The DAAD Artists-in-Berlin Program Supports Twelve Cultural Projects Abroad
On the initiative of the Goethe-Institut and the German Federal Foreign Office, the International Relief Fund for Organizations in Culture and Education was set up in 2020 with various partners to support organizations from culture and education abroad in dealing with the anticipated effects of the coronavirus pandemic. Given its visible effectiveness and the ongoing urgency, the partners have decided to re-launch the International Relief Fund in 2021 and expand the funding amount and funding period. From September 2021 to February 2022, funds totaling around six million euros will be distributed to selected cultural and educational organizations in fifty-nine countries. The DAAD Artists-in-Berlin Program will again be participating in this consortium in 2021 and will support twelve cultural projects with its own program priorities. The projects were selected from twenty-seven submitted proposals.
Thanks to this funding program, twelve organizations will be able to implement their projects between September and December 2021 with a focus on further training for cultural practitioners, archival work, and the organization of fellowship programs in the fields of literature, film, and visual arts. Also listed are twice-supported projects that already received funding during the first phase of the Relief Fund.
Abuja Literary Society, Abuja, Nigeria: “ALITFEST” – Abuja Literary and Arts Festival
Beirut DC, Lebanon: “Maskoon Fantastic Lab“, continuing education for filmmakers
Asociación Cultural Bisagra, Peru: “Commoning Future”: discursive platform for arts practitioners
Archivo de la Memoria Trans, Buenos Aires, Argentina: archive for transgender history
Fold Media Collective Initiatives, Colombo, Sri Lanka: „Colomboscope“, festival for contemporary art
Les Archives Bouanani, Rabat, Morocco: inventorying the archives of director Ahmed Bouanani
Malaysia Design Archive, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia: archive of Malaysian visual culture
Más Arte Más Acción, Nuquí, Chocó, Colombia: “Reactivating the Territory for Coexistence”
Savannah Centre for Contemporary Art, Tamale, Ghana: “Tech Class”
SOMA, Mexico City, Mexico: fellowship program for arts practitioners
Studio Klampisan, Banyuwangi, Indonesia: „Mama’s Imagination Kitchen“: artistic research, lectures, videos
Fundación TEOR/éTica, San José, Costa Rica; fellowships for Central American cultural workers
The funded organizations are characterized by their, in some cases, long-term collaborative partnerships with former fellows of the Artists-in-Berlin program. Their local work is supported with 252,000 euros from funds from the German Federal Foreign Office.
Background:
The International Relief Fund 2020 was set up in 2020 on the initiative of the Federal Foreign Office and the Goethe-Institut together with partners in order to quickly support organizations from culture and education abroad in dealing with the anticipated effects of the coronavirus pandemic. The Federal Foreign Office provided around three million euros in basic emergency aid, which was increased to approximately six million euros in 2021. The Goethe Institute coordinated the selection process and the allocation of funds. Cultural organizations and private foundations from Germany also added further funds or participated with their own projects including the DAAD Artists-in-Berlin Program, the German UNESCO Commission, the S. Fischer Stiftung, the Robert Bosch Stiftung, and the Siemens Foundation. www.goethe.de/hilfsfonds