The artist residency program is at the core of the Etnia House of Arts initiative in Venice. Hosted annually within the evocative setting of the Ex Chiesa dell’Abbazia della Misericordia, a site rich in history and spiritual resonance, it is conceived as a platform for creative exchange and interdisciplinary dialogue.

Each year, artists are selected by a jury of art experts and invited to reside and work within the former church, temporarily transforming this historic space into an artist’s studio.

During the residency, each participating artist will create wearable artworks, shaping, molding, and developing their ideas using the project's unconventional canvas: a pair of glasses. The public will be invited to engage with the creative process, gaining a rare opportunity to witness the artists in the act of creation.

The resulting works will subsequently be exhibited in museums and galleries around the world.