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Rest Craft

Conjure

Fellowship

Supporting rest-centered creative practice across the diaspora

supports artists, researchers, and cultural bearers whose practices channel rest research, sustainability, and community care practice.

This fellowship offers financial support, professional development, and spacious time to think, create, and reflect without pressure to produce a public-facing outcome.

Applications open February 1, 2026
Deadline: March 15, 2026 at 11:59 PM EST
Notifications sent by May 27, 2026 

The Rest Craft
Conjure Fellowship

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About the Fellowship

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Rest Craft Conjure Fellowship is a rest-centered program designed for artists-researchers whose practices are shaped by diasporic histories, lived experience, and a commitment to ethical making.

We are interested in projects that move slowly, listen deeply, and resist extractive timelines. All creative forms and disciplines are welcome, including but not limited to archiving, writing, installation, music, performance, film, and new media.

Two fellows will be selected for the 2026 cohort.

What Fellows Receive

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Each selected fellow will receive:

• A $750 honorarium
Paid as $375 at onboarding and $375 upon completion

• Five virtual creative professional development sessions with the Kosoko Perfomance Studio (KPS) team
Topics may include craft, career strategy, documentation, and consent-forward archiving, etc.

• Visibility across KPS channels, shared only with your consent

• Optional publication of a short reflection or process note in the Rest Craft Conjure Studio Journal

Eligibility

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This fellowship is for:

Artists, researchers, and cultural bearers across the African and global diasporas.
QTBIPOC+ applicants are strongly encouraged.

• Individuals or small collectives
• Age 18 and older
• US Citizens practicing domestically or internationally
• Fully virtual program ( There may be opportunities to meet in person, depending on location )

If your practice centers rest, slowness, refusal, healing, esoteric, or alternative tempos of creation, you are encouraged to apply.

Fellowship Period

The proposed fellowship period runs from June 14 through December 13, 2026. Sessions will be scheduled based on cohort availability and time zones. Flexibility and access needs are prioritized.

How to Apply

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Applicants will be asked to submit the following materials:

Project proposal
What you are exploring, your rest-centered approach, and why now

Process plan
How rest functions as infrastructure in your practice, including methods, tempo, and consent

Community and care statement
Who is held by this practice and how you will practice access and harm reduction

Bio
Website or Instagram (optional)

Work sample
Up to 5 minutes of video or audio, or 5 to 10 images or pages

Accessibility needs (optional)

Consent and archiving preferences
Checklist provided in the application

For questions email dreamwith@jaamil.com

Selection Process

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Applications will be reviewed by the KPS team alongside invited peer reviewers.

Proposals are scored on the following criteria:

• Alignment with the theme of rest as a design principle
• Clarity and curiosity of inquiry
• Feasibility and scope for a 4 to 5 month period
• Community care, ethics, and access considerations
• Form, experimentation, and craft
• Relation to diasporic lived or ancestral practice

Expectations

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• Attend five professional development sessions
• Participate in one cohort share and one Exit Interview (Internal Community)
• Submit a midpoint check-in and a final reflection
500 to 800 words or a 3 to 5 minute audio recording

Fellows retain full intellectual property rights.
KPS may share excerpts for communications only with written consent.

No public-facing deliverable is required. Process is prioritized over product.

Accessibility

• Stipends are taxable where applicable
• Collectives may apply. One stipend per project
• Proposals accepted in English. Supporting materials may be in other languages
• Limited Micro-access funds might be available upon request, including captioning, ASL, and childcare support

Support Advanced Rest Practice

The Rest Craft Conjure Fellowship exists through collective care and shared investment.

If you are an individual, organization, or foundation interested in supporting our creative efforts, we invite you to contribute to the Rest Craft Conjure Fund. (Tax deductible)

Your support helps sustain artist stipends, access resources, and the infrastructure that allows our labor to unfold with integrity.

Quantum Rest

a guided practice and journal for artists. You breathe, notice your body, write what arrives, and gently archive your discoveries. Your art can move at a humane pace.

Book cover titled "Quantum Rest" with abstract fiery orange and yellow streaks on a dark background, and subtitle "Rest As Method, Theory, & Practice" by Jamil Olawale Kosoko.