The Independent Program offered by the Institute for Postnatural Studies (IPS) is a hybrid learning space that offers theoretical tools, embodied learning, community building spaces, and expertise to define and examine postnature as a framework for contemporary creation. The Postnatural Independent Program (PIP) offers an experimental platform for ecological thinking and cultural initiatives in an expanded virtual campus, approaching the participants’ potential from a holistic mediation. It also brings together established researchers and art institutions that will host guest lectures, working sessions, and activations.
The program is structured in 3 online modules, accompanied by renowned international thinkers, artists, curators, and philosophers, complemented by collective practice laboratories, collective sharing spaces and two in-person encounters in Madrid in which the cohort will share their investigation and practice in a safe environment and engage with the local cultural landscape.
Six months of ecological thinking, artistic practice, and collective transformation.
FOR WHOM
The PIP is addressed to a diversity of profiles in terms of education, experience, and aspirations: candidates from both art and theory, curators, philosophers, designers, scientists, researchers, educators, mediators or anyone interested in exploring contemporary ecological debates. It is oriented to those with a preconceived context/knowledge of these themes and willing to expand their theoretical background and research methods.
Approximately 30 participants are selected based on their profiles and research interests. The selection is based on experience and intent, and its adequacy with the main lines of the program. Group diversity and coherence is attempted in this process. It is advisable to have a medium level of English, oral and written.
Grow alongside peers from art, theory, design, science, and beyond. PIP is a safe space to test ideas, exchange practices, and imagine desirable futures
CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK
This program revolves around the concept of postnature, offering an ecology of diverse perspectives around contemporary political, social, economical, and aesthetic issues. It functions as a debate platform from which to investigate, problematize, discuss and multiply new approaches to artistic and thought practices through the exploration of more-than-human ethics that contribute to the definitive dissolution of the nature-culture binomial in all its sequels, variants and consequences.
The idea of a romanticized nature as a background scenario or neutral framework where human activity simply takes place is no longer valid and must be replaced by a broader and more complex reflection. From a critical perspective, we must deepen into the various layers, hybrid codes, and entanglements that compose it. The environment can no longer be read only as a resource to be managed, nor as a set of given circumstances to which we must adapt, but as one of the main cultural-material constructions of modernity.
The program also navigates concepts such as the Anthropocene or the Chtulhucene in its multiple meanings and implications, ecological parliaments and perspectivism, colonialism and the necropolitics associated with human and non-human “resources”, new materialisms, sound ecologies, ecofeminisms, and queer theories. Through practical and critical sessions, the goal is to articulate a change of perspective allowing for the proliferation of voices and points of view reflecting on the problem of nature in the contemporary moment.
REGISTRATION CALENDAR
The course runs from January 19th, 2026 to June 6th, 2026, and is into 3 modules.
Open call: From September 10th to November 16th
Review of applications: From November 17th to November 30th
Notification of selected applicants: December 1st
Enrollment: From December 2nd to January 5th
A program where philosophy meets ecology, art becomes collective practice, and theory meets embodiment
PROGRAM METHODOLOGY
The PIP approaches learning through an interdisciplinary lens, exploring a variety of formats. The Theoretical Modules take place online and include conversations, lectures, and experimental embodied exercises led by IPS faculty and guest speakers. Each session is accompanied by reading materials, shared in advance, encouraging participants to situate ideas within broader cultural, political, and ecological frameworks.
To nurture a continuous Collective Sharing, the program provides space for participants to connect with one another and with their practices through individual and group methodologies, all within a safe and supportive environment. Peer-to-peer learning is considered a central part of the program: participants are encouraged to bring in their own references, contexts, and questions, making the cohort itself an active source of knowledge and inspiration.
As a way of cultivating artistic and personal explorations, the PIP hosts open Laboratories in which participants engage in collective creative practices. Over the years, these opportunities have revealed themselves as fertile grounds for meaningful exchanges where thinking, feeling, and acting together strengthen bonds and artistic inquiry.
