Artist-in-Residency Program Aboard the Sailing Vessel Light Observatory #7
Led by interdisciplinary artist, spatial designer and skipper Natali Blugerman.
This residency offers artists the opportunity to immerse themselves in the maritime environment and experiment within it.
Each week-long program serves as a catalyst for learning through hands-on exploration and shared discoveries. Every residency hosts up to four participants, with special guests occasionally joining to provide in-depth knowledge on that week's theme and location. The sailing routes are also thoughtfully selected to align with it.
At the end of the season, we will host a presentation in The Hague, where AiR participants can share their creative outcomes.
The Skipper
Natali Blugerman is an Argentinian-Dutch multidisciplinary artist, spatial designer and skipper based in The Hague, The Netherlands.
Her practice revolves around research and experimentation with spaces and the senses, particularly vision. She is fascinated by the interplay of light and the process through which the brain constructs images.
Natali Blugerman is an Argentinian-Dutch multidisciplinary artist, spatial designer and skipper based in The Hague, The Netherlands.
Her practice revolves around research and experimentation with spaces and the senses, particularly vision. She is fascinated by the interplay of light and the process through which the brain constructs images.
A significant part of her work is encapsulated in her Light Observatory series, of which her sailboat is also an integral part. A few years ago, she immersed herself in the nautical world to pursue a lifelong dream—to cross the ocean by sailboat. In 2024, she accomplished this journey, gaining valuable insights that she now integrates into her program. Through this initiative, she aims to share the maritime environment experience with other artists and researchers, fostering exploration and creative exchange at sea.
Light Observatory #7 is a Beneteau Oceanis 321 sailing yacht, built in 1996. This well-balanced cruiser is known for its smooth handling, solid sailing performance, and onboard comfort. It features three double berths (bedrooms) and two saloon sofas that can also serve as beds. The yacht is equipped with a galley (kitchen) and a head (bathroom). While the sitting areas are spacious, navigating the narrow corridors requires a bit of a ‘boat dance.’
Participants should bring their own sleeping bags and be open to sharing a berth if needed. Life aboard is a communal experience, with everyone collaborating on daily tasks such as sailing and cooking. Fresh water and electricity are limited, so mindful usage is essential. The water tank is refilled whenever the boat is docked at a marina — an opportunity for a proper shower. On other days, participants can embrace the adventure of a “wild” open-air shower at the back of the boat, using the surrounding sea.
We are already full on preparing the program for 2027, stay tuned, because it will be a really special season!
Artists interested in participating are invited to apply by email with a motivation letter outlining their artistic drive and the project they wish to develop while aboard. Selection will be based on how well each applicant’s artistic profile aligns with the week’s theme and their approach to developing their project at sea. Additionally, we aim to curate a diverse, engaging, and harmonious group of participants.
When preparing your research and development plan, please consider the limited space aboard. Suitable approaches may include collecting samples, making sketches, or conducting experiments while ashore. The program contribution is €980 + 21% vat and covers participation in the program, three plant-based meals per day, and simple shared accommodation on board.
If you have any questions or need a recommendation letter to apply for a subsidy please get in contact with us.
2026 · Presentation at Patch Studios, The Hague
In June 2026, artists from the 2024 and 2025 editions shared the work they developed aboard Light Observatory #7. The presentation followed the rhythm of the residency's daily (un)knotting sessions, where artists share their research while learning nautical knots together.
Participating artists: Maarten Keus, Io Wu, Elena Štrok and Valentina Vella
Curated by Natali Blugerman
Video documentation by Yasamin Zeinalizadeh
2025
Week 1 · The New Ecological
The first week of 2025 looked at the tension between protected nature areas and the heavy industry that surrounds them in the Dutch delta. How do designed natural parks live side by side with farmland, ports, dikes and factories, and what does "nature" mean in a landscape that is almost entirely made by people? We sailed the Haringvliet and the Grevelingenmeer, meeting local experts along the way. Ranger Merijn Loeve took us to the island of Stampersplaat to learn about the unique biodiversity that grows where fresh and salt water meet.
Landscape architect Robbert de Koning guided us by small boat through De Biesbosch, where he led the depoldering of the Noordwaard as part of Room for the River, giving farmland back to the water. Just outside one of the great dikes of the Delta Works, near Neeltje Jans, Wildwier led a seaweed foraging workshop in the protected sea area.
Participating artists: Kate Moore, Peiann Lin and Anna Bierler
Special guests: Merijn Loeve (ranger, Grevelingenmeer) and Robbert de Koning (landscape architect)
Workshop: Wildwier
Curator and skipper: Natali Blugerman
First Mate: Nicole Urban
Week 2 · Drowned Villages, Watery Futures
Over the centuries, the sea has swallowed more than 200 towns and villages in Zeeland. The second week of 2025 sailed through this history, and looked ahead: what futures could we imagine as sea levels keep rising? We sailed the Oosterschelde and the Veersemeer, where the shores are full of reminders of the villages that once stood there and the floods that took them. At the Watersnoodmuseum we learned about the history and impact of the 1953 flood, and played a serious game about the interdependencies between all the species, human and non human, that share the area.
Artist and spatial designer Aušra Česnauskytė led an interactive expedition through the transitional space between land and water. Constantly wetting and drying our feet, we explored water as a non linear archive of time, and practiced world building through future speculation and watery fiction. Inspired by hydrotheory, the idea that all life originates from water, her workshop invited us to speculate on how humans and water might depend on each other in the future.
Participating artists: Maarten Keus, Natalija Ju, Elena Štrok and Valentina Vella
Special guest: Aušra Česnauskytė (artist and spatial designer, co-founder of Neo-futuristic Walks)
Serious game: at the Watersnoodmuseum, Ouwerkerk
Curator and skipper: Natali Blugerman
First Mate: Nicole Urban
2024
Celestial Navigation and Foraging
The 2024 edition explored two old ways of relating to the sea: finding your place on it by looking at the sky, and finding food along its shores.
Navigator Tom Robeyn of Offshore Navigation introduced us to the sextant, the instrument sailors have used for centuries to find their position at sea. We learned how to use it and fine tune it to the movement of the sun, and worked through the calculations needed to turn a measurement into a position on the chart. It gave us a real sense of how intricate it is to navigate this way, and how much patience and precision it once took to cross an ocean.
At Neeltje Jans, Wildwier led a seaweed foraging workshop. We learned about the many species of seaweed that grow along the Dutch shores, how to recognize them, how to forage them responsibly, and discovered their very different flavours and textures. We sailed the Haringvliet and the Grevelingenmeer.
Participating artists: Anna Hoetjes, Io Wu, Flurina Mia and Nicole Urban
Special guest: Tom Robeyn (yacht navigator, Offshore Navigation, Belgium)
Workshop: Wildwier
Curator and skipper: Natali Blugerman
First Mate: Thomas van Thiel
2023 · Pilot edition
Gravitational Bodies
The first edition of Light Observatory #7 was a try out: a week of exploring what life on board could be, and how a small community forms when artists live, cook and sail together in a very small space. One of the explored themes was gravitational bodies, how gravity works on a boat that is always moving, and how that changes the way we feel our own bodies. Above all, it was a week of listening. The artists and the first mate shared a lot of feedback on what worked and what didn't, and that feedback shaped how the residency runs today, including the way tasks on board are shared with the residents. We sailed the Haringvliet.
Participating artists: Jacqueline Heerema and Judith van der Made-Mensen
Curator and skipper: Natali Blugerman
First mate: Lovisa Oosterhof