Organized by NetDragon Websoft Inc., the inaugural Young Artist Residency Program is themed on "Latent Flow" and it aims to establish long-term and in-depth networks with artists and curators to jointly explore more possibilities for art and cultural ecology in the technological era. 3 groups of "young artists + curator" will be selected globally from all the entries. 

The Theme: Latent Flow

The project is based on the layered historical structure and cultural environment in Fuzhou. Through various forms such as video, games, artificial intelligence, and interactive media, it intends to explore how ideas are encoded, invoked, and re-perceived. Artists are encouraged to explore interdisciplinary collaborative methods and examine the boundaries beyond art, technology, humanities, and social practice.

Like a developing darkroom, the residency program allows the forces hidden in culture, technology, and perception to be detected, translated, and activated. "Latent" here refers to those chaotic, ambiguous, yet system-driving, cognition-shaping, and action-regulating invisible energies, such as the potential narratives in local memories that have yet to be told, the logical tensions continuously operating beneath code, and the underlying currents in media itself on both material and technological levels. It seeks to build an empowering field of technological transition at the intersection of the virtual and the real and to render new discursive directions in the cultural substratum.

The project aims to combine local experiences with digital technology and media experimentation, exploring how nature, technology, and society continue to dialogue and coexist today. It may provide a concrete yet open context for more diverse thinking, making creation an experimental response to the latent flow. In the quiet depths, the flowing halo is revealed.

Notes on Application

This project adopts the residency model of the "Artist+Curator", and applications are submitted in the form of an artist-curator combination. During the residency, the artist will carry out creative practice around the theme of the residency while the curator participates in the creative process as an observer, and studies the artist's creative process through interviews, recordings, and writing. Through continuous dialogue and collaboration, the two jointly build residency results that combine creation and research.

There is no limit to the creative medium and form, and it encourages practice in various forms such as installation, video, interaction, performance, and digital media, and explores cutting-edge technologies such as artificial intelligence and technological interaction as expressions, while paying attention to the connection between Fujian's local cultural context and contemporary art.

Application requirements and download links:

About the Residency

Residency Period: 3 months

Location: NetDragon Websoft Inc. (Fuzhou)

Application Deadline: April 20, 2026

As an enterprise deeply involved in the construction of digital technology and virtual worlds, NetDragon has always believed that technology is not only an efficient tool, but also a force that influences creative expression, perception, and thought structure. Based on this long-term vision, NetDragon relies on its own superior resources in intelligent technology to launch the "Young Artist Residency Program", with creation, research, and public activities as the core direction, and cooperates with the Central Academy of Fine Arts to openly recruit "young artists and curators" at home and abroad to carry out residency practice in NetDragon (Fuzhou), and present the achievements to the public in various forms such as exhibitions and publications.

Jury Members

Liu Dejian

Distinguished Professor at the Central Academy of Fine Arts, Senior Engineer at Professor level, Member of the Hong Kong Arts Association, Board Member of UNESCO Institute for Information Technologies in Education, Founder and Chairman of NetDragon Websoft Inc.

Fei Jun

Professor of Art and Technology at the Design School of the Central Academy of Fine Arts, Founder and Creative Director of collective ART TECH, Secretary General of the Digital Art Committee of the China Artists Association

Xiao Ge

Curator and media professional, currently Editor-in-Chief and Vice President of Phoenix Art, Director of Phoenix Center, Deputy Director of Xiao Feng Art Museum

Yan Yan

Executive Director of Today Art Museum, Member of the Curatorial Art Committee of Beijing Artists Association

You Yang

Curator, Director of X Art Museum

Project Planning

Xue Tianchong

Teacher of Design Curation and Spatial Narrative at the Design School of the Central Academy of Fine Arts

Lin Tong

Vice President of NetDragon Websoft Inc., General Manager of NetDragon Digital Education Town

Courtesy of the Organizer, edited (EN) by CAFA ART INFO.