Artist-in-residence open call

Forest, path, knowledge—the Spreepark Art Space residency programme invites international groups of artists to explore these three dimensions. We offer a place for collaborative artistic research and production within urban, natural space.

Spreepark Art Space facilitates the artistic transformation and exploration of a unique, green, urban space within Berlin: the former “Kulturpark Plänterwald”, an amusement park that was open from 1969 until 2001. After its closure, known then as “Spreepark”, the side became derelict and was reclaimed by nature. Now it hosts exhibitions, open-air installations, and educational programms that investigate the close relationship between people and nature, art and forest.

Just next door to the Spreepark, four apartments with adjoining studios have been created for a group of four artists. They are housed within the historic Eierhäuschen—a newly renovated and re-opened building dating back to the 19th century. There is a shared spacious common room and communal kitchen, located directly above the exhibition spaces and offices of the Spreepark ArtSpace as well as the adjacent beer garden and restaurant. The close neighbourhood enables a lively exchange with our curatorial team and our broad audience.

In 2025, the residency space will host four resident groups for approximately three months at a time. In addition to the complimentary accommodation, we cover the costs of travel and provide a fixed financial contribution to the living costs of EUR 3,600 net per person.

The focus of our programme is the sustainable connection between art and nature for a varied audience. So, we would like to welcome a diverse collective that explore these topics and consists of visual artists and members of non-artistic disciplines. We are particularly interested in the fields of urban development and planning, architecture, urbanism and all ecological disciplines. The group can also form specifically for our residency programme, but the members should already know each other well enough to be comfortable working and living together for the residency period. It is important that all members of the group do not live in Berlin or the state of Brandenburg at the time of application and residency.

We look forward to welcoming applications from BIPoC and LGBTQIA+ individuals. Also, in individual cases, we are happy to offer advice on possible alternatives if you need accommodation for your children, as the Eierhäuschen unfortunately is not able to accommodate children. For applicants from non-European countries, we will assist in arranging entry visas for the duration of your stay. We also warmly welcome people with impairments or disabilities. In each case, we offer a safe space to discuss and provide individual considerations and special requirements.

The focus of this residency is on analysing and exploring the Spreepark as a living space of transformation. Therefore, the cultural and ecological environment of the park should be at the center of the artistic project. While we are already welcoming visitors to the exhibitions and restaurant in the Eierhäuschen, we are still planning and building in the Spreepark. We encourage interdisciplinary methods and approaches and enable our residents to exchange ideas with Berlin artists and cultural professionals. We see this way of thinking, working and communicating creatively as “artistic research”.

The form of the results of the artistic research is left up to the group at the end of the residency. This can be a research report, a video, an installation, a performance or any other type of presentation. Part of the residency programme is an exhibition in the public exhibition spaces in the Eierhäuschen in the year following the residency together with the other residency groups from 2025.

Unconditional considerations of sustainability in all our operations are fundamental to us. In this context, we would like to discuss and develop upon the experience of this new residency programme with you. You can find an overview of our selection criterias on our website.

Residency dates: January 20–April 4, April 14–June 27, July 7–September 19 or September 29–December 12, 2025. Deviations from this are not possible.

Application: Please submit a pdf file containing the following documents via the application form by midnight on Friday July 26: Motivational letter in German or English for your proposal (who, what, why, how), max. two pages; Collective “curriculum vitae” and individual CVs of all members, max. one page per cv; Portfolio project examples of individual members and/or the existing project/collective, max. eight pages in total; Specify your preferred time frame.

Applications are only accepted via the application form on our website. Submissions after this date unfortunately cannot be accepted. The final decision will be announced by our curatorial board before the end of 2024.

Information session: We offer open video calls on the residency programme and application process for anyone interested. You can sign up and find all the information around our residency programme on our website. Talk to us!