The PIP embraces a malleable and porous approach to learning, valuing not only the knowledge shared but also the possible kinships and futures that can emerge in the process.
Lastly, the Institute for Postnatural Studies in collaboration with a local cultural institution hosts two In-Person Gatherings in Madrid to deepen the connections and practices initiated online, but also as a way for the participants to engage with the cultural landscape of the city. While attendance is not required, it is highly encouraged.
As the program navigates some of the most prominent philosophical and ecological concepts of our delicate, yet fertile times, PIP will hold continuous space for participants to share the thoughts and emotions that arise from the theoretical modules. These moments of critical and reflective thought support both personal and artistic growth, fostering a more horizontal and collective learning process. It is important to acknowledge the emotional dimension that accompanies thinking and theorizing. In addition, the PIP integrates opportunities for participants to present their own practices and projects, opening pathways for future collaborations and encouraging deeper connections within the group.
LABORATORIES
Participants’ projects and ideas are shared and discussed within the group, fostering conversations that encourage the cross-pollination of research expressions and contemporary interests. The PIP invites practices to be enriched, transformed, and reinterpreted within a permeable environment that promotes the sharing of both theoretical and emotional knowledge.
In line with the program’s commitment to collective creation, the cohort engages with IPS’ podcast platform, Tender Radio, as a space to explore collaborative audio practices. Participants may experiment with storytelling, interviews, music, sound, or other formats that emerge from the group’s curiosity and methods. Previous editions offer examples of how diverse approaches can converge into rich collective outcomes.
The constellation of methods, expertise, experiences, and situated perspectives that the group brings together creates fertile ground for generating content that responds to present urgencies, fosters meaningful dialogue, and cultivates potential kinships within and beyond the PIP community.
From virtual dialogues to real encounters: Field trips, laboratories, and collective celebrations
ENCOUNTERS: In-person gatherings in Madrid
During PIP, the Institute for Postnatural Studies hosts two in-person encounters in Madrid aimed at weaving connections between local initiatives and international agents. These gatherings—while optional—are highly encouraged, offering space for embodied learning, collective practice, field visits, and celebration.
The first gathering takes place mid-course, from March 23rd to 27th, 2026. During this week, we go on field trips, engage in moments of sharing, visit cultural institutions and postnatural landscapes around Madrid to elaborate on and embody the course research through personal relationships and interactions.
The program concludes with a second encounter, taking place from June 1st to 6th, 2026. With the guidance of a renowned curator (to be announced), this final gathering is a space to celebrate our collective journey serving as the foundation for the potential futures unfolding after the program.
The participants assume the transportation and housing costs to meet during these encounters but our team gladly helps in the organization and arrangement of these matters.
Apply until November 16th — join an international cohort of 30 participants
Overall Format and Calendar:
— Full term runs from January 19th to June 6th, 2026
— Mondays and Wednesdays from 6 to 8 pm (CET). There are four Laboratories in the program — during those weeks, a third session takes place on Tuesdays.
—Two in-person gatherings in Madrid: Mar. 23rd to Mar. 27th and June 1st to 6th, 2026.
—All sessions and lectures are recorded and will be available online for reference or in case of absence.
—There will be access to digital folders of study materials.
—All sessions will be in English.
Interested applicants must submit the following documentation through the online form:
—Overview of your practice (artistic, theoretical, scientific, pedagogical…) with a maximum length of 500 words.
—Motivation letter, with a maximum length of 500 words.
—Research or artistic portfolio.
—Curriculum vitae.
Optionally, the following documentation may be submitted:
—Letters of recommendation, maximum two.
Submissions will be accepted until November 16th, 2025.
FEES
Tuition fee
2,500 € per participant
Includes
Registration, tutorships, an online bibliography, and study materials.
Payment
The fee can be paid in a lump sum or in need-based installments. The first 50% should be paid before the beginning of the course, and the remaining balance within the first two months through direct debit.
Additional costs
Travel and accommodation expenses for the in-person encounters in Madrid are not included.
https://www.instituteforpostnaturalstudies.org/academy/pip-2026