لسة / Not yet / still
Facts
Who: Visual artists from Arabic speaking countries
Section: Visual Arts
Places: Berlin (Germany)
Application Deadline: April 27, 2025
Interviews: May 19 & 20, 2025
Results: June 1, 2025
Residency in Berlin: September 1, 2025 – November 30, 2025, or
December 1, 2025 – February 28, 2026
Section: Visual Arts
Places: Berlin (Germany)
Application Deadline: April 27, 2025
Interviews: May 19 & 20, 2025
Results: June 1, 2025
Residency in Berlin: September 1, 2025 – November 30, 2025, or
December 1, 2025 – February 28, 2026
About
Being in between entails not being there yet and still being somewhere else. The word لسة ("lissa") in Egyptian Arabic contains both meanings. It encompasses the idea of liminality, a threshold state that feeds from the instability of change and at the same time opens many directions to go to.
Liminal spaces are places that exist between different states and realities. They become physically visible in the ever-changing urban fabric of today’s cities, and they are crucial to artistic production as well as artistic research.
This liminality of transition, this threshold state, is from where this projects develops: The Goethe-Institutes in North Africa and the Middle East, in cooperation with Zentrum für Kunst und Urbanistik in Berlin (ZK/U, Center for Art and Urbanistics) invite six participants for a residency program that asks them to dissect what it means to be in between – not yet or still.
Welcoming visual artists and researchers interested in questioning the social, cultural, and urbanistic places, spaces, and positions of liminality, the residents will have three months in the studios of ZK/U in Berlin and an extensive accompanying programme to develop their projects. We are looking for artists who are curious to take their art out of the studios, to experiment with its reverberations in the city-space, and the city’s influence on their practice itself.
Liminal spaces are places that exist between different states and realities. They become physically visible in the ever-changing urban fabric of today’s cities, and they are crucial to artistic production as well as artistic research.
This liminality of transition, this threshold state, is from where this projects develops: The Goethe-Institutes in North Africa and the Middle East, in cooperation with Zentrum für Kunst und Urbanistik in Berlin (ZK/U, Center for Art and Urbanistics) invite six participants for a residency program that asks them to dissect what it means to be in between – not yet or still.
Welcoming visual artists and researchers interested in questioning the social, cultural, and urbanistic places, spaces, and positions of liminality, the residents will have three months in the studios of ZK/U in Berlin and an extensive accompanying programme to develop their projects. We are looking for artists who are curious to take their art out of the studios, to experiment with its reverberations in the city-space, and the city’s influence on their practice itself.
What we offer
The invited artists will be hosted by the ZK/U in Berlin for the period of three months. At ZK/U, each artist will have access their own combined studio and living space, and ZK/U’s events and accompanying residency program, which can be found here. All studios are about 50 sqm large and are equipped with basic furniture. One of the studios is slightly bigger and more suitable for people with limited mobility. This same studio could also host an artist arriving either with an accompanying person or their child.
ZK/U hosts a multidisciplinary residency program with a total of 14 studios, offering a living and working space for practitioners of all kinds (artists, researchers, activists, professionals of various fields) whose work or approach explores the dynamics and experiences of the city. All studios have access to a shared communal kitchen, as well as a shared terrace. With collaborative practices and peer-to-peer learning at its core, the residency is about exchanging with and learning from other artists and practitioners.
Three residencies will take place from September to November 2025, after which three more residents will be able to use the studios from December 2025, until February 2026. A round-trip (Economy), visa fees, accommodation, health insurance and per diems during the working period will be covered.
ZK/U hosts a multidisciplinary residency program with a total of 14 studios, offering a living and working space for practitioners of all kinds (artists, researchers, activists, professionals of various fields) whose work or approach explores the dynamics and experiences of the city. All studios have access to a shared communal kitchen, as well as a shared terrace. With collaborative practices and peer-to-peer learning at its core, the residency is about exchanging with and learning from other artists and practitioners.
Three residencies will take place from September to November 2025, after which three more residents will be able to use the studios from December 2025, until February 2026. A round-trip (Economy), visa fees, accommodation, health insurance and per diems during the working period will be covered.
The participants are accompanied by a mentor and will be provided with networking opportunities in Berlin. The working language in Berlin will be English.
The Goethe-Institut will award a production grant based on the individual proposals, maximum 1.500€ to each selected artist to support the artistic development process during the residency.
Participants are allowed to find co-production funds but are obliged to inform the Goethe-Institut about them first.
Participants are allowed to find co-production funds but are obliged to inform the Goethe-Institut about them first.
Participants will have the opportunity to organize a joint event with all six selected artists end of November at ZK/U in Berlin. Depending on the outcome of the residency, the possibilities to showcase the work in the MENA region with support of the Goethe-Institut can be explored.
Timeline
- July 2025 Online Kick-off Workshop
- Residency 1 at ZK/U in Berlin September 1, 2025 – November 30, 2025
Residency 2 at ZK/U in Berlin December 1, 2025 – February 28, 2026
- Between November 28 and December 3rd
- March 2026: Online-Workshop
Obligations for participants
- Commit to the program “لسة / Not yet / still” and its timeline in its entirety and being released from all other professional activities during the entire period of the residency.
