Open call RESIDENZPFLICHT

RESIDENZPFLICHT (RESIDENCE REQUIREMENT) is an International Open Call for an artist-in-residence programme organised by msk7. The project will award 10 one-month project scholarships in Berlin refugee shelters. A mandatory residence requirement will apply. The project plays with the semantic links between the idea of an artist in residence and the German term RESIDENZPFLICHT used in the context of asylum law, which signifies mandatory residence in a specific location. This twofold play on words picks up on the specific nature of flight and the need to be in an unfamiliar setting with unfamiliar people, turning the spotlight on these experiences as entailing both losing and gaining freedom and security.

Each of the ensembles of modular refugee-housing units will in turn be supplemented by a mobile module, with artistic projects organised in situ. At each of the 10 Berlin refugee shelters in the project, scholarship holders will be provided with a studio/living space for the duration of their stay.

The programme aims to use a diverse spectrum of artistic positions to temporarily open up the self-contained refugee shelters to approaches and developments in contemporary art. The RESIDENZPFLICHT art project will award 10 project scholarships for one-month residences in the 10 newly constructed refugee accommodation in Berlin between 2019 and 2020. Ten visual artists are invited to live for one month on the site of one of Berlin’s Modular Refugee Accommodation Centres and create context-based artistic work there. Each scholarship is accompanied by a blog, an artist’s talk and a closing event on site.

Scholarship holders will be provided with a construction trailer converted into a live-in studio on the grounds/central square of a Berlin refugee accommodation centre. The scholarship is endowed with a fee component of 2.000 Euro and a maximum of 1.000 Euro to cover the cost of material and travel expenses. Applications from international applicants are welcome, and there are no age restrictions for artists wishing to participate. A mandatory residence requirement will apply.

Scholarships will be awarded by a jury of experts appointed by msk7on the basis of the artistic quality of applicant’s work to date as well as the project outline submitted. The application documents must be submitted in German or English by Sunday, September 16, 2018, by e-mail to [email protected]. A complete application includes:

• the digital application form (with contact details, artist statement, CV)
• an anonymised project outline (with a 6-digit code number) (PDF with max. 1 MB)
• a representative selection of works from the last 5 years (PDF with max. 10 pages/ 8 MB)

You can find detailed application information here.