States of crisis are the signature of our times – expanding fatigue and exhaustion are symptomatic conditions of our societies. Solutions only appear viable when they happen to be in line with paradigms of perpetuation of wealth and economic growth.
How do we escape the misery of a present that redundantly poses the same questions, that dictates the same ideas and solutions over and over again? Utopias, and this connects them with the arts, offer a much-needed corrective to the present, building new grounds to renegotiate what new social and democratic structures could look like.
Within the framework of ‘Under Utopia’ three four-month fellowship grants will be awarded for a residency at Akademie Schloss Solitude from November 2021 – February 2022. The call is directed towards artists, activists, and thinkers from all disciplines who locate their practice within the thematic context of the project and who consider a lively exchange with different social actors, institutions and disciplines an integral part of their work.
During their stay at Akademie Schloss Solitude fellows will be granted space to freely engage – either experimentally, speculatively, or collaboratively depending on their own artistic, activist or theoretical position – with the question of how we could give things a direction that is orientated around our own wishes and desires rather than the pragmatism dominating the current state of affairs. Which actors of other social realms could be possible collaborators with whom this direction could be developed and shared? Which places and spaces could be used to try out this direction in a way that is free of anxiety?
The funding period amounts to a maximum of four months and provides:
- A monthly stipend of 1200 euros (plus one-time expenses incurred by the fellowship holder traveling to and from Stuttgart from their primary residence).
- If applicable, a project-related budget.
- A combined apartment studio, furnished with electricity, water, and heat free of charge.
- For the duration of the residency respective fellows will be mentored by the artist-duo Geers/Drescher and Akademie Schloss Solitude.