- Live, work, and engage in the ZK/U residency community
- Inform mentors and the Goethe-Institut about the project’s development (important changes, difficulties, questions, etc.)
Selcection critieria
- The focus is on visual artists and researchers from and currently based in the following Arabic speaking countries: Algeria, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Mauretania, Morocco, Oman, Palestinian Territories, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen, but artists with a nationality from these countries, who are currently staying in other countries, can also apply (We start from a broad understanding of visual arts including photography, drawing, sculpture, video art, conceptual art, architecture, etc.)
- Motivation to participate in the program.
- Relevance of the project proposal dealing with the proposed topic of the residency.
- Innovative and compelling practice and body of work.
Apply now!
Please send the following information in pdf format via mail with the subject “PROJECT TITLE” to kultur-kairo@goethe.de until April 27, 2025:
1. CV (max. 2 pages)
2. Project proposal (max 1 page) with the following guidelines:
4. A copy of your passport (identification page)
5. Application form dated and signed sworn statement, certifying the accuracy of the information provided and that the candidate agrees to the general terms and conditions of the programme. CV, project proposal and portfolio may be in Arabic, English, German, or French. If the application is in Arabic, French, or German please provide a short synopsis (3-5 sentences) in English about your project proposal. Please note that the working language at ZK/U residency is English.
1. CV (max. 2 pages)
2. Project proposal (max 1 page) with the following guidelines:
- With which project would you like to participate in the program?
- You are welcome to structure it as you like. We suggest considering: a project description, a working plan, personal relation to the project themes. How does your project relate to the city of Berlin?
4. A copy of your passport (identification page)
5. Application form dated and signed sworn statement, certifying the accuracy of the information provided and that the candidate agrees to the general terms and conditions of the programme. CV, project proposal and portfolio may be in Arabic, English, German, or French. If the application is in Arabic, French, or German please provide a short synopsis (3-5 sentences) in English about your project proposal. Please note that the working language at ZK/U residency is English.
Selection process
All applications will be reviewed by a jury which selects the participants. The application procedure consists of two stages: In stage one, all written applications will be reviewed. Only the short-listed candidates reach stage two and are invited to online pitches (May 19 and 20, 2025). The jury has absolute authority and its decisions are final.
All applicants will be informed about the results until June 1, 2025.
Please note: Incomplete applications cannot be considered.
All applicants will be informed about the results until June 1, 2025.
Please note: Incomplete applications cannot be considered.
About the organisers
The Goethe-Institut is the cultural institute of the Federal Republic of Germany with a global presence of 158 institutes in 98 countries. It facilitates international cultural exchange, promotes access to the German language and supports the unimpeded development of culture and science.
Zentrum für Kunst und Urbanistik - ZK/U (Center for Art and Urbanistics) is an artist-led independent art residency and project space in Berlin, Germany. It hosts a multidisciplinary residency program, offering a living and working space for practitioners of all kinds (artists, researchers, activists, professionals of various fields) whose work or approach explores the dynamics and experiences of the city. The ZK/U residency program allows mutual learning, spontaneous collaborations, discussions and exchanges to emerge, enriched by the diversity of disciplines and profiles of the residents. The ZK/U building, a former train station building located in a dynamic public park, is a space for urban experimentation and cross-disciplinary collaborations.
All participants of ZK/U are asked to commit themselves to the Policy of Respect at the beginning of their stay or collaboration. You can find it here.
Zentrum für Kunst und Urbanistik - ZK/U (Center for Art and Urbanistics) is an artist-led independent art residency and project space in Berlin, Germany. It hosts a multidisciplinary residency program, offering a living and working space for practitioners of all kinds (artists, researchers, activists, professionals of various fields) whose work or approach explores the dynamics and experiences of the city. The ZK/U residency program allows mutual learning, spontaneous collaborations, discussions and exchanges to emerge, enriched by the diversity of disciplines and profiles of the residents. The ZK/U building, a former train station building located in a dynamic public park, is a space for urban experimentation and cross-disciplinary collaborations.
All participants of ZK/U are asked to commit themselves to the Policy of Respect at the beginning of their stay or collaboration. You can find it here.
Contact
In case you have any questions, please contact the Goethe-Institut Cairo via mail: kultur-kairo@goethe.de.
Please note:
The Goethe-Institut reserves the right to rescind the grants in the event that the funds to be transferred have not been made available.
The Goethe-Institut has no-tolerance towards all forms of violence, harassment, and discrimination and expects the same from its contractual partners, grantees, and scholarship holders. Partners agree to follow the anti-harassment, anti-violence, and anti-discrimination approach of the Goethe-Institut.
There is no legal entitlement to the award of a scholarship by the Goethe-Institut.
If you apply to this project you agree that we will process your data as described in the Information on data protection and processing of your personal data.
The Goethe-Institut has no-tolerance towards all forms of violence, harassment, and discrimination and expects the same from its contractual partners, grantees, and scholarship holders. Partners agree to follow the anti-harassment, anti-violence, and anti-discrimination approach of the Goethe-Institut.
There is no legal entitlement to the award of a scholarship by the Goethe-Institut.
If you apply to this project you agree that we will process your data as described in the Information on data protection and processing of your personal data.