GUIDELINES

Legal basis
The Cultural Foundation Schloss Wiepersdorf awards residency fellowships to artists and writers in Schloss Wiepersdorf (State of Brandenburg, Fläming) in accordance with the following guidelines and dependent on the means available pursuant to the regulations of the State Budget Ordinance (LHO) and the administrative regulations (VV) relating to sections 23 and 44. Fellowships are granted at the Foundation’s discretion and no one can claim legal entitlement to a residency fellowship.

Prerequisites
Artists and writers from Germany and abroad working in the following areas are eligible to apply:

• Literature (incl. poetry, prose, dramatic arts, essay, screenplay, criticism, translation)
• Science/Romanticism (Academic writing and research/Humanities and social sciences with themes on the epoch and sentiments of Romanticism)
• Science/Topics focusing on the previously divided Germany (Academic writing and research/Questions relating to the history of East and West Germany during the period of
   division)
• Fine arts (incl. painting, graphic arts, sculpture, media arts, and photography)
• Composition (incl. sound design, sound installation, sound performance, conducting)

Applicants must have completed an artistic or academic course of study, be working on a doctorate, or have distinguished themselves through publications or long-standing professional artistic or academic work, and can provide samples of their work to substantiate this.
German or English proficiency is required of all applicants. Basic German language skills would be helpful for a successful residence.
Decisive for the awarding of a fellowship are the quality of the applicant’s previous artistic or academic work and the proposed project.
Not eligible for a fellowship are people who have already received a Schloss Wiepersdorf fellowship in the last two years prior to the application year.

Accessibility
The castle and park are low-barrier accessible, and there is a barrier-free flat on the ground floor of the scholarship house. If you have any questions, please contact the team at any time. Ideally, you should mention in your application which accessibility requirements must be met for your stay.

Not eligible for a fellowship are:
• students—with the exception of doctoral, post-doctoral, and master-class (Meisterschüler*innen) students
• people who have already received a Schloss Wiepersdorf fellowship in the last two years prior to the application year
• members of the jury

Type and scope of the fellowship
The number of fellowships awarded is dependent on the funds available in the budget of the federal state of Brandenburg.
The residency fellowship lasts for three months and is granted for the periods March to May, June to August, and September to November. Applicants in the category of Science are allowed to choose a shorter period.
In addition to room and board at Schloss Wiepersdorf, all fellows also receive a monthly cash stipend of €1200 and a one-time grant of €480 to cover material expenses. (If the stay is shortened, the material cost grant is reduced by €160 per month.)

To the extent capacity is available, a studio will be made available to Fellows in Fine arts.
Visa costs will be covered for fellows from countries requiring a visa for Germany.

Award procedure
Fellowships will be awarded in consultation with an independent jury of experts.
Artists and writers can apply for either an individual fellowship or a collaborative fellowship.
Artists and writers who wish to take up the fellowship on their own can apply for an individual fellowship.
Applicants for collaborative fellowships should each name one or two people with whom they will work together on their artistic productions at Schloss Wiepersdorf.

A collaborative fellowship includes two rooms, one for the fellow and an additional room for the other participant(s) in the project, either one guest for the entire period or two guests who will participate consecutively, each one for part of the three-month residency.
The other participants can come from any artistic field—including arts and crafts. The same conditions apply for them as for the fellows.
Domestic partners or spouses can only be suggested if they directly participate in the artistic production of the respective fellow.

Approval and Payment Procedures
Applicants will be notified in writing if they have been awarded a fellowship or if their application was rejected. Grounds for a rejection will not be given.

All fellows will receive a declaration of consent along with their acceptance letter. A fellowship is not considered legally valid until the recipient signs this declaration.

Report and Questionnaire
Fellows are required to submit a report to the Schloss Wiepersdorf Cultural Foundation within 14 days after completing the fellowship residency.

Regarding any works created with the help of the fellowship, the support of the Schloss Wiepersdorf Cultural Foundation should be duly acknowledged in the publication.

Revocation, cancellation, or deferral of the residency fellowship
A fellowship can be revoked if the applicant received it wrongfully, in particular by making inaccurate statements. A claim for repayment exists independent of whether or not the fellowship funds were already used.
In pressing cases in which a fellow is prevented from taking up the fellowship (sickness, commissioned work, etc.), the reason must be documented and the cancellation or deferral of the residency within the same year is to be arranged with the Schloss Wieperdorf Cultural Foundation without delay. New arrangements can only be made within the year in which the fellowship was granted. It is not possible to divide the fellowship residency into several shorter stays, nor to have the residency extend into another year, due to statutory provisions regarding the awarding of residencies and budgetary considerations.

In case of recurring restrictions in connection with the Covid-19 pandemic, the Cultural Foundation Schloss Wiepersdorf reserves the right not to grant residencies in Wiepersdorf at short notice. In this case all fellowship holders will be offered to take part in a virtual residency program instead, if the respective funding partners approve. The monthly allowance and the project money will continue to be paid out, if applicable, upon participation in the virtual residency program. There is no entitlement to the stipend and the project money or to a postponement of the residency.

Miscellaneous
By accepting a fellowship, the fellow thereby acknowledges the residency requirement. Fellows are obligated to spend the majority of the duration of the fellowship grant in Schloss Wiepersdorf.
Fellows are expressly encouraged to participate in the events and presentations at Schloss Wiepersdorf during their stay. Submissions that do not satisfy the formal requirements cannot be considered in the selection process. Work samples cannot be returned.

Data privacy protection
Information on data privacy protection is provided on the application form.