Open Call: Competition for Cultural Scholarships of the Pilecki Institute in Berlin - Instytut Pileckiego

The scholarship offer is aimed at those artists, researchers in the humanities who participated in the fifth edition of the Exercising Modernity Academy, organised by the Pilecki Institute in Berlin in 2024.

The Witold Pilecki Institute of Solidarity and Valour Berlin Branch, pursuant to Article 15 of the Act of 9 November 2017 on the Witold Pilecki Institute of Solidarity and Valour (Journal of Laws, item 2303, as amended) and § 4 para. 1 of the Regulation of the Minister of Culture and National Heritage of 13 December 2018 on scholarships to support scientific research and educational and cultural activities in the scope of activity of the Witold Pilecki Institute of Solidarity and Valour (Dz. U. of 2019, item 23), announces a competition for cultural scholarships in the project:

Cultural Scholarships of the Exercising Modernity Program

The object of the competition is four cultural scholarships of EUR 750.00 net per month for a period of six months. The scholarships are scheduled to be implemented between March and September 2025. 

The scholarship offer is aimed at those artists, researchers in the humanities who participated in the fifth edition of the Exercising Modernity Academy, organised by the Pilecki Institute in Berlin in 2024. 

The fifth edition of the Exercising Modernity Academy was dedicated to the processes of shaping societies under conditions of changing borders. Central and Eastern Europe in the 20th century experienced wars, migrations and social transformations that affected demographic structures, mental maps of the region and phantom borders. These issues take on new significance in the context of the war in Ukraine, which has once again forced millions to migrate.

The modernisation of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, linked to industrial development, urbanisation and the struggle for independence, built new identities, often reinforcing nationalism but also excluding minorities and their traditions. The legacy of the transformation of the 20th century can be seen today in the processes of globalisation and European integration, which are shaping new models of community.

During the Academy, we considered how architecture, literature, art or theatre influenced the construction of identity. What traces have been left by past transformations? How do societies deal with unwanted heritage and how do they avoid conflicts in their reinterpretation? We also considered whether forced modernisation always leads to dreams of prosperity and peace.

Based on the core themes presented at the Exercising Modernity Academy 2024, we consider the following specific issues to be of particular interest for scholarship projects:

ARCHITECTURE, ART AND DESIGN AS A TOOL FOR FOSTERING COLLECTIVE IDENTITY

• The use of architecture and art to create a national identity in Central and Eastern Europe.
• The role of literature, theatre, film and design in constructing coherent social narratives.
• Socialist realism as a tool of power in the Soviet bloc and its impact on art and collective identity.
• Spontaneous versus imposed identity narratives: answering the question "who are we?" in the 20th century.

NARRATIVES ON ARCHITECTURE AND ART AS A HERITAGE OF THE PAST

• Strategic selection of tangible and intangible heritage in the construction of national narratives.
• The destruction or obscuring of elements of the past that challenge collective identity.
• Mythologisation of heritage by excluded groups, migration and boundary changes.
• The fate of architecture and art under the pressure of different narratives and their role as testimony or historical challenge.

SCATTERED SOURCES OF MODERNITY

• Alternative and lesser-known sources of modernisation in Central and Eastern Europe.
• Architectural training centres in the region and their influence on the development of local styles.
• The interplay of Western and Eastern styles and ideas in modernisation processes.
• Reflecting on modernism in the former Eastern Bloc countries before and after the Second World War.

Scholarships are awarded for projects which:

1. Focus on issues of modernity.
2. Touch on a chosen thematic area in relation to 20th century Polish and/or Eastern European history, art and/or culture and additionally relating to at least one of the two key countries for the 2024 edition of the Academy.
3. Combine artistic and research components regardless of whether the proposed activity will be an artistic, curatorial or other project, what is important is that it is rooted in research, the state of the art or one's own research in a particular area (it could be activities in the spirit of art as research, practice as research, etc.).
4. Are interdisciplinary in nature.
5. Reach back into the modernist tradition to seek points of contact with modernity and current challenges
6. Offer attractive and convincing forms of presentation of their effects/results (public presentation after the scholarship period is mandatory for all scholarship holders).

