interaction Lab
Hangar is committed to developing custom hardware for artistic projects with a strong emphasis on free/libre hardware and software. The Soft/Hardware and Interaction Lab is capable of developing all kinds of hardware for artistic needs, including electronics design, programming, and prototyping. Applications include real-time interaction, synchronization, mechanisms, automation, and remote controls. The lab also develops a range of open-source tools available to artistic projects. Miguel de Heras, the lab’s technical lead, will provide technical guidance for the selected project.

1. Objectives
General:
— Support creators in their research and/or pre-production activities, experimental work, and project development.
— Identify and encourage the formation of communities around new tools and/or technologies.
Specific:
— Promote and facilitate the necessary resources for experimentation, research, development, and creation in the field of interactive open technology.
— Foster documentation, publication, dissemination, knowledge transfer, and exchange in the field of creation with interactive open technologies.

2. Provisions and Funding
Hangar will provide the selected participant with:
— A gross fee of €6,000, which must include all costs related to materials for the research.
— Technical support, advice, and access to tools for project development.
— Workspace at the Soft/Hardware and Interaction Lab or an equivalent space in the resident projects area.
— Access to Hangar’s network of collaborators, including suppliers, technicians, research centers, and cultural institutions.
— Promotion and public presentation of the project as part of Hangar’s public program.
— Note: This grant does not cover travel expenses, accommodation, or daily living costs.

3. Eligibility
— Artists and collectives, researchers, and developers of any age or nationality working in the field of open technology and connected to Barcelona or its metropolitan area. This connection may be proven by one of the following:
• The project is related to Barcelona or its metropolitan area.
• The applicant resides in Barcelona or its metropolitan area.
• The applicant is connected to Barcelona’s cultural scene, as evidenced by the documentation submitted.
Only projects requiring ideation, research, prototyping, testing, or pre-production to be carried out at the Soft/Hardware and Interaction Lab will be considered.

4. Duration
The grant-funded project must take place over three consecutive months between September and November 2025.

5. Requirements
— Each individual or collective may submit only one project.
— The project must be developed primarily at the Soft/Hardware and Interaction Lab or another designated space within Hangar.
— The proposal must be in a development phase: ideation, research, prototyping, testing, or pre-production (i.e., prior to final production).
— No part of the project must have already been developed within the phases supported by this grant.
— The proposal must not have been publicly presented before.
— The proposal must not have received any prior funding from the Barcelona City Council or any Barcelona Crea grant.

6. Obligations of the Selected Project
— Participate in Open Thursdays, providing free technical support and assistance to other creators.
— Lead an open and free workshop related to the tools used in the project.
— Give a public presentation of the project during the residency period as part of Hangar’s program.
— Submit a final report and residency evaluation within two months after completion.
— Grant Hangar the right to publicly communicate the research worldwide for dissemination and communication purposes (publications, press kits, website, social media, etc.).
— Include the Hangar logo as producer or co-producer in all credits and promotional materials for future exhibitions. If not feasible, the project must be shown with the text: “Project produced with the support of Hangar, Center for Artistic Production and Research.”

*Open Thursdays are weekly open sessions for artists, creators, and developers from various electronic arts disciplines to work with free hardware/software tools. These sessions are free and open to the public, providing opportunities to connect with tech experts and collaborators.

7. Application Process
Applications must be submitted by email to: miguel(at)hangar.org
Subject line: Beca_Crea_Interaccio_NAME_SURNAME
Attach a PDF dossier including:
— Personal details (Full name, date and place of birth, passport or ID photo, email, phone number).
— CV (including technical qualifications, max. 1,500 characters incl. spaces).
— Project description, including:
• Project summary (max. 2,000 characters incl. spaces)
• Objectives (max. 1,000 characters incl. spaces)
• Expected results (max. 2,000 characters incl. spaces)
• Methodology (max. 2,000 characters incl. spaces)
• Motivation for doing the residency at Hangar’s Lab (max. 2,000 characters incl. spaces)
• Project documentation approach (max. 2,000 characters incl. spaces)
• Work calendar and plan (max. 2,000 characters incl. spaces)
• Technical requirements list

IMPORTANT:
— Applications missing required information or exceeding length limits will not be considered.
— Applications may be submitted in Catalan, Spanish, or English.
— Artists who have received a grant from the Soft/Hardware and Interaction Lab in the past five years are not eligible.

8. Deadlines and Timeline
— Application deadline: Tuesday, July 15, 2025, at 00:00h (GMT+1)
— Selection results: July 31, 2025
— Residency period: Three consecutive months between September and November 2025

9. Selection Committee
The selection committee will consist of:
— An invited technical expert
— A member of Hangar’s permanent jury
— Miguel Ángel de Heras, head of the Interaction Lab at Hangar
Shortlisted applicants may be contacted for an interview.

10. Evaluation Criteria
Projects will be evaluated based on:
— Completeness and compliance with the required format and length
— Relevance and coherence in relation to the applicant’s trajectory
— Consistency and originality of the proposal
— Feasibility and development potential at Hangar
— Technical skills and degree of self-sufficiency of the applicant
— Willingness to share and open the development process with the Hangar community
— Regular presence at the Soft/Hardware and Interaction Lab
— Alignment with Hangar’s and the Lab’s core lines of work

11. Data Protection
In accordance with data protection regulations, personal data will be processed by Hangar solely for managing participation in this call. Data will not be shared with third parties. Applicants may access, correct, or delete their data, or exercise other rights as established by applicable laws.
Submitting a project implies authorship. The applicant assumes full responsibility for any legal claims that may arise.

12. Acceptance of Terms
Participation in this call implies full acceptance of these terms and the jury’s decision, as well as any subsequent changes due to external circumstances beyond Hangar’s control.

For more information:
Miguel Ángel de Heras
miguel(at)hangar.org
+34 933 084 041