Art & AI

With its programme “Art & AI”, the German Federal Cultural Foundation supports the development and realisation of eleven artistic projects that explore AI technologies. The application-based funding programme is targeted at contemporary cultural institutions and independent artist groups in all artistic areas (i.e. not individual artists). In addition to the funding itself, the programme includes workshops, academies and presentations, in which knowledge is shared with interested parties both within and outside the programme. A total of €3.68 million has been allocated to fund the programme from 2024 to prospectively 2028.

In the last few years, we’ve witnessed a veritable boom of fully or partially AI-generated art. After this initial phase of widespread experimentation, the aim is now to explore the aesthetic potential of AI technologies, to reflect on their possible social impact and gain a deeper understanding of the subject. With the programme “Art & AI”, the German Federal Cultural Foundation supports the development and implementation of at least ten projects of excellence.

The programme “Art & AI” operates on two different levels: on the one hand, working with AI technologies, and on the other, reflecting on their far-reaching social implications. The funded institutions are especially encouraged to intensively explore the application of AI technology oriented to the common good, including open-source licenses, resource consumption and the ethical use of data. The resulting artistic works will thus serve as reference points for future engagement with AI technology. To this end, cultural organisations require artistic expertise and, for example, technical know-how. Therefore, the funded institutions are free to carry out their projects in cooperation with other national and international cultural institutions, software developers and independent artist groups.

Funding is targeted at cultural institutions and independent artist groups which can substantiate that they possess the requisite competence to pursue artistic projects that critically and inquisitively examine one of the central technologies of our time and its potential social impact. The programme awards a minimum of €100,000 and a maximum of €240,000 per project.

Based on the recommendations of an independent jury, the following 11 projects have been selected for funding in the ‘Art & AI’ programme in June 2025:

• Mario Pfeifer. Zustand der Nation [State of the Nation], Albertinum, Dresden State Art Collections (Saxony)
• Alphabete der Automatisierung [Alphabets of Automation], Annette von Droste zu Hülshoff-Foundation Havixbeck (North Rhine-Westphalia)
• SPECTRAL DIALOGUES, gamut inc GbR (Berlin)
• Uncertain Intelligences, House of World Cultures (Berlin)
• Our Brood, Haus der Kunst Munich (Bavaria)
• Echoes of the Unwritten, Jewish Museum Frankfurt am Main (Hesse)
• Holly Herndon & Mat Dryhurst: Starmirror, K21 Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen Düsseldorf (North Rhine-Westphalia)
• The System Cannot Fail (working title), Musiktheater im Revier Gelsenkirchen (North Rhine-Westphalia)
• Kaspar 2028, Residenztheater Munich (Bavaria)
• School of Cow Comfort, Kunsthalle Osnabrück (Lower Saxony)
• [Who] Rules to Encounter, Theatre Dortmund (North Rhine-Westphalia)
  
   

The jury of the “Art & AI” programme is comprised of four experts from different disciplines:

• Yasemin Keskintepe – freelance curator and research associate at the Institut für Kunst- und Bildgeschichte of the HU Berlin,
• Jan Rohlf – artistic director of the CTM Festival in Berlin,
• Sebastian Schmieg – professor of interface design at the HTW Dresden, artist and programmer and
• Jeanne Charlotte Vogt – dramaturge, curator and artistic director of the NODE Verein zur Förderung Digitaler Kultur e. V.
   

In view of the rapid development of AI technologies, the programme relies on the projects to communicate and network with one another in close exchange. Public events will allow them to continually share their knowledge with other interested parties. At a concluding festival, the projects will present their artistic works in the form of showcases, lecture performances etc. A key objective of the festival is to introduce the topics, questions, experiences and project findings into the current public discussion on AI. The experiences and developed code will be documented for the benefit of the professional community.

The Executive Board of the German Federal Cultural Foundation is responsible for selecting projects based on the recommendations of an independent expert jury. The jury session took place at the end of June 2025. The funding guidelines and application requirements have been published on this page in December 2024. We will also inform you about all the important dates in our newsletter (external link, opens in a new window) and via social media (external link, opens in a new window).