Scholarships are awarded for the process of concept development, including in particular intellectual and conceptual work, research and queries, collection of materials. The fellowship does not require the completion or production of a final work or activity (e.g. the printing of a book or the staging of a performance).

Applications for the scholarship competition can only be submitted individually.

Only one scholarship project can be submitted to the competition.

The project will be implemented under the guidance of the curators of the Exercising Modernity programme in consultation with the programme teams of the partner institutes.

Selected scholarship projects, at the end of the scholarship period, have the chance to obtain additional funding for the production of the scholarship project developed during the scholarship (e.g. in the form of an exhibition, a book, an artistic work). The works created by the scholarship holders also have a chance to be presented as part of events organised by the Pilecki Institute Berlin or partner institutions of the Pilecki Institute Berlin.

Scholarship information:

• The scholarship is awarded at a gross amount of €750 per month for a period of 6 months (with the possibility to extend for a further 2 months in justified cases).
• Duration of the scholarship project:  15th March to 15th September 2025.
•  Number of cultural scholarships awarded: maximum of 4.
• The scholarship holder is not obliged to stay in Warsaw or Berlin during the scholarship period.
• The scholarship holder is obliged to participate in substantive consultations (a minimum of two consultation sessions) with the persons responsible for the scholarship programme on the part of the Pilecki Institute in Berlin, on dates indicated during the scholarship (date to be mutually agreed by all parties).
• The scholarship holder is obliged to present the results of his/her work to a wider audience during a scholarship summing-up event within a maximum of 3 months from the end of the scholarship period (the exact date, form of presentation and venue will be decided jointly by the scholarship holder and the project manager in the last month of the scholarship).
• The grantee may benefit from 12 hours of consultations with an expert(s) indicated by the grantee (maximum 2 persons), whose fees will be paid by the Pilecki Institute.
• The scholarship will be paid in monthly instalments.
• It is possible to apply for reimbursement of travel and/or accommodation costs for artistic or research queries necessary for the scholarship project up to a maximum of EUR 400.00 gross.
• The method of presenting the results of the scholarship project will be agreed individually with each scholarship recipient at the end of the scholarship period.

The scholarship may result in, among other things :

• an artistic work (in final or draft form) produced in any of the available media, within all fields of creative practice, in a form that allows it to be presented before an audience,
• exhibition concept,
• a scientific article or research report,
• an outline of the publication with summaries of the various parts or chapters,
• documentation of the social intervention with a description of the objectives of the action and a summary.

Applications:

Candidates are invited to submit their applications in English via email to: apply@exercisingmodernity.com until 20 February 2025 at 23:59.

Applications made after the deadline shall not be taken into account.

Please indicate in the title: "Cultural Scholarships of the Exercising Modernity Program". The application should be sent as a PDF file and should include:

1. CV and/or portfolio. Please include the following clause:

"I agree to the processing of my personal data by the Witold Pilecki Institute for Solidarity and Valour, based in Warsaw, for the purpose of the cultural scholarship competition within the project 'Exercising Modernity'."

1. A description of the cultural project (between 10,000 and 15,000 characters including spaces) together with an indication of the persons (max. 2) with whom the grantee wishes to consult their research and artistic queries and the places where they intend to conduct their research/queries

1. Schedule of the scholarship, including information on planned study tours and queries

1. A scan of at least two recommendations provided by academic, research, cultural institutions (national or foreign) or individuals.

1. Scan of the signed data controller declaration

1. Scan of the signed declaration of consent to the processing of personal data

If you have any questions or concerns, please send them to: contact@exercisingmodernity.com

The competition will be resolved:

The competition will be adjudicated by 28 February 2025 and the results will be published in the Institute's Public Information Bulletin and on the website www.instytutpileckiego.pl. Those who have been awarded a scholarship will also receive information by email. The Institute is not obliged to justify the decision of the Competition Committee. We do not foresee an appeal procedure.

Organiser:

Pilecki Institute in Berlin

Download