Wiepersdorf welcomes guests from Israel

Residency fellowships for two writers from Israel

Wiepersdorf Cultural Foundation is delighted to welcome Galit Dahan Carlibach and Shachar Magen from Israel. Here you can find a translation of the press release of the Ministry of Science, Research and Culture in Brandenburg:

Schloss Wiepersdorf Cultural Foundation is entering into a cooperation with the Goethe-Institut Israel this year. The writer Galit Dahan Carlibach and the author and director Shachar Magen have been selected for a three-month residency fellowship funded by the Brandenburg Ministry of Culture in the amount of 16,000 euros.

Culture Minister Dr. Manja Schüle: “With its long history of art and culture, Schloss Wiepersdorf is a special place and radiates far beyond Brandenburg. I am delighted that Galit Dahan Carlibach and Shachar Magen will be able to start their scholarship there next week. The cooperation between the Schloss Wiepersdorf Cultural Foundation and the Goethe-Institut in Tel Aviv goes back to my trip to Israel at the beginning of April. During the conversations, I once again realized how traumatized people are by the Hamas terror attack on Israel - and how much they long for peace. I therefore spontaneously decided to fund two scholarships as Minister. Wiepersdorf is a place of peace and cultural exchange. I suspect that a quarter of a year will not be enough to heal wounds. But I hope that this short break will help them to concentrate on their art.”

Annette Rupp, Director of the Schloss Wiepersdorf Cultural Foundation: “We are delighted that the author Galit Dahan Carlibach and the author and director Shachar Magen will be spending three months at Schloss Wiepersdorf. Wiepersdorf brings together cultural and academic guests from all over the world for residencies. This results in an intensive exchange and often collaboration between fellowship holders from different disciplines and regions. In recent years, the Cultural Foundation has dealt intensively with Jewish culture and history in conferences, public programs and within the framework of fellowships, and is all the more pleased to welcome the guests from Israel. I would like to thank Dr. Carola Dürr, Director of the Goethe-Institut Israel, for her cooperation, and Minister Dr. Manja Schüle for her support.”

Dr. Carola Dürr, Director of the Goethe-Institut Israel: “We are very pleased about the partnership with Schloss Wiepersdorf and its director Annette Rupp. I am overwhelmed by how quickly the idea of inviting two Israeli fellowship holders to Wiepersdorf was realized in Brandenburg: There were barely five months between our first meeting with Culture Minister Dr. Manja Schüle as part of her delegation trip to Israel and the start of the scholarship period! I am sure that Galit Dahan Carlibach and Shachar Magen will have an enriching time at Schloss Wiepersdorf, this historic place of creativity and cultural exchange, and will return to Israel with many valuable impressions. Especially in these times, it is so important to keep the door wide open for international encounters and dialog.”

The selection process was overseen by Kerstin Malka-Winter, Head of Information and Library at the Goethe-Institut Israel, and a jury of experts selected Galit Dahan Carlibach and Shachar Magen for the scholarship, which runs from September to November 2024. Galit Dahan Carlibach (*1981) has published novels, novellas, fantasy books, short stories and poetry. Her novel 'Under The Sign Of Orphan' is due to be published in German in 2025. In her new project, the award-winning prose author, who lives in Jerusalem, focuses on her family history. Shachar Magen writes novels and screenplays for drama series ('Possessions') and films and has worked as a documentary film director. He is currently working on a project entitled 'Metamorphoses'.

The Schloss Wiepersdorf Cultural Foundation was established in 2019. The German Foundation for Monument Protection transferred the property and buildings, including the inventory, as well as the 'Land Brandenburg Fund' to the foundation to the tune of more than seven million euros. The house is available as a residency for artists from the fields of visual arts, composition, literature and academics from Germany and abroad to spend several months working here. In addition to individual scholarships, group and cooperation scholarships are also possible. This year, the state of Brandenburg is providing 1,032,000 euros for the operation of the house and the scholarships.

As the former residence of Achim and Bettina von Arnim, Schloss Wiepersdorf has a long tradition as a place of intellectual and cultural exchange. After 1946, it was used in the GDR as a place of work and recreation for creative people, making it the oldest of 13 artists' residences in Germany. Well-known writers were guests there, including Anna Seghers, Christa Wolf and Arnold Zweig. In 1992, it was reopened as the Wiepersdorf Artists' House of the Kulturfonds Foundation. From 2006 to 2018, the German Foundation for Monument Protection operated Schloss Wiepersdorf as Künstlerhaus Schloss Wiepersdorf with temporary support from the state of Brandenburg and the federal government.

In addition to the Wiepersdorf scholarships, a further 86,000 euros are available this year to support artists, including work scholarships and the state's art prize, which is awarded in July.