SPK – Sommerakademie Paul Klee has launched a call for applications for the 16-month programme hosted by the Bern Academy of the Arts (HKB).

The call is aimed at practitioners working at a postgraduate level (whether or not they have an official certificate) from various disciplines in culture, education, or activism. Up to eight residents will be selected to join the programme, curated by Andrea Thal. Activities begin on August 12th, 2023. Throughout 2023 and 2024, the SPK features public lectures, closed-door seminars, and access to infrastructure and technical support at HKB – but also teaching opportunities at the Academy.

Travel, accommodation, visa expenses and a per diem of CHF 50 are covered. Residents using production facilities are entitled to a modest production stipend of CHF 500. Each year of the cycle also has a pot of money at their disposal that can be allocated collectively.

Applications may be submitted by March 15th, 2023 (7 am CET) at SPK’s website.

Pro Helvetia supports successful candidates from the regions of its liaison offices around the world. Our office may support one successful applicant from South America.

EXCERPT FROM THE CURATORIAL FRAMEWORK FOR SPK 2023/24: «FINDING OUR FEET»

The 2023/24 cycle of the SPK wishes to bring together a group of residents who have experience in working with others in modes of crisis or struggle in cultural, activist or education contexts. To find our feet means to grow more confident in a new or shifting situation, to grow familiar with the ground we are standing on and from where we act. «Finding Our Feet» will dedicate time to detailed research of methodologies and economies of collective working practices, the reflection and awareness tools that grow out of groups whose practices imagine different forms of relating to each other, as well as artistic and experimental ways of making art together. Based on the awareness that such practices are always highly specific to their contexts, the programme hopes to build its field of resonance together with the residents and based on their questions. In light of this, the programme proposes a loose structure with room for decisions to be taken in the group and is able to accommodate shifts in its focus and direction.