The Berlin Artists-in-Residence programme, Berliner Künstlerprogramm, is one of the most renowned international programs offering grants to artists in the fields of visual arts, literature, music, film and dance/performance. Each year, some 20 grants are awarded to international artists for approximately a one-year stay in Berlin. The names of about 1,000 former guests impressively underscore the quality of the programme. In its more than forty years of existence, it has made a significant contribution to the international representation of contemporary arts in Berlin.
One aim of the Berliner Künstlerprogramm is to offer freedom of creativity. While cultural traditions are threatened by a uniform levelling out in the process of globalization, the Berlin Künstlerprogramm promotes the diversity of artistic and literary positions. The notion of dialogue is central: other nations’ perspectives on conditions here – in film, visual arts, literature or music – are to be seen as a decisive incentive to self-reflection in our society.
The Berliner Künstlerprogramm sees itself as a platform for an exchange of art and culture extending beyond the boundaries of Europe. The year 1989 and the Fall of the Wall are viewed by the Berliner Künstlerprogramm as a commission to reinforce the freedom of art and the word. At the same time, the program therefore opposes the economic takeover of cultural values by liberating artistic creativity from the dictates of the market.
