A Delfina Foundation residency has become a touchstone ambition not just for artists, often those working in Asia, Africa, South America and Central and Eastern Europe, but also curators and collectors. Owing to a shifting political and funding landscape, Delfina has reaffirmed its commitment to supporting artists from North America and Canada by launching a new ‘network of North American patrons’. This heady mix is invited by director Cezar to spend time, no strings attached, in the nonprofit private institution’s live-work space just beyond the garden wall of Buckingham Palace in London. Occasionally a former resident might end up showing in the gallery space – as Brazilian Maxell Alexandre did this year – but that’s not the aim. Collectors who want to donate funds are welcome, especially with just a quarter of the £7m needed to buy and renovate its headquarters raised so far, an ongoing mission that makes the director a ubiquitous presence at biennials and art fairs. That and keeping up with Delfina’s enviable network of alumni, which stretches worldwide and represents an artworld in microcosm.