INITIAL –
Special Grant of the Akademie der Künste
The grant period has expired. Information on the current INITIAL 2 Special Grant – New Cooperations can be found here.
Purpose of the Special Grant
The purpose of the INITIAL Special Grant was to fund the research and development of artists’ works. The special grant protected and facilitated artistic production and was the basis and initiative for artistic projects, whose preparation and development were more difficult during the COVID-19 pandemic. The artistic quality of previous projects and the proposed project’s development potential were decisive criteria for receiving the funding.
Amount of the Special Grant
Each special grant was a monetary award of 6,000 euros.
Who Could Apply
Based on the six sections that comprise the Akademie der Künste, the grant was targeted to artists who live in Germany and work professionally in all fields of art: visual arts, architecture, literature, music, performing arts, film and media arts/audio plays. It also includes younger, emerging artists living in Germany who have who have begun publicly presenting their first works (JUNGE AKADEMIE of the Akademie der Künste).
Artists were considered professional if they met any of the following criteria:
- They could demonstrate membership in a professional association of artists in one of the disciplines specified above or in the Künstlersozialkasse (artists’ social insurance), or
- They hold a degree from a German university, art academy or a comparable foreign institution (in compliance with the anabin list), or
- They could demonstrate a professional contemporary artistic practice that has been established for several years.
Application Period
During the application period from 15 June – 15 July 2021, a total of 4,618 applications were submitted in the following sections: Visual Arts, Architecture, Literature, Music, Performing Arts, Film and Media Arts/Audio Plays, and the JUNGE AKADEMIE. A maximum of 1,000 applications were permitted in each art section, as well as the category for emerging artists. The applications were reviewed by juries representing each section.
How Many Grants Were Awarded?
A total of 766 grants were awarded.
Funding Period
The four-month grant period began on 1 October 2021 and ended on 31 January 2022.
Grant Recipients
Maher Abdul Moaty
Daniel Ableev
Natalia Acevedo Ferreira
Tomomi Adachi
Rita Adib
Onur Agbaba
Murat Agdas
Taslima Ahmed
Leonie Ahmer
Abigail Akavia
Caner Akdeniz
Jide Akinleminu
Silvia Albarella
Stefan Alber
Bettie I. Alfred
Kamal Aljafari
Özlem Alkis
Volker Altwasser
Oren Ambarchi
Andreas Ammer
Annelie Andre
Soi Anifantis-Scherb
Belinda Annis
Birgit Antoni
Nisan Arikan
Hans Arnold
Daniel Asadi Faezi
Mehrnaz Asadi Nazari
Derya Atakan
Ruben Aubrecht
Oliver Augst
Sam Auinger
Julia B. Nowikowa
Patrizia Bach
Mehmet Özgür Bahçeci
Thomas Baldischwyler
Zsuzsa Bánk
Diane Barbé
Ortrun Bargholz
Alexander Barina
Lotta Bartoschewski
Ran Barzvi
Anke Bastrop
Sophia Bauer
Felix Baxmann
Lars Karl Becker
Greta-Marie Becker
Lukas Becker
Jana Beckmann
Rose-Anabel Beermann
Amelie Befeldt
Philipp Beißel
Rainer Bellenbaum
Katharina Bendixen
Olivia Berckemeyer
Christian Berens
André Bergelt
Bruno Berger-Gorski
Uwe Dag Berlin
Birke Bertelsmeier
Francesca Bertin
Sebastian Berweck
