OCCUPY THE FOUNDRY

The Foundry started in 2018 as a self-organized and non-profit artist residency in an abandoned Galician village. After thorough renovations, the space now comprises 12 bedrooms, 6 bathrooms, a large workshop, 5 hectares of land including a river and several orchards, and numerous common spaces. Beginning in 2025, we want to make this space available for free to collectives that want to develop their project at the Foundry over a maximum of two years. The only condition is that the group taking control of the space helps to maintain the building and its surroundings, and that some of the rooms remain available for guests (this includes a few regulars and current residents).

Since its beginning, the Foundry was built on three pillars: openness, self-organization, and the exclusion of profit. It was open to anyone who wanted to come, without complicated application procedures. It was self-organized, meaning that maintenance and organization were done by the people that used the space rather than by paid staff. And finally, the Foundry is a non-profit association, so no one can extract money from the project. It was conceived as a piece of counter-infrastructure, a place that exists on the fringes of state and capital. We would like to keep some of this ideology alive while taking a leap forward by ceding the space to other collectives.

As temporary curators of the Foundry, you are free to use and develop the space, host events, invite guests, apply for grants, build your digital landing page, et cetera. The space would lend itself perfectly to a permaculture or agroforestry project, but one could also set up a hackerspace, a space for the performing arts, a music studio, a writer's retreat or a crafts center. Note that we are only supplying the space, tools, and some knowhow; we are unable to pay you any income. However, if you have an idea, we can talk about how to develop it in a way that also covers your costs of living (by means of paid events, grants, by selling art or locally produced products, etc).

Proposals (max. 1000 words) can be sent to foundry@bravosfoundry.com until the end of the year and will be assessed by members of the Foundry association at the General Assembly in January 2025. Feel free to contact us with any questions you may have about the space before before writing up a proposal. Please include some information about your collective, the proposed length of your tenure at the Foundry, and what you plan to do there. The transition could take place any time in the first half of 2025. For more about this initiative, see this blog.