MusART — Artist-in-Residence Program // OPEN CALL

initiated by Emmy Noether Junior Research Group, University Hamburg and hosted by ZK/U Berlin

// 3600 € grant + travel costs + material support

This is an Open Call that invites artists to produce an artistic research-based project, which questions moral and ethical codes of global societies, through a 2-month residency at ZK/U Berlin.

Our contemporary morals have obscure and esoteric roots. In order to understand the values, judgements, and decisions we make today as individuals and as society, we must think critically about the origins of our beliefs and their modes of transmission. This residency invites artists and researchers to expand upon academic inquiry and break open today’s moral compass. 

MusART residents will explore emotionally charged Jewish literature through artistic forms of representation. Researchers in the humanities will gain inspiration through insights from these artistic approaches. 

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The Emmy Noether Junior Research Group “Jewish Moralistic Writings (Musar) of the Early Modern Period: 1600–1800” invites applications for up to five Artist-in-Residence fellowships for a duration of two months. 

The program is prompted by research on Jewish esoteric early modern texts dealing with morality that were produced in the wake of the invention of print and, as book-objects, became new material media for disseminating ideas and lifestyles. The bookprinting invention marks a radical change of information distribution , comparable to the internet in the last 20 years.
This collaborative experiment is looking for artists who are willing to participate in an interdisciplinary exchange, who are interested in learning about Musar book culture and who are open to incorporate this knowledge into their artistic project. During their residency, they will also participate in a symposium in Hamburg where they will have the opportunity to discuss their work with other artists and scholars in the humanities, while exploring early modern materials selected by the Emmy Noether Junior Research Group according to the artists’ interests, both in terms of content (textual samples) and medium (typographic objects and visual apparatuses).

The MusART artists-in-residence will develop an individual project that can address, but is not limited to, the following themes: 

• Communication of systems of belief and value systems (e.g., fake news, cancel culture, social media)
• Environmental responsibility (e.g., climate change, animal rights, sustainable lifestyles)
• Cultural diversity (e.g., human rights, xenophobia, antisemitism)
• Faith in secular times (fundamentalism, secularism, new spiritualities)
• Mechanical reproduction of cultural objects (e.g. typographic and photographic printing, digital memes) as a source for replicating ideological or behavioral patterns  
• Preserving “tradition” and the mutability of traditionalist agendas in contemporary narratives and politics.
• Contemporary self-optimization or self-improvement in relationship with moral instruction and spiritual development in belief systems
• Deconstructing or resolving ethical dichotomies (such as soul/body, good/evil, nature/culture, power/freedom etc.)
• Expressing moral typologies (such as paradigmatic figures such as “the saint” or “the martyr,” as well as general notions such as “humility,” “repentance,” “renewal,” “divine love” etc.) 
• The power of words and their visual and performative rendition (either as deterring or emboldening traumatic experience)
• Reflection of esoteric lore (such as Kabbalah) in artistic production as universalizing cultural heritage or as an ethnographic phenomenon
• Consequentialist ethics in relations to conceptions of this world and ideas of the afterlife 
• Moral edification as a counter strategy to the alleged master-narrative of a society (such as, in public discourse, or in the case of minoritized groups)

The project topic could be explored either from a personal and experiential perspective or in terms of collective engagement.

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What We Offer

Successful candidates will have the opportunity to work and live at the Center for Art and Urbanistics (ZK/U) in Berlin for the duration of two months, between October 2022 and March 2023, where they will also be able to present the process of their work. The residency will include:

• a monthly stipend of 1.830 € 
• a studio-apartment for living and working at ZK/U, Berlin for the duration of the fellowship
• a one-time allowance for travel expenses (up to 1.200 €)
• a one-time allowance for working materials (up to 1.500 €)
• access to communal spaces at ZK/U (kitchen, terrace, library)
• a special residency program of weekly dinners and bi-monthly open studio events (OPENHAUS)
• the possibility to take part or be part of ZK/U’s public events
• promotion of the fellows’ work online and interdisciplinary exchange with scholars from the fields of Jewish Studies, art history, and theory of art

What We Expect

• development of the proposed project at ZK/U Berlin and involvement in ZK/U’s communal activities
• participation to a symposium (autumn 2022, TBA) organized by the Emmy Noether Junior Research Group in Hamburg (in presence or online), during which the artists will present their projects and learn about challenging aspects of Musar and Jewish culture that are relevant for their work
• openness to initiate a spontaneous dialogue with other artists and the Emmy Noether Junior Research Group

How to Apply

Artists working professionally in creative fields (such as fine arts, contemporary music, time-based arts, etc.) are eligible to apply. While no formal or informal background in Jewish studies and / or prior knowledge of Jewish culture and literature is required, applicants should have a basic interest in approaching literary materials associated with early modern spiritual Jewish culture and engaging them in their artwork. Candidates are invited to apply regardless of their race, color, religion, gender, gender expression, age, national origin, disability, marital status, or sexual orientation in any of its activities or operations. We are committed to ZK/U’s Policy of Respectand expect our fellowship holders to do likewise.

