Schloss Ringenberg Curatorial Grants – Practice and Networking

Curatorial Grants* – Practice and Networking
Period I/2014 (January 1st – June 31th 2014)

* one German Curator
* one Dutch Curator

Residency_ Schloss Ringenberg | schloss-ringenberg.de/ kunst@schloss-ringenberg.de
Duration_ 6 months
Grant_ €1,250/month
Scope of work_ 2 projects/exhibitions as a curatorial team at NASA Amsterdam + Schloss Ringenberg, financed by followup
Requirements_ max. 35 years; University degree (Art History or Art/Cultural studies); for the German grant there has to be a degree at a University in North Rhine-Westphalia; demonstration of professional qualification
Application Deadline: 1st of September 2013 http://www.schloss-ringenberg.de/stipendium/bewerbung_.php

Since 2010 the State of North Rhine-Westphalia and the Mondriaan Fonds Amsterdam (until 2011 Fonds BKVB) inaugurated a new model for promoting postgraduate curatorial work by offering a programme-based grant for young German and Dutch curators.

The grant provides €1,250/month in support for each participant for a period of six months. The curatorial grant is practice-oriented and tied in with the project followup. The programme is located at Schloss Ringenberg, in Hamminkeln on the Lower Rhine. Schloss Ringenberg has been in operation as a studio and exhibition centre for 30 years. With eight German and Dutch artist fellows per year, dialogue-focused exhibitions and cross-border knowledge exchange, along with a wealth of activities for the public, the Schloss unites under one roof in an unique exemplary fashion the whole spectrum of contemporary cultural endeavour.

Since 2001 the work of Schloss Ringenberg has centred on European projects involving German-Dutch cooperation. In conjunction with changing project partners on both sides of the border, as the well-known institutions, the Schloss has since 2005 been providing cultural producers and mediators with the means to try out unusual contemporary art concepts and formats.

The European project smax (2009-2012) initiated first time in Germany a practice-oriented model consisting of new residential grants for young Dutch and German curators. The recent project followup continues the core activities of this programme until end of 2015: Twice a year one German and one Dutch curator is invited to work as a team. Both fellows will live and work for the most part at the Schloss together during the 6-month grant period. There are two separate studios and one common office for the curators. Residence at the Schloss and participation in followup are mandatory for grant-holders.

While guided/moderated by the followup team at Schloss Ringenberg the project offers a versatile selection of concrete fields of work as opportunity to independently put their ideas into practice. The task of two exhibitions/ projects, financed through followup provides them with a model for the real conditions under which they will embark on their careers. Project partners for the exhibitions/projects are: Museum voor Moderne Kunst Arnhem, Kunsthalle Münster, NASA Amsterdam, Kunsthalle Düsseldorf, Bonnefanten Museum Roermond (c/o Maastricht), Museum für Gegenwartskunst Siegen.

The grant serves to equip curators with professional credentials, including:

developing their own criteria for the quality and relevance of artistic approaches – creating their own curatorial profile/aesthetic approach
experience with institutional structures and practice-related processes such as mounting an exhibition, public relations, organisation and budgeting
the ability to discriminate between artistic product and curatorial approach, leading to better comprehension of creative practice – supported by the unique exchanges between mediators and producers of contemporary art via artist and curatorial fellowships taking place under one roof

The followup programme will be documented within a final project reader.
Curatorial fellows will be chosen by a Dutch-German expert jury.

Schloss Ringenberg – Derik Baegert Gesellschaft
Schlossstraße 8
46499 Hamminkeln
Germany