Balmoral residential fellowships and project, foreign and exchange fellowships 2020

The conditions for all fellowships with the exception of the curator fellowship are a completed course of study in art (M.F.A. or comparable degree) and two to three years (depending on the respective fellowship) of continuous artistic work after the conclusion of the studies until the beginning of the fellowship. Applications are also possible for autodidacts distinguished by special artistic achievements, as documented by exhibitions and prizes.

To foster artistic dialog and interdisciplinary collaboration, knowledge of German or English is expected.

I. International residential fellowships 

Six residential fellowships will be awarded to international visual artists.

To mark the 25th anniversary of the Künstlerhaus Schloss Balmoral applications are invited for the international residential fellowships for 2020 with the theme

KUR – Art of Travel

Mobility and travel have not only rapidly accelerated over the past few decades, but have also become increasingly more socially significant. The art world has also become extremely mobile. Artists’ residencies and travel fellowships have had a decisive influence on this trend. Exhibition spaces and studios exist all round the globe, with exhibitions and biennials taking place worldwide. Artists are constantly on the move. This means that creating art is currently closely associated with the various topoi of travel. With this year’s theme, the Künstlerhaus is shedding light on the one hand on mobility and travel as artistic praxis and on the other hand on artistic positions which deal thematically with these themes.

The focus will be on the way various forms, motivations and associated social practices of travel are confronted. Setting out for somewhere else is an experience full of fascination and yearning, but also involves a sense of risk and change. In a worldwide context of tourism and migration, awareness of self and of the other and the effects of mobility take on ambivalent meanings. Against the background of social developments such as globalisation and digitalisation, travel and mobility take on various social, cultural, political, economic and ecological implications.
What is crucial for artistic interaction with this year’s theme is the visual dimension of travel. Travel is always associated with the production and reproduction of images. These include imaginary utopian-dystopian images and tourist picture worlds as much as artistic positions. It is precisely artists, who are themselves often (tourist) travellers, who reflect and develop various aesthetic strategies from the tension between imagination, reality and staged pose.

The title of this year’s theme, ‘KUR – Art of Travel’ is an allusion to the history of the town of Bad Ems and its tradition as a fashionable and sophisticated spa (Kur) resort in the 19th Century. Even then, artists were among its international guests. Where more than a century ago the former Hotel Schloss Balmoral was host to visitors from around the world to this spa resort, the present Künstlerhaus has for 25 years now been welcoming international fine artists. On the occasion of our own anniversary we invite you to examine the significance of (artists’) travel in the context of the mobile art scene and current artistic production.

Since 2013, fellowships are offered in one artistic genre or one theme each year. This offering, which is unique in Germany, is intended to enable deeper mutual creative cross-fertilisation among the resident artists. It will also lead to a more intensive specialist exchange of ideas with external artists, speakers, teachers, curators, etc.

Two fellowships last three months and four fellowships last nine months. All residential fellowships run from June 2020.

The residential fellowships are endowed with 1,400 € a month and include free accommodation in the Kuenstlerhaus Schloss Balmoral.

II. International curator fellowship

To foster dialog between artistic work and theoretical reflection, Balmoral awards a residential curator fellowship to a fellow in the humanities (preferably art history). The curator fellowship is awarded to persons whose university degree (at least M.A.) was completed not more than 5 years ago. For the curator fellowship, mastery of the German language spoken and in writing as well as good knowledge of English is essential.

The fellowship lasts nine months and begins in June 2020. It is endowed with 1,400 € per month and includes free accommodation in the Kuenstlerhaus Schloss Balmoral.

III. Project, foreign and exchange fellowships exclusively for artists with relation to Rhineland-Palatinate

Relation to Rhineland-Palatinate means (and/or) is born in, has studied fine arts with graduation in, lives in or works in Rhineland-Palatinate.

– Two 6-month project fellowships (not tied to any site)
– One 6-month fellowship for New York (Residency Unlimited)
– One 3-month fellowship for South Korea (MMCA Residency Goyang)
– Two 6-month fellowships for Paris (Cité Internationale des Arts)
– One 3-month fellowship for Burgundy-Franche-Comté (Saline royal, Arc-et-Senans)

Attention: Since 2015, artists with relation to Rhineland-Palatinate can apply three times for each state fellowship, meaning three times for a project fellowship, three times for a fellowship in Paris etc. (past applications included), but only every two years.

The project, foreign and exchange fellowships are endowed with 1,200 € per month (except for South Korea).

Awarding of fellowships

A jury of specialists will award all fellowships, taking into consideration the developmental potential of the applicant’s artistic or theoretical work.

Additional information and application forms are available on our homepage www.balmoral.de. Applications must be made with these application forms. Other applications will not be taken into consideration