Deadline:
December 15, 2025
Location(s)
Germany
Berlin
Overview
The DAAD Artists-in-Berlin Program is a residency program for international cultural practitioners that facilitates and supports creative processes, encounters, and collaborations.
Both during and after their period of residency in Berlin, the fellows receive support from the Artists-in-Berlin Program to develop and present exhibitions, concerts, performances, film projects, readings, and publications.
Collaboration with guests and partners results in new creative endeavors that are presented at the daadgalerie, in other cultural institutions in Berlin, throughout Germany, and in locations all around the world.
Details
The DAAD Artists-in-Berlin Program is one of the most renowned residency programs for international artists and cultural practitioners in the fields of visual arts, film, literature, and music & sound. Each year, it awards residencies in Berlin to around twenty outstanding cultural producers. The residency enables the chosen fellows to focus on their creative thinking, actions, and research pursuits without being obliged to produce. Encounters with other artists and cultural producers stimulate transdisciplinary cooperation and initiate reciprocal learning processes.
Both during and after their period of residency in Berlin, the fellows receive support from the Artists-in-Berlin Program to develop and present exhibitions, concerts, performances, film projects, readings, and publications. Collaboration with guests and partners results in new creative endeavors that are presented at the daadgalerie, in other cultural institutions in Berlin, throughout Germany, and in locations all around the world.
The Artists-in-Berlin Program builds lasting relationships with its alumni. By facilitating and supporting projects by both current and former fellows, it sets an international example and underscores the importance of cultural coproduction and critical engagement with contemporary issues. Through its wide-ranging program of events and digital offerings, it creates a resonance space for the creative practice of its fellows and alumni, whose narratives, pictorial worlds, and soundscapes invite audiences to expand their horizons of aesthetic, social, and political experience.
Since its founding in West Berlin in 1963, the DAAD Artists-in-Berlin Program has made a significant contribution to the internationalization of cultural production. As an institution, it is currently undertaking a critical examination of its own history with regard to past exclusions and blind spots.
In its multiple roles as host, supporter, and enabler, the Artists-in-Berlin Program is committed to promoting diversity, as well as to combating racism and all forms of discrimination. It offers shelter to cultural producers whose artistic freedom and freedom of expression are at risk. In response to the climate crisis, the Artists-in-Berlin Program is committed to adopting climate-neutral practices and to reducing its CO2 footprint.
By maintaining the continuity of its work, the DAAD Artists-in-Berlin Program highlights and firmly supports the multivocality of the arts.
Award Grants
The DAAD Artists-in-Berlin Program is one of the most renowned residency programs for international artists and cultural practitioners in the fields of visual arts, film, literature, and music & sound. Each year, it awards residencies in Berlin to around twenty outstanding cultural producers.
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.
Artistic Fields
The artistic fields: Visual Arts, Film, Literature, Music & Sound, and their application specifics
Opportunity is About
Eligibility
Candidates should be from:
Description of Ideal Candidate
he program is an award for outstanding international artists from the fields of visual arts, 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. We therefore prefer artists who go beyond pure aesthetics and address the relevant issues of our time.
Applications may only be submitted in the categories of film, literature, and music & sound. Application requirements for these specific artistic areas can be found below (see→HOW DO I SUBMIT MY WORK SAMPLES?). In the visual arts category, artists are nominated and selected by a specialist jury. Accordingly, applications cannot be submitted in this category.
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.
Dates
Deadline: December 15, 2025
Cost/funding for participants
The duration of the fellowship is twelve months in the visual arts, 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).
Un-save Opportunity
Internships, scholarships, student conferences and competitions.
