With its programme ‘WAYS – Towards Fair and Sustainable International Partnerships’, the German Federal Cultural Foundation is funding long-term cultural partnerships worldwide until 2031. The programme aims to support German cultural institutions and independent artists’ groups in establishing new partnerships outside Europe and implementing joint artistic projects. The partners develop and test new models of fair and sustainable international cooperation.
The Internation jury of experts, consisting of nine members, has selected nearly sixty German and non-European cultural organisations for the first phase, for which the German Federal Cultural Foundation is providing approximately 1.5 million euros in funding. In the coming months the cultural organisations will travel and hold discussions as well as workshops to identify new partners in countries that have not been the focus of German cultural cooperation to date, such as Armenia, El Salvador, Morocco, Mongolia, Zimbabwe and Tonga. They will have sufficient time to get to know each other, discover different perspectives and develop ideas for artistic partnerships. Among those receiving funding are, for example, Haus der Kunst in Munich, which aims to research experimental art practices in Kazakhstan; the Künstler*innenhaus Mousonturm in Frankfurt am Main, which is seeking a partnership in Chile; the Literaturhaus Stuttgart, which would like to work with authors in Namibia; the Ensemble Musikfabrik in Cologne, which wants to establish contacts in the Democratic Republic of the Congo; and the Sound Gallery SPACE21 in Slemani in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, which is seeking a partnership in the field of radio art in Halle (Saale), among other places.
Katarzyna Wielga-Skolimowska, Artistic Director of the German Federal Cultural Foundation: ‘We are currently experiencing massive ruptures in international relations. Partnerships that have been cultivated over decades are being called into question or discontinued. With WAYS, we are therefore providing German cultural organisations with something that is becoming scarce in times of political and financial uncertainty: the time and space needed to build trust, reflect on power relations and try out fair and sustainable ways of working together with non-European partners. This creates resilient partnerships that are effective beyond short-term projects – as a viable alternative to isolation and cultural boycotts.’
What exactly is it about?
Cultural institutions and independent artists’ groups in Germany have been working together with international partners for a long time. However, there is a growing demand to make these partnerships fairer and more sustainable. For example, how can rehearsal processes be organized in transcontinental dance or music productions when different working methods, conditions, and communication styles come together? How is the budget managed? Who holds the rights to joint works? And in which language is the work carried out? How can a culture of openness and support be achieved, even with differing views and standards of fairness and sustainability?
The current initiation and research phase is the first step in the WAYS programme. During this phase, the partners formulate their expectations, interests and goals, and identify obstacles at an early stage and try to address them. They document the jointly developed content and working methods in writing in a ‘Roadmap of Collaboration’. Participating organisations can then apply for one of the two follow-up funds in the WAYS programme, the ‘Tandem Fund’ or the ‘Fellows-at-Large Fund’, until 30 November 2026. Accompanying academies, working groups and world summits deepen the process and network. The German Federal Cultural Foundation is providing a total of approximately 27 million euros for the WAYS funding programme between 2023 and 2031.
The ‘Initiation Fund’ is being implemented in cooperation with the Goethe-Institut.
The list of the cultural organisations receiving funding can be found here.
The Jury
The international jury for the German Federal Cultural Foundation’s WAYS programme includes: Rebecca Ajnwojner (dramaturg, Schauspiel Zürich; Zurich, Switzerland), Princess Marilyn Douala Manga Bell (curator and president, doual’art; Douala, Cameroon), Martine Dennewald (co-artistic and co-executive director, Festival TransAmériques; Montréal/Tio’tià:ke/Mooniyang, Canada), Maya El Khalil (curator; Oxford, UK), Matthias Mühling (director, Lenbachhaus; Munich, Germany), Keng Sen Ong (artistic director, TheatreWorks; Singapore), Shiva Pathak (co-founder and artistic director, Sandbox Collective; Bangalore, India), Marcelo Rezende (curator; Berlin, Germany and São Paulo, Brazil), Stefan Rusu (curator; Apia, Samoa/South Pacific and Chisinau, Moldova).
International Consultation
To incorporate international perspectives into the programme design at an early stage, the Cultural Foundation conducted a six-month consultation process at the beginning of the programme for the first time. Fifteen experts were invited from Europe, Central and South America, Central and Southeast Asia, the Middle East and Africa to take part.
© Bureau Est