One year of thinking. Three weeks of academy. One festival day on the Brünig in four interdisciplinary duos.

BOLSOM is not a festival that is simply “filled with acts.” We are looking for eight individuals who bring their own practice and who are ready to develop a shared work at the Brünig, together with someone from another discipline.

What is BOLSOM?

BOLSOM is a context for relevant art — a place between art and science, practice and theory.

At the Brünig Pass, a space for research, exchange and experimentation emerges each year: the BOLSOM Academy is where work happens, and the BOLSOM Festival is where it becomes visible.

With the 2026 edition, we take a step further: we accompany eight artists and researchers over several months —
from the very first question to the collaborative work presented on the festival stage.

2026: You arrive alone — and work in a duo

You apply as an individual, with your own practice and your own question.

Over the course of 2026, the eight selected participants will form
four interdisciplinary duos — each bringing together two different fields. Each duo develops a new work for the BOLSOM Festival on 21 November 2026: a performance, a lecture, an installation, a concert, a text, a hybrid form —
whatever your shared research demands.

When two different approaches meet, space becomes performance.

Who we are looking for

We are seeking eight people who

• have an established artistic or scientific practice
• are curious about true interdisciplinarity
• are willing to work in a duo and share control
• are interested in processes — not only final results
• can imagine committing to a several-month collaboration

We welcome, for example: artists, writers, musicians, designers, filmmakers, performers, theorists, philosophers, sociologists, sound artists, architects, natural scientists, researchers — and everyone who moves between these fields.

The BOLSOM Process 2026

You will go through three phases:

1. Individual Phase — your practice (Spring 2026)
   You work on your own question and get to know the other participants.
Through online conversations and meetings, a field of resonances and possible connections begins to emerge.
2. Duo Formation & Academy — shared work (Autumn 2026)
   From the group of eight, four interdisciplinary duos take shape.
At the BOLSOM Academy at the Brünig (up to three weeks before the festival), you work together:
rehearse, design, revise, shift, discuss, refine.
No production pressure — but plenty of time, space and focus.
3. Festival — public presentation (21 November 2026)
   The four duos present their works at the BOLSOM Festival:
as performance, installation, lecture, concert, text, sound piece or any other form.
The festival is a space of resonance, not an endpoint.

What we offer

• Participation in the BOLSOM Academy at the Brünig (accommodation & meals covered)
• Up to three weeks of concentrated working time in community
• Guidance during the formation and development of the duos
• Curatorial, editorial and conceptual support
• Presentation at the BOLSOM Festival on 21 November 2026
• Documentation in the BOLSOM Booklet 2026
• Visibility through our channels (web, magazine, social media)
• depending on funding: material budget & honorarium (applications are ongoing)

What we expect

• Willingness to work intensively within a duo
• Continuous engagement from spring to autumn 2026
• Participation in at least one working block of the Academy at the Brünig (flexible duration)
• Openness to feedback, friction and shared decisions
• Willingness to share insights into your process (text, image, audio)
• Presentation of your collaborative work at the Festival on 21 November 2026

Long-term perspective — BOLSOM as a school

With BOLSOM 2026, we are building toward a long-term vision:
from Academy, Festival and the processes in between, a school for artistic research will gradually emerge at the Brünig —
a space for learning and thinking where art and science are practiced together.
The eight participants of 2026 form an important step in this development.

Questions?

If you have any uncertainties or questions, feel free to reach out: lili@middleofswitzerland.com

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