Many cultural organisations in Germany are intensifying their collaboration with international partners. There is a growing demand to organise these partnerships in a more fair and sustainable way. In addition to joint artistic work, it is becoming more and more important to engage in an equal dialogue about different expectations, resources and complex decision-making processes.
A key factor in such processes is time. To enable cultural institutions in Germany to find new partners in non-European countries and implement long-term artistic projects, the German Federal Cultural Foundation has launched the programme WAYS – Towards Fair and Sustainable International Partnerships (formerly: Transcontinental Partnerships).
WAYS helps cultural institutions and independent groups in Germany to establish long-term artistic collaborations with non-European partners and to carry out joint projects over a period of years. The WAYS programme consists of the Initiation Fund and the subsequent Fellows-at-Large Fund and Tandem Fund. Applicants can only apply for the Fellows-at-Large Fund or the Tandem Fund if they have been funded by the Initiation Fund.
Funding is awarded to contemporary projects in the areas of the performing arts, visual arts, literature, music, architecture, art and cultural history and cross-disciplinary combinations of these fields.
Cultural organisations (cultural institutions or independent groups) in Germany or a non-European country may apply for Initiation funding, especially those from Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, the Middle East, Oceania, and Central, South and Southeastern Asia. Institutions which are exclusively focused on education, professional training and scientific research, as well as cultural associations, solo artists and individual researchers are not eligible.
Applicants can be awarded up to 27,000 EUR per research and Initiation project. The minimum amount is 20,000 EUR. Funding is primarily intended to cover travel expenses in both directions (Germany or non-European countries), accommodation, workshops, fees (for independent groups), charges (e.g. visa application fees), possible advice services provided by the cooperation partner, the Goethe-Institut, and measures for compensating air travel emissions. Applicants need to secure at least 10% of the applied funding amount with monetary resources of their own or third-party financing.