Applications should include:

• a cover letter
• a CV
• a portfolio
• a project sketch (of max 1.500 words), that offers a brief overview of the conceptual background and material format of the proposed project; its relevance for and potential contribution to for the MusART initiative; the intended engagement with the Emmy Noether Junior Research Group; and the envisioned outcome and audience interaction.

Candidates should already indicate the desired period of their stay in their application. 

The materials should be sent in one pdf-file to [email protected]. The deadline for submission is 31.03.2022. The fellowship committee will inform applications of their decisions by towards the spring of 2022. Shortlisted applicants may also be invited for an interview.

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Further Information and Contact 

For further information on the Emmy Noether Junior Research Group please consult the website or visit on Facebook.

For individual inquiries, please contact [email protected] (Ilaria Briata).

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MusART is an artist-in-residence program developed by the Emmy Noether Junior Research Group “Jewish Moralistic Writings (Musar) of the Early Modern Period: 1600–1800” and funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG).

AI ANARCHIES // OPEN CALL

OPEN CALL FOR ARTISTS

The JUNGE AKADEMIE of Akademie der Künste, Berlin, will support six artists in developing new works on the topic “Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Ethics” during a six-month residency program at ZK/U in Berlin titled “AI Anarchies.” Artists of the program will be invited to participate in an interdisciplinary and international autumn school in October 2022 with artists, scientists, and members of the Akademie. The invited artists’ projects will be shown in a final presentation between May and July 2023 at Akademie der Künste. Each fellowship is awarded with 20,000 euros. The program is funded by the Federal Commissioner for Culture and the Media. 

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Discourse: AI Anarchies

Artists have discussed and predicted the ethical problems of “intelligent” machines since long before Artificial Intelligence even existed. In the midst of today’s technology boom, questions on what is “good” or “bad” AI are ever more present and increasingly complex. 

Companies and governments worldwide have now established rules and self-commitments for trustworthy, de-biased, or responsible AI, to build fairness and transparency into their systems. While it is necessary to address the potential harm of accelerated AI expansion, it is also true that these normative principles of AI ethics reduce space for civic action, resistance, and critique. “Counter AI” experiments in science and the arts are therefore opportunities to disrupt notions of ownership, agency, and regulation from outside conventional power centers.

AI Anarchies is a call for proposals open to artists in any field who work with AI as a topic and/or AI technologies in the broadest sense. The project seeks artists that contribute to the debate on AI and ethics through conceptual and aesthetically compelling forms. AI Anarchies invites artistic, speculative, and/or technical practices and interventions that articulate and challenge approaches to power and ethics in the emergence of AI. It proposes artistic resistance through subjective and political actions and creative acts. Small AI, disobedient AI, unimaginable AI, counter AI, tricky AI, risky AI, fantasy AI, playful AI, mischievous AI, emotional AI, affective AI, or no AI at all couldall be roads to AI Anarchies.

APPLY HERE

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Guidelines of the Call

Emerging international artists of all disciplines may apply for a six-month residency with a project proposal (400 words) including sketches. An international jury of external curators and Akademie members will select the fellows. Each residency is awarded with a 20,000-euro stipend including a project budget for developing a piece for the exhibition. Furthermore, a rent-free studio space for living and working in Berlin with access to communal spaces for six months will be provided by project partner ZK/U – Zentrum für Kunst und Urbanistik. If they wish, fellows can share their work during the bimonthly open studio format, OPENHAUS at ZK/U. The residency also covers travel and insurance costs. The JUNGE AKADEMIE team of Akademie der Künste Berlin will organize and curate the program and assist with visa applications as well as the coordination of the residency participation.

Call Release: Jan 17, 2022 

Call Closes: March 17, 2022

Visiting / Residency 

Two residency time slots are possible, but fellows may start working on their pieces as soon as the selected artists are announced. The project budget may thus be used before arrival in Berlin:

Residency stay 1: July to December 2022 (three residents)
Residency stay 2: January to June 2023 (three residents)

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Curatorial Board

The call was developed in conversation with a curatorial board consisting of the following members: 

Maya Indira Ganesh, Leverhulme Centre for the Future of Intelligence, Course Co-Lead, AI, Ethics, and Society

Nora Khan, curator and writer of criticism on digital visual culture and the philosophy of emerging technology

Nora O Murchú, Artistic Director of transmediale festival, Berlin

Nishant Shah, Director of Research & Outreach and Professor of Aesthetics and Culture of Technologies, at ArtEZ University of the Arts, The Netherlands.

Jennifer Walshe, composer and musician, member of the Music Section of the Akademie der Künste, Berlin

Siegfried Zielinski, Professor for Media Theory, Archaeology, and Variantology of the Media at the Berlin University of the Arts, member of the Visual Arts Section of the Akademie der Künste, Berlin. 

