15 June 2021

INITIAL –
Akademie der Künste awards special grants to artists
Applications accepted from today

As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, damage on an as yet unforeseeable scale has been caused in all areas of art production. Numerous artists now find themselves in precarious situations. As part of the NEUSTART KULTUR programme launched by the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media, the Akademie der Künste is awarding the INITIAL Special Grant for the research and development of art works. The purpose of the grants is to safeguard and facilitate art production and to provide the basis and incentive for long-term artistic projects whose preparation and development have been hampered during the pandemic.

Based on the six sections of the Akademie der Künste, the grant is targeting artists working professionally in the fields of the visual arts, architecture, literature, music, performing arts, and film and media arts / audio plays, as well as emerging artists who have arrived on the scene with their first works. The programme is endowed with a total of € 5 million. 791 grants of € 6,000 will be awarded over a period of 4 months (October 2021 to the end of January 2022). The selection is made by juries composed of Akademie members. 1,000 applications will be accepted per art category.

A specially created online application portal at www.adk.de/initial is going live today (15 June 2021). Applications can be submitted until 15 July 2021.

See press release of 3 June 2021