Burkhard Beschow
Andreas Bick
Michael Bienert
Cana Bilir-Meier
Katharina Binder
Martha Binder
Susanne Binninger
Ally Bisshop
Maroula Blades
Sebastian Blasius
Wojciech Blecharz
Benno Blome
David Bloom
Valerian Blos
Julian Blum
Antje Blumenstein
Irma Blumstock
Maurits Boettger
Hermann Bohlen
Elaine Bonavia
Mirko Bonne
Ralf Bönt
Felipe Boquimpani
Ana Botezatu
Caroline Böttcher
Jan Böttcher
Carsten Brandau
Marcus Braun
Alida Bremer
Jan Peter Bremer
Tom Bresemann
Mariola Brillowska
Anna Bromley
Christoph Brumme
Daniel Bryden
Ruth Buchanan
Tony Buck
Nine Budde
Ipek Burcak
Felix Burger
Astrid Busch
Christina Bylow
Alejandra Cardenas
Marcelo De Carvalho Lima
Antonia Cattan
Ersin Çelik
Je Chan
Nai Wen Chang
Ashkan Cheheltan
Audrey Isabel Chen
Jozefina Chetko
Jef Chippewa
Marieta Chirulescu
Jeongmoon Choi
Sunah Choi
Marianna Christofides
Miroljub Cimerman
Maja Classen
Pamela Coats
Sarai Cole
Maria Colusi
Daniela Comani
Matthew Conley
Katharina Copony
Peter Cusack
Werner Dafeldecker
Jonas-Philipp Dallmann
Lucien Danzeisen
Aliénor Dauchez
Gunnar Decker
Kerstin Decker
Renatus Deckert
Aleksandr Delev
Gabriele Denecke-Schmidt
Dennis Depta
Louis d‘Heudieres
Julia Dick
Lisa-Marie Dickreiter
Jos Diegel
Sophie Diesselhorst
Matthias Dietrich
Christine Dissmann
Franz Dittrich
Marta Djourina
Judith Marlen Dobler
Peter Dobroschke
Katharina Doebler
Sophia Domagala
Sven Domann
Max Dombrowski
Julia Dombrowski
Axel Dörner
Dan Dorocic Pollak
Catharina Dörr
Hannah Dörr
Houédo Dieu-Donné Parfait Dossa
Sascha Janko Dragicevic
Markus Draper
Karolina Dreit
Erik Drescher
June Drevet
Mátyás Dunajcsik
Kaj Duncan David
Sam Durant
Mediha Selin Düyen Mehder
Alexis Dworsky
Evgeni Dybsky
Doris Dziersk
Janis Eckhardt
Katarina Eckold
Rabea Edel
Kristina Egbers
Gunnhildur Einarsdóttir
Lukas Einsele
Nezaket Ekici
Linda Elsner
Katrin Emler
Johannes Ender
Sylke Enders
Katharina Engel
Achim Engelberg
Jan Engelke
Sophie Engert
Sabine Ercklentz
Elisa Erkelenz
Bernhard Eusterschulte
Catherine Evans
Niklas Fanelsa
Brandon Farnsworth
Mohammad Massum Ibrahimy Faryar
Johannes Fäßler
Rachel Fäth
Julie Favreau
Jakob Fedler
Christine Feistl
Damiano Femfert
Fette Sans
Boris Filanovsky
Ana Filipovic Mecke
Leon Filter
Britta Finaske
Lukas Fink
Florian Fischer
Florian Fischer
Jean-Pascal Flavien
Maria Flores
Frederik Foert
Susanne Franzmeyer
Marina Frenk
Bärbel Freund
Marcel Frey
Adib Fricke
Lisa Charlotte Friederich
Elena Friedrich
Franz Friedrich
Werner Fritsch
Susanne Fröhlich
René Frölke
Isabella Fürnkäs
Viola Gabor
Ursula Gaisbauer
Dani Gal
Luiz Francisco Garcez de Oliveira Mello
Sergio Garcia
Ramón Gardella
Kati Gausmann
Dmitrij Gawrisch
Yvonne Gebauer
Mara Genschel
Daniela Georgieva
Anja Gerecke
Ingo Gerken
Simina German
David Gieselmann
Silvia Gioberti
Gregor Glogowski
Steffen Goldkamp
Andreas Goldstein
Andreas Golinski
Celina Gonzalez Sueyro
Valeria Gordeev
Kassiani Goulakou
Itamar Gov
Svenja Gräfen
Agnese Grieco
Johannes Groschupf
Sascha Gross
Jakob Gruhl
Christoph Grund
Ariane Grundies
Ralph Grüneberger
Hulda Rós Gudnadóttir
Alberto Guerrini
Verena Güntner
Ralf Haarmann
Laura Haas
Sebastian Haas
Binha Haase
Ines Habich-Milovic
Max Hacke
Sonja Hamad
Ralph Hammerthaler
Sebastian Hannak
Felix Harmuth
Constantin Hartenstein
Maximilian Hartinger
Benedikt Hartl
Klaus Hartmann
