Applications open for DAAD Artists-in-Berlin Fellowship Program

The grant was established to offer awardees time and space to focus on their creative practice without any production obligations. The program fellows are invited to actively engage with Berlin’s and Germany’s vibrant cultural scenes, as well as with different communities within the city.

Fellows are invited to actively engage not only with the dynamic cultural scenes of Berlin and Germany but also various communities within the city.

Categories

• Film: They are looking for emerging directors as well as established auteurs who expand the understanding of cinema and the world. Candidates should have premiered at least two feature films at international festivals.
• Literature: They offer six fellowships in the field of literature and writing. All literary forms are welcome: poetry, fiction, nonfiction, and essays, as well as drama. That said, they also encourage writers who work between or beyond these traditional categories and who expand the understanding of contemporary literature, its practices, and modes of manifestation.
• Music & Sound: The program is intended for sound makers, composers and composer performers, but not interpreters. The program aims at inviting outstanding practitioners. The program does not intend to support newcomers, students, or artists who are still looking for their path and articulation but to support artists who already show a substantial body of work and have established their own voice.

Benefits

• The duration of the fellowship is twelve months in the literature, and music categories, and six months in the film category.
• A monthly stipend to cover living expenses and rent.
• Provision of a furnished apartment. Please note that not all apartments have the same level of accessibility (e.g. elevator/equipment).
• Travel and luggage expenses (scheduled flight, economy class), also for partners and children if they reside in Berlin for the entire duration of the fellowship.
• If necessary: health, accident, and liability insurance; premiums are deducted from the stipend payments.
• German language courses (optional).

Eligibility Criteria

• The program is an award for outstanding international artists from the fields of film, literature, and music & sound. It is intended for established artists who have already developed their own voice and standing.
• There is no (upper) age limit.
• An academic background is not required. However, the Artists-in-Berlin Program is primarily interested in positions that critically engage with historical issues as well as contemporary discourses. They therefore prefer artists who go beyond pure aesthetics and address the relevant issues of the time.
• Applications may only be submitted in the categories of film, literature, and music & sound.
• The DAAD Artists-in-Berlin Program receives hundreds of applications every year. Given the limited number of fellowships on offer, many highly qualified applications might not be accepted. An application that is not accepted in no way implies a negative assessment of the applicant’s artistic work.
• Applicants can reapply at any time. By submitting an application, artists agree to the guiding principles of the program.
• The invitation also applies to your spouse, registered partner, and/or children up to the age of eighteen, provided they also reside in Berlin for the entire fellowship period.
• Smaller pets are allowed in most apartments, but they have to speak to the landlords on a case by case basis and therefore cannot guarantee that you will be able to bring your pet.

Ineligible

• The Artists-in-Berlin Program fellowship 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. Doctoral students, however, are eligible to receive support. Academic training is not a prerequisite for receiving a BKP fellowship.
• In the visual arts category, artists are nominated and selected by a specialist jury. Accordingly, applications cannot be submitted in this category.
• German nationals are excluded from applying. German nationals (including dual nationals) who live abroad may only apply if they can verify that they reside primarily in the country from which they are applying—as a stipulation, applicants must have had residency there for a minimum of six years.
• Artists residing primarily in Germany are excluded from applying, regardless of their nationality, except in cases in which they initially registered in Germany no more than fifteen months prior to the application deadline. Please indicate this clearly in your personal data form and submit a copy of your registration certificate as the first page of your press PDF.

For more information, visit Berliner Künstlerprogramm.