1 March 2022

INITIAL 2 – New Cooperations
The Akademie der Künste Awards Further Special Grants

The Akademie der Künste is again awarding special grants as part of NEUSTART KULTUR ‒ a programme of the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media. Last year, 766 grants, endowed with 6000 euros each, were awarded under the INITIAL programme during a four-month funding period.

INITIAL 2 – New Cooperations, the special grant programme for 2022, funds the research and development of artistic works created in cooperation and collaboration between artists. The special grant intends to initiate networks between art, education, and civil society and support new artistic practices with social impact. Cooperative projects are the primary focus of this funding, and proposals developed across all disciplines are sought. The proposed projects should examine and try out new, collective forms of artistic practice. For example, they could be developed at points of intersection between art and education, or be conceived in contexts that affect society. It is expected that such grant proposals will also go beyond typical, well-established cooperation experiences with institutional partners.

Eligible applicants are professional artists who live in Germany and work in the fields of music, performing arts, architecture, visual arts, literature, or film and media art/audio plays. One to (maximal) four artists can submit an application for a cooperative project. Each grant is endowed with 9000 euros per artist and is awarded for a funding period from 1 July ‒ 31 December 2022. A specialist jury made up of artists, curators, and members of the Akademie der Künste decides how the grants will be allocated.

Access to the specially created online application portal on the website initial2.adk.de will begin on 1 April 2022. A maximum of 1600 applications will be accepted in the order of receipt. The application portal will close as soon as this number is reached, at the latest on 30 April 2022.
Detailed information about the special grant and how to apply will be available online on 1 March 2022: www.adk.de/initial.