transmediale is calling for applications for its 2027 residency programme. Asking how a network sustains its orientation while the structures around it are breaking down, this year’s open call seeks proposals offering alternatives to how we can understand, respond to, and shape the technological conditions we inhabit. The deadline for all applications is August 28, 2026.
The transmediale residency programme offers artists, researchers, and practitioners the opportunity for a two-month hybrid residency, taking place in Berlin during the month of June and with remote working periods. Each resident will receive a monthly stipend plus additional support for housing in Berlin (self-organised), as well as travel and accommodation for the festival in January 2027.
in collaboration with Pro Helvetia
1 Swiss or Switzerland-based artist
Open Call in cooperation with Arts Council Korea
1 Korean artist, based in Korea or elsewhere
Open Call in cooperation with Universität der Künste Berlin
1 artist based in Berlin
Thematic Framework
Over four decades, transmediale has operated within a network of artists, researchers, and activists working at the margins of dominant technological culture, sustaining collective imagination towards a different kind of technomediated present. At the milestone of the festival’s 40th anniversary , transmediale acts as a counter-infrastructure: an ever-evolving practice, shaped by and responding to changing conditions and demands. Looking at this becoming and taking its inspiration from a document from the early history of the internet, RFC 40 marks the 40th in a series that collectively shaped the specifications and protocols through which the internet came to work. The document’s name was chosen to avoid being deterministic: Request for Comments made no claim to finality. It acknowledged that no single voice had the complete picture, and that any protocol would only stabilise through collective response and revision.
The 2027 residency programme extends this moment of reflection and future-imagining across the year and asks how a network can stay legible to itself while the structures surrounding it are breaking down. How do we reconfigure technical paradigms towards new cultural protocols, outside of widespread extractive logics, moving from critique to construction? This year’s open call seeks proposals offering alternatives to how we understand, respond to, and shape the technological conditions we inhabit.
Structure of the Residency
The hybrid residency takes place over two months, both remotely and on-site in Berlin at transmediale studio, between mid-May and mid-July 2027 The on-site part of the residency takes place in June. Presence in Berlin during the whole month of June is mandatory.
Located in silent green Kulturquartier in Berlin-Wedding, transmediale studio is a shared working space with modular working stations. It is used for events, presentations, and gatherings, as well as for the production of small-scale works and rehearsals. During the on-site period of the residency in June, the residents will present their work in a public event as part of transmediale’s year-round studio programme. transmediale also offers the possibility of an online publication through its journal . During their stay in Berlin, the residents will be connected with various institutions and stakeholders in the city and attend events on Berlin’s cultural calendar.
The residency will kick off during transmediale festival in January 2027 with a presentation of the residency projects. The format of each resident’s contribution to the programme will be discussed individually.
16 July to 28 August 2026
Open call application period
October 2026
Announcement of the selected residents
26–31 January 2027
Residency kick-off during transmediale 2027
(recommended attendance)
May 2027
Onboarding and first hybrid part of the residency
June 2027
Residency month in Berlin at transmediale studio
(on-site presence is mandatory)
July 2027
Second hybrid part of the residency, including reporting
Each residency has specific requirements; please check them carefully in each open call section. The availability of the residents for the festival (last week of January 2027 and the residency month of June on-site in Berlin are important prerequisites. Presence in Berlin for the month of June in Berlin is mandatory; attendance of the festival in January is optional but strongly recommended.
The deadline for all applications is August 28, 2026 Applications are only accepted via transmediale’s submission forms.
How to Apply
Each residency has specific requirements; please check them carefully in each open call section. Applications are submitted online via the transmediale submission forms and should include the following:
▫️ A project description (max 400 words)
▫️ Project development: current status of the project and planned steps before, during, and after the residency (max 200 words)
▫️ Accompanying visual or audio material, image(s), video, mood board, etc (optional, max 5 items)
▫️ Short bio
▫️ Contact information
▫️ Further references or portfolio of previous work (optional, PDF, max 5 pages)
Deadline: August 28, 2026 (23:59 CEST)
Results will be announced in October. For further information and questions, please contact: submit[at]transmediale.de
The residency programme is part of transmediale's year-round activities. It aims to establish more sustainable practices and long-term relationships with artists, focusing on an approach that goes beyond output-oriented presentations. Through the residency programme, transmediale continuously expands its long-standing local and international network and community, while bringing together diverse disciplines and practices.
transmediale has been funded as a cultural institution of excellence by the Kulturstiftung des Bundes (German Federal Cultural Foundation) since 2004. The residency programme 2027 is a cooperation with two international and one local partner: Pro Helvetia, ARKO, and the University of the Arts Berlin.
