Applications open for Climate Action Artist Residency Program

The Climate Action Artist Residencies are developed and implemented by Cultural Vistas and generously funded by the Federal Foreign Office of the Federal Republic of Germany.

In the years 2024/2025, the Climate Action Artist Residencies invite a total of eight artists from all artistic fields to complete three-month long residencies with an environmental research organization. Two artists from Germany and six from the V20 countries in the Asia/Pacific region Fiji, Philippines, and Samoa will be selected.

Artists from the V20 countries will complete their residency with an environmental research organization in Germany, artists from Germany will complete their residencies with an environmental research organization in the selected V20 countries. Each artist will work with their host institution to highlight aspects of the climate crisis that affect their host country and the V20.

The results of this work will then be communicated in an artistic project of the artist’s choice, aimed to reach, and inform a target audience in their home country and their host country. The focus of the program is the artistic exploration of the globally intertwined and scientifically proven vulnerabilities triggered by the climate crisis in the V20 countries and in Germany.

Artists freely choose their artistic medium. The pairing with appropriate research organizations in the host country will be coordinated by Cultural Vistas, though applicants may indicate preferences if they have a prior connection to appropriate organizations in the host country.

Challenge

• The challenges from climate change and its subsequent crises are complex and interwoven. Heat, droughts, forest fires, floods, rising sea levels, and loss of biodiversity are just some of the natural consequences of climate change that exacerbate health risks, trigger refugee movements, and threaten entire economies, among others. The countries of the Vulnerable 20 (V20) are particularly affected by climate crises and their consequences, as their very existence is threatened, for example, by rising sea levels or an increase in extreme weather events.

Objective

• The Climate Action Artist Residencies provide a novel approach to address these complexities. By transcending borders and translating scientific research results into artistic media, participating artists generate new strands of discourse and perspectives that can transform the debates and perceptions, ultimately leading to new climate action by society at large.

Cost Covered

• The program offers a stipend of up to 2,500 EUR per month (before taxes, if taxable in your place of residence) for a duration of three months.
• Upon request and under certain preconditions, spouses and/or children may accompany the participant and may be supported with an additional stipend of up to 776 EUR per month (before taxes, if applicable in your place of residence) for a duration of up to three months.
• In addition to the monthly stipend, the program covers up to 4,000 EUR for round trip travel costs between each participant’s country of residence and host country. Participants may freely choose their mode of transportation and are incentivized to travel climate-consciously. Costs to obtain a visa may be reimbursed upon request and approval.
• The program also supports participants with up to 10,000 EUR for material and production costs incurred to create their artistic work.

Eligibility Criteria

• Applicants must be of legal age.
• Applicants permanently living in and representing Fiji, the Philippines, Samoa, and Germany are currently eligible to apply for the program.
• Applicants from all artistic fields including but not limited to visual arts, film, literature, music, digital arts, spoken word, theater, dance, etc.
• While no academic degree is required, an established artistic career must be demonstrated.

Ineligibility Criteria

• The program is not designed to support emerging artists during their early development.
• Applicants who are still in school or have just completed their education will not be considered.
• Artists residing outside of the Philippines, Fiji, Samoa, or Germany are currently not eligible to apply for the program.

For more information, visit Climate Action Artist Residencies.