The Sten Malmquist Artist-in-Residence Grant

The Sten Malmquist Grant is an international artist-in-residence programme in Tomelilla, Sweden. It provides professional artists with time, space, and resources to develop their work while connecting with the local community and art scene. Apply here!

The Sten Malmquist Grant

The Sten Malmquist Grant is an international artist-in-residence programme in Tomelilla, Sweden, awarded every second year. It provides professional artists with time, space, and resources to develop their work while connecting with the local community and art scene. The residency lasts 4–6 weeks and focuses on location-based artistic practice in south-east Skåne.

Established in 2017 through a bequest from Sten Malmquist, the grant honours his long-standing interest in art and support of artistic exchange.

The Grant Includes

• Residency period: 4–6 weeks
• Travel: One return journey in economy class to and from the residency location
• Local transport: Access to public transport and a bicycle
• Accommodation: B&B standard, single non-smoking room. Partners, children, or pets cannot be accommodated
• Resources: Workspace/studio, Wi-Fi, library, and cultural facilities
• Production costs: As per agreement
• Language: Working languages are Swedish and English

Grant Criteria / Eligibility

• Open to artists active on the professional art scene
• Artists of non-Swedish nationality whose activities are primarily conducted outside Sweden
• Eligible disciplines: visual arts, sculpture, textile, film, video, installation, or performance
• Artists must be open to interaction with the local community and art scene. Workshops, lectures, and public participation are expected
• The grant is awarded every second year and may only be given once to the same artist or group of artists

The artist’s responsibilities

• To work based on the location of Tomelilla and south-east Skåne.
• The artist shall live and work in the location throughout the residency.
• Personal and property insurance.
• Visa – the artist must have a valid visa during the residency.
• Meals.
• Interacting with the citizens during the residency.
• Presenting the artistic work in public.
• The artist may not undertake any other assignment during the residency without prior agreement with the institution.

We would be pleased if contact between the artist and the institution were to continue after the end of the residency.

About Sten Malmquist

Sten Malmquist was born in Malmö in 1920, but when he was only a year old, his family moved to Tomelilla, where his father had found work as an accountant at the yeast factory. After finishing school and working for a period as a bank clerk, Malmquist left Tomelilla to begin a career of more than 40 years at the Trelleborg AB rubber factory.

He ended his career in 1984 as Chief Financial Officer of the same company and subsequently moved to England.

As a young man, he developed an interest in art through his friendship with Truls Andrén, whose father was a well-known benefactor of young local artists. Upon his death in 2015, Malmquist chose to bequeath £100,000 to Tomelilla Konsthall.

The municipality of Tomelilla therefore wishes to honour his memory with this grant in his name. In conjunction with the awarding of the grant, the municipality will also lay flowers on Sten Malmquist’s family grave.