International Art-Science Residency
An English-first residency for artists exploring synthetic biology, living systems, bio-manufacturing, ethics, and the future of life inside the iSynBio ecosystem in Shenzhen.
Why synthetic biology
Synthetic biology applies engineering principles to design, reconstruct, and synthesize living systems. For artists, this is not only a scientific shift. It is a shift in authorship, materiality, responsibility, and public imagination.
Gene editing, directed evolution, molecular machines, biofoundries, and AI-assisted biology are changing how life is understood and produced. Much of this transformation is invisible to the public. Artists can make the questions visible before the answers become settled.
The iSynBio ecosystem
The Shenzhen Institute of Synthetic Biology brings together laboratories, platforms, and public infrastructure for living-system design and bio-manufacturing. Cross-Media Lab translates that environment into a context artists can enter responsibly.
50+
research labs
1200+
scientists and researchers
3
major infrastructure anchors
A scientific anchor for fundamental theory, core technologies, and strategic research in synthetic biology.
An industrial-scale context for green technology, healthcare, agriculture, and manufacturing with biology.
A bridge for artists, scientists, and publics, supporting translation, conversation, and research-led practice.
Program at a glance
The residency is designed as a practical bridge between artistic research and scientific environments, with transparent expectations before anyone enters a lab.
Duration
A focused on-site residency shaped around research feasibility and lab availability.
Location
Based at iSynBio in Guangming Science City, with access to a major synthetic biology ecosystem.
Format
Artists work through visits, conversations, supervised access, and curatorial research support.
Application status
Applicants begin through the form, followed by an online conversation and feasibility review.
Who can apply
Open to research-led practitioners across art, design, writing, media, performance, and curation.
Working language
English is the primary public language, with Chinese support available in the local context.
Expected outcomes
A final artwork is not required; process, public conversation, and documentation are valued.
Support summary
Selected residents receive core living/work support, with lab and production resources by request.
Submit a short proposal, portfolio, availability, and preferred research themes.
Meet online to discuss artistic questions, expectations, constraints, and support needs.
Review scientific fit, mentor availability, safety conditions, and project feasibility.
Join an orientation or cohort visit to understand the campus, labs, and working culture.
Spend 1-3 months on site developing research, prototypes, public programs, or documentation.
Research themes
These themes help applicants translate their practice into possible scientific conversations. They are invitations, not restrictions.
Life from parts
Investigate what changes when cells are not only observed or modified, but built from molecular components.
Living factories
Explore organisms, enzymes, and automated platforms as material systems for future production.
Matter that grows
Work with the cultural and sensory implications of materials that metabolize, decay, adapt, or self-organize.
Invisible collaborators
Consider microbial communities as ecological, social, and aesthetic actors rather than hidden background life.
Molecular form
Translate folded structures, molecular machines, and designed proteins into spatial, sonic, or narrative forms.
Prediction and imagination
Question how machine learning changes biological discovery, authorship, and the imagination of living systems.
Robotic life design
Look at laboratories as automated infrastructures where protocols, machines, and organisms co-produce knowledge.
Making life public
Develop forms that make responsibility, access, risk, care, and future publics part of the biological conversation.
Residency experience
The aim is not to force a finished artwork. It is to create time, access, and translation between artistic questions and scientific practice.
Orientation, safety briefing, campus context, and research-theme mapping.
Lab visits, scientist meetings, studio time, reading, interviews, and concept development.
Internal sharing, critique, or conversation to refine the artistic research direction.
Prototype, field notes, talk, workshop, essay, documentation, or exhibition proposal.
Valid outcomes include research, prototypes, field notes, public talks, workshops, documentation, essays, and future exhibition proposals. The program treats process as a serious artistic result.
Lab access and safety
BioArt and synthetic biology require careful boundaries. The program welcomes artistic ambition, but every laboratory condition must be reviewed with scientists and safety staff.
Who should apply
No biology degree is required. The strongest fit is a practice that can learn from scientific methods without reducing science to illustration.
What we provide
Art-science residencies work best when expectations are stated early. This matrix separates confirmed baseline support from items that require additional review.
Application process
The process starts with a proposal and conversation, then moves into feasibility, safety, and lab matching.
Artists and projects archive
The archive will grow with the residency. Resident profiles will document artistic questions, research themes, lab collaborators, media, public talks, essays, and project images.
FAQ
The residency involves scientific spaces, public institutions, and living systems, so boundaries matter as much as possibilities.
No formal biology degree is required. Strong research motivation, patience with scientific process, and respect for laboratory rules are more important.
Yes. The program is designed as an international residency. Practical details such as travel, visa timing, and invitation letters are reviewed case by case.
Collectives may apply when one lead applicant is named and the proposed working format is feasible for the lab, housing, and public program.
Possibly, but only after scientific, safety, and feasibility review. Any biological material, organism handling, or wet lab work requires approval and supervision.
Applicants may indicate preferred research themes or labs. Final matching depends on scientific fit, mentor availability, safety, and project feasibility.
The program provides selected support such as accommodation, workspace, mentorship, and case-by-case production help. Full funding depends on the confirmed residency format.
Round-trip airfare to and from Shenzhen is not included in the current v1 policy unless a separate agreement is made.
Daily meals are not included in the current v1 policy unless a separate agreement is made.
Invitation letter support can be considered after selection and residency confirmation. The program cannot guarantee visa outcomes.
No finished artwork is required by default. Research, prototypes, public talks, workshops, essays, documentation, or exhibition proposals can all be valid outcomes.
Artwork ownership and intellectual property questions are discussed case by case before the residency begins, especially when scientific data or lab resources are involved.
No unsupervised biological work is allowed. Safety orientation is mandatory, and sensitive proposals may require biosafety or ethics review.
Contact and apply
Start with the application form, browse the iSynBio labs, or request a conversation with the Cross-Media Lab team.
Chenli Liu
Honorary Director
Zhijie Qiu
Honorary Director
Xiao Yi
Executive Director, Bio
Baoyang Chen
Executive Director, Art