Photosynthesis is a international artist residency programme dedicated to long-term artistic research in non-urban contexts. Supported by the Getty Foundation, the initiative brings together six arts organizations across four continents to create a collaborative residency model that enables artists to undertake sustained research across diverse ecological, cultural, and social landscapes. Through an eighteen-month residency programme, participating artists will spend successive three-month research periods at each partner institution, fostering meaningful engagement with place, community, and environmental inquiry.
Through Srihatta: the Samdani Art Centre and Sculpture Park joins Denniston Hill (USA), LUMA Arles (France), Pivô (Brazil), Tate St Ives (United Kingdom), and The Mothership (Morocco) as one of the programme's six founding partners. Together, the institutions have reimagined the traditional artist residency format, creating a trans-local framework that supports slow research, artistic autonomy, and long-term collaboration across multiple environments and communities.
The inaugural Getty Global Art and Sustainability Fellows are Annalee Davis (Barbados), Himali Singh Soin (India), and Michael Wang (USA). As the programme's first cohort, the three artists will each undertake research residencies across the six partner institutions over the course of eighteen months, developing new work through sustained engagement with diverse contexts.
As the Bangladesh partner, Srihatta: the Samdani Art Centre and Sculpture Park will host Himali Singh Soin, whose residency will begin in December 2026. During her residency at Srihatta, she will undertake research informed by the ecological, cultural, and social landscapes of Sylhet, engaging with local communities and knowledge systems as part of the programme's commitment to long-term artistic inquiry and environmental exchange.
Founded by Samdani Art Foundation, Srihatta is a rural art centre and sculpture park dedicated to artistic research, experimentation, and dialogue. By participating in Photosynthesis, the Foundation expands its commitment to supporting artists through research-led residencies while strengthening international collaboration and knowledge exchange. Srihatta offers a setting where artists can engage deeply with place, ecology, and community, contributing to new perspectives on environmental resilience and cultural practice.
By connecting artists, institutions, and communities across four continents, Photosynthesis establishes a trans-local alliance dedicated to addressing ecological concerns through artistic research. The programme offers invited artists an unprecedented opportunity to develop their practices through an expansive residency model that values time, collaboration, experimentation, and sustained engagement with place while demonstrating the importance of transnational solidarity in responding to the climate crisis.
