Visual Arts Residencies in Berlin

AiR zusa

Berlin, Germany

AiR zusa is a non-product-oriented residency program in Berlin designed to provide artists, cultural managers, curators, and arts and culture activists from Ukraine and other countries at risk with a safer space for rest, mental health support, and professional resilience-building. The program emphasizes process, self-reflection, and personal growth rather than artistic output, offering participants time to heal and reconnect with local and international cultural networks.

American Academy in Berlin

BERLIN, Germany

The American Academy in Berlin is a private, nonprofit institution offering semester-long residential fellowships to American scholars, artists, writers, composers, and journalists for advanced independent research and creative work in the arts, humanities, social sciences, and public policy. Fellows reside at the Hans Arnhold Center on Lake Wannsee and engage in transatlantic dialogue through public lectures, readings, performances, and discussions.

Culterim Gallery

Berlin, Germany

The Culterim Gallery offers an Artist-in-Residence program at two locations near Berlin: the Manor at Dahlewitz and the Manor at Biesenthal. Both residencies run from May 1st to September 30th, 2024, offering studio space, accommodation, and weekly mentored studio visits, artist presentations, and talks for a fee of 365€ per month. The Dahlewitz location, south of Berlin, features seven buildings on an 18,000 m2 plot with a small forest, while the Biesenthal location, north of Berlin, extends over several buildings and 12,000 m2 of forest next to Lake Wukensee. Both sites welcome artists for terms ranging from 2 to 5 months and conclude with a group exhibition of works created during the residency. Studios vary in size and may be individual or shared, with basic sanitary facilities and communal areas for cooking and socializing. The program is open to all art forms, and artists have 24-hour access to the premises.

Dekoloniale Berlin

Berlin, Germany

Dekoloniale Berlin Residency, organized by Dekoloniale Memory Culture in the City, invites artists, architects, designers, directors, photographers, fashion designers, and urban practitioners to create interventions addressing colonial histories in Berlin's public spaces, culminating in presentations at the Dekoloniale Festival. Residents receive access to a project space, curatorial guidance, production support, travel costs, accommodation, per diem, production budget, and a fee, with mandatory participation in workshops. The program typically spans about 6 months, from mid-May to mid-November, focusing on collaborative and interdisciplinary decolonial practices.

Petersburg Art Space Berlin

Berlin, Germany

Petersburg Art Space Berlin (PAS) is a music venue and artist residency located in Moabit, west central Berlin, offering a maximum 3-month work/live situation for experimental artists across all disciplines. The space provides two main working areas (Black Room for performances and White Room for quiet work) and hosts monthly residents showcases, fostering collaboration and creative exploration.

SAVVY Contemporary Residency

Berlin, Germany

The SAVVY Contemporary Residency in Berlin hosts national and international curators, artists, writers, thinkers, researchers, and cultural professionals for periods of at least 3 months, challenging residents to engage with Berlin’s socio-political context and explore trans-disciplinary issues beyond geographical constraints. Residents work from premises in a former power plant in Neukölln, offering workshops, seminars, or lectures, with accommodation in private rooms in a shared flat 500m away, though no production studios are available. The program emphasizes decolonial practices, public-oriented research, and topics like Afro-Pacific affinities and innovative exhibition-making, often through partnerships like REFLEKT for practitioners from Southeast Asia.

Stiftung Starke

Berlin, Germany

The Stiftung Starke Artist in Residence program in Berlin supports emerging artists under 40 from all genres with 3-12 month residencies including free living and studio space, a stipend, and exhibition opportunities at the Löwenpalais. Established artists can access short-term guest apartments, while projects receive scientific accompaniment by international curators. Applications are accepted year-round by an independent jury, though fellows cover their own energy costs.

The Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK)

BERLIN, Germany

The Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) in Potsdam, Germany, hosts an artist residency program since , providing artists with studio space in the historic Kleiner Fotorefraktor building, accommodations in Potsdam, and a stipend paid in three monthly installments. Selected by the Berliner Künstlerprogramm des DAAD, Potsdam Town, and PIK, residents integrate into the PIK community to foster interdisciplinary exchanges between artists and climate researchers on global sustainability. Note that a distinct 'Planetary Transitions' residency exists at the nearby RIFS Potsdam, not PIK.

Villa Aurora & Thomas Mann House e.V.

Berlin, Germany

Villa Aurora & Thomas Mann House e.V. is a European-American foundation based in Berlin that operates artist residencies primarily at its sites in Los Angeles, including Villa Aurora and Thomas Mann House, fostering transatlantic exchange in arts, literature, and culture. It offers fellowships and grants such as the Berlin Fellowship for LA-based artists to reside in Berlin for several weeks, and supports programs like music residencies and Thomas Mann Fellowships addressing global issues. The organization emphasizes interdisciplinary collaboration, providing stipends, housing, and networking opportunities for artists from Germany and internationally.

ZK/U (Zentrum für Kunst und Urbanistik )

Berlin, Germany

The ZK/U (Center for Art and Urbanistics) in Berlin is an artist-led, independent art residency and project space that hosts a multidisciplinary residency program. This program offers living and working space for artists, researchers, activists, and professionals from various fields, focusing on exploring city dynamics and experiences. ZK/U encourages proposals that challenge conventions and include extraordinary perspectives, welcoming conceptual, contextual, and interventionist contemporary artistic positions, as well as research or experimentation in urbanism, geography, anthropology, architecture, and the humanities. The residency program fosters mutual learning, spontaneous collaborations, and interdisciplinary exchanges, enriched by the diversity of disciplines and profiles of the residents. ZK/U, housed in a former train station building in a dynamic public park, serves as a space for urban experimentation and cross-disciplinary collaborations. With the reopening of ZK/U’s renovated and expanded public spaces in summer 2024, it will return to being a lively cultural venue hosting regular public events for diverse audiences, with residents encouraged to participate. ZK/U's conceptual framework includes narratives that define its program's themes, encouraging applicants to connect their work to these narratives. The residency offers studio space for working and living, access to communal spaces, and participation in a residency program of weekly dinners, monthly studio visits, and bi-monthly open studio events. The fees for the residency vary depending on the studio type and length of stay, covering all utility costs, space usage, and participation in the residency program. ZK/U is committed to creating an inclusive space, actively confronting and countering all forms of discrimination, and fostering good relations based on solidarity, mutual respect, and trust.