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Jury

Rosa Barba, artist and member of the Visual Arts Section of Akademie der Künste, Berlin

Oulimata Gueye, curator and art critic

Philip Horst, artist, co-founder and co-director of ZK/U Berlin

Professor Jason Lewis, University Research Chair in Computational Media and the Indigenous Future Imaginary and Co-Director of the Indigenous Futures Research Centre, Concordia University, Montreal.

Jennifer Walshe, composer and musician, member of the Music Section of the Akademie der Künste, Berlin

Li Zhenhua, independent curator, media artist, poet, film producer, lives and works in Zurich, Berlin, Sequerciani, China.

Artists will be selected and informed by May 1, 2022.

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About the JUNGE AKADEMIE

Supporting young international art of all genres is one of the key missions of the Akademie der Künste, which it fulfills through the JUNGE AKADEMIE artist-in-residence program and by awarding work and residence fellowships. The program provides the opportunity to network with members and partners via the Akademie, to creatively exchange ideas in an interdisciplinary context and to develop and present artistic projects – in exhibitions, readings, performances, workshops, and open studios. A core aspect of the Akademie’s concept is safeguarding this free and protected space for artistic expression as well as exchange, artistic research, experimentation, and encounters across political and cultural borders.

The JUNGE AKADEMIE has explored the field of Artificial Intelligence and the Arts since 2019 within the Human-Machine program, which funds international artists of all disciplines who develop new ideas for patterns, narrations, and approaches to the world with intelligent machines. AI Anarchies connects to one specific goal of the Human-Machine program discussing the Ethical implications for AI. Artists interested in other fields of the Human-Machine relationship may apply to the Human-Machine program’s next call, which will be released in mid-March 2022, in collaboration with the VISIT program by the E.ON Foundation. 

Head of the JUNGE AKADEMIE: Clara Herrmann

More information on the JUNGE AKADEMIE.

Applications to the residency are welcome during our open call periods only.

THE OPEN CALL IS CURRENTLY CLOSED.

ZK/U sees itself as a laboratory for inter- and trans-disciplinary activities centered on the phenomenon of “the city”. It promotes international exchange on global issues, in the light of what is happening in one’s own backyard. The work at ZK/U is informed by theoretical and practice-based critiques developed in the disciplines of geography, anthropology, urban planning, architecture and the humanities.

Applicant Requirements

• ZK/U welcomes artists, researchers, practitioners, activists that concern themselves with the phenomenon of 'the city'. (All disciplines and professions are welcome)
• The programme is open to a range of contemporary artistic positions that are conceptual, interventionist and contextual. 
• Artists are expected to have a broad record of projects and exhibitions. 
• Scholars and practitioners should have some years of professional experience. 
• One can apply individually or as a group. 
• Group applications consisting of artists working together with scholars or practitioners from other disciplines are especially welcome.
• There are no limitations concerning age or region of provenance of the applicant. 

SELECTION CRITERIA

• ZK/U seeks proactive practitioners with an open mind for divergent positions and for possible collaborations with fellow residents as well as ZK/U’s programme, infrastructure, and diverse audiences.
• ZK/U is interested in proposals that have a certain relevance either to ZK/U as an institution or to Berlin.

CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK

• The application proposal should be coherent with the Open Call’s ​conceptual framework​ ​and investigation leads. 

WHAT WE PROVIDE

• a studio-apartment for living and working
• access to communal spaces (kitchen, terrace, library)
• a special residency program of weekly dinners, monthly studio visits and bi-monthly open studio events (OPENHAUS)
• the possibility to take part or be part of ZK/U’s public events
• support to locate events, resources, and urban discourses relevant to the fellows’ research interests
• support to create self-initiated public events or formats
• promotion of the fellows’ work online and locally

RESIDENCY FEE & DURATION

For individual fellows, depending on the studio-apartment and length of stay, the residence fees are between €550 and €850 a month. The residency period varies from 3 to 8 months, and can take place within the next two years after the applicant receives a confirmation. After being selected, ZK/U will support the invited residential fellow in their efforts to secure funding through external grants by providing the fellow with an official invitation and a list of potential funders.

APPLICATION PROCESS

Please only submit your application within the Open Call period.

To apply, please:

• fill out the application form
• send your application documents via wetransfer

For questions, make sure to check our FAQ page.

APPLICATION MATERIAL (in German or English):

1. Application form
2. Curriculum vitae (PDF, max. 2 pages)
3. A selection of 2 to 3 projects representing a practice relevant to our conceptual framework (please include descriptions of those projects) (PDF, max. 10 pages)
4. A detailed working plan (only if you are applying for a residency that is longer than 6 months) (PDF, max. 2 pages)

Please send the PDF documents (max. 15mb and 14 pages combined) through wetransfer to apply​@zku-berlin.org

Additional material can be sent by post to: Zentrum für Kunst und Urbanistik - Residency Siemensstrasse 27, 10551 Berlin Germany
(Please note that we cannot send back application material and that ZK/U is not able to take any responsibility for the arrival and preservation of the material that is sent to us!)

Additionally, our partners offer paid residency opportunities at ZK/U Berlin in irregular intervals. For updates, please subscribe to our monthly newsletter.