i.
Curiosity
You ask questions that do not have easy answers and seek understanding across boundaries.
III · People
An Explorer isn't a title. It's a way of moving through the world.
You might call yourself a researcher, an artist, an entrepreneur, an activist, an athlete, a weaver, a designer, a changemaker. If you embody five qualities — we'd like to meet you.
The five qualities
Who we welcome.
We're not looking for the most accomplished. We're looking for the five qualities that, lived together, make breakthrough work possible.
ii.
Empathy
You hold multiple perspectives at once. You honour Ubuntu — we are human because of our collective humanity.
iii.
Creativity
You find unexpected forms — science as story, business as art, activism as architecture. The medium follows the idea.
iv.
Collaborative mindset
You build bridges across disciplines and communities. You believe collective wisdom outperforms solo brilliance — and you live it.
v.
Commitment to action
You don't just think — you implement. You take meaningful risks, ship the work, and stay with the consequences.
The cohort
Six Explorers, deliberately woven.
3 · 2 · 1
Gravitas, hunger, surprise.
Every cohort of six is composed using a simple ratio. We reserve a spot for an innovator of Sardinian ancestry every other cohort.
3
Established
Mid-career or beyond. Proven track record. They bring gravitas, mentorship, and hard-won perspective.
2
Emerging
Earlier in their journey, undeniably hungry. Fresh frame, sharp questions, unfinished trajectory.
1
Wildcard
Someone who doesn't fit any obvious box but has something special. Where serendipity gets a seat.
The co-founders
Five people who made the house a home.
ZoMa House started as a calling, not a business plan — a series of small, lucky encounters in Cuglieri. These are the five co-founders who turned that calling into a residency.
Co-founder
Tara Roberts
National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence
Author of Written in the Waters, the memoir of her journey documenting divers searching for slave shipwrecks across the Atlantic. The first to feel the magic of Cuglieri in 2023 — and to imagine what it could become.
Co-founder
Dani Matielo
Former Director, Ashoka Changemakers
Brazilian social innovation strategist. Spent twenty-five years building global networks of changemakers, then came to Cuglieri to rest and found a different kind of work waiting for her.
Co-founder
Jonathan Clyne
Nuraghi Development
Arrived in Cuglieri on holiday fifteen years ago and never left. With Lena, made it his mission to rescue the village's old houses from neglect — turning architectural ruins into preservation marvels.
Co-founder
Lena Clyne
Nuraghi Development
The other half of the Nuraghi partnership. Renovated the Airbnb where Tara and Dani first stayed in 2023, and now leads the restoration of both ZoMa Houses on the main square. Writes about the village at In and Around Cuglieri.
Read her blog →Co-founder
Leo Clyne
Piano Terra
Chef and food entrepreneur with deep roots in Sardinian culinary tradition. Runs Piano Terra, the ground-floor café and lounge — the third space where the residency meets the village over the slow ceremony of an Italian meal.
The full network
Beyond the cohort, a living global community.
Once an Explorer, always an Explorer. Small Circles, an annual gathering in August, return residencies — the residency doesn't end when the month does.
Do the qualities sound like you?
We'd like to meet you.
Applications are open on a rolling basis. We make cohort decisions twice a year. Every accepted Explorer is fully funded.
Apply for a residency →