Annette Hauschild
Stefan Hayn
Manuel Heck
Jonathan Heck
Tilman Hecker
Christopher Heenan
Klemens Hegen
Mareike Hein
Nicola Leonard Hein
Finn-Ole Heinrich
Andreas Heise
Leila Hekmat
Marius Helten
Nicole Henneberg
Su-Yen Hennings
Anna Hentschel
Timo Herbst
Vanessa Hernandez Farfan
Sabine Herpich
Christoph Hessler
Thomas Hettche
Darsha Hewitt
Alan Hilario
Sylvia Hinz
Friederike Hirsz
Juliana Hodkinson
Jan Hoeft
Christopher Hoehn
Markus Hoffmann
Nils Hohenhövel
Armin Hokmi Kiasaraei
Bernhard Holaschke
Krzysztof Honowski
Hengame Hosseini
Martin Howse
Paul Hübner
Neo Hülcker
Marius Hulpe
Norbert Hummelt
Zora Hünermann
Rike Huy
Bassel Ibrahim
Luka Ivanovic
Bärbel Jahn
Branko Janack
Hyojoo Jang
Juliane Jaschnow
Jan Jelinek
Ines Johnson-Spain
Jöns Jönsson
Stephan Junglas
Esther Jurkiewicz
Benjamin Kahlmeyer
Annika Kahrs
Sebastian Kaiser
Elena Margarita Kakaliagou
Timon Kaleyta
Narges Kalhor
Michael Kalkbrenner
Anja Kampmann
Julia Kandzora
Kiho Kang
So Kanno
Athanasios Karanikolas
Andreas Karaoulanis
Line Skywalker Karlström
Maria Karpushina
Ahmad Katlesh
Ryo Kato
Julia Kaulen
Selin Kavak
Yui Kawaguchi
Leonid Keller
Fabiane Kemmann
Banu Kepenek
Mazen Kerbaj
Dobrivoie Kerpenisan
Rene Kersting
Peter Ketturkat
Jana Keuchel
Ehsan Khatibi
Abbas Khider
Karina Khorkhordina
Marina Khorkova
Marte Kiessling
Marta Kijowska
Bo-Sung Kim
Akane Kimbara
Jonas Klaassen
Stefan Klein
Georg Klein
Michael Klier
Oliver Klimpel
Michel Klöfkorn
Maria Knissel
Rainer Kohlberger
Ulrich Köhler
Anne Köhler
Aisuke Kondo
Nina Könnemann
Tessa Korber
Carlo Korinsky
Matthias Körner
Anna Korsun
Moritz Kotzerke
Kitty Kraus
Angela Krauß
Helmut Krausser
Steffen Krebber
Timo Kreuser
Stefan Kriekhaus
Anirudh Krishnadas
Uday Krishnakumar
Franziska Kronfoth
Gerd Kroske
Christoph Krüger
Ute-Christine Krupp
Anda Kryeziu
Caroline Kryzecki
Yuchin Ku
Marco Kugel
Björn Kuhligk
Tilmar Kuhn
Kevin Kuhn
Stefanie Kulisch
Max Kullmann
Anja Kümmel
Goeksu Kunak
Albrecht Kunze
Jenny Kurth
Laura Maria Lampe
Andréas Lang
Thomas Lang
Silke Lange
Ofri Lapid
Sergei Lebedev
Martin Lechner
Mareike Yin-Yee Lee
Sophie Lee
Miji Lee
Ui-Kyung Lee
Malgorzata Lehmann
Anna Lehrer
Luise Leon Elbern
Andreas Lewin
Eli Lin
Johanna Lindemann
Reiner Linke
Verena Lobert
Ivette Loecker
Philip Loersch
Frauke Löffel
Anastasios Logothetis
Keto Logua
Dana Lorenz
Martin Lorenz
Christian Losert
Amelie Losier
Sandra Lötzsch
Stella Luncke
Marc Lunghuß
Lingyuan Luo
Matthias Luthardt
Dirk Lütter
Bernd Lützeler
Daniel Louis Lythgoe
Jeanne Maddy
Kristof Magnusson
Stephan Mahn
Camila Malenchini
Filip Malinowski
Anna Malunat
Krista Manison
Lea Mantel
Thomas Maos
Ruth Mariner
Bridge Markland
Claudia Isabel Martin
Thomas Martin
Theresa Martini
Ilija Matusko
Magda Mayas
Sarah Mayr
Mathis Mayr
Elsa Mbala
Philipp Mecke
Russudan Meipariani
Tatiana Mejia Matos
Laura Mello
Steffi Memmert-Lunau
Valeria Merlini
Nora Mesaros
Barbara Metselaar
Kera Mfa
Julia Mihály
Bernhard Mikeska
Oskar Militzer
Shirin Mohammad
Maria Mohr
Dohi Moon
Kathrin Moorse
Terezia Mora
Viktoria Morasch
Pierre-Etienne Morelle
Michael Moritz
Patricia Morosan
Bodo Morshäuser
Laura Mrosla
Jens Mühlhoff
Leah Muir
Jana Müller
Jens Michael Müller
Gloria Munoz
Wataru Murakami
Jasmina Musić
Zorana Musikic
Theo Nabicht
Marcos Nacar
Christine Nagel
Leonie Nagel
Rima Najdi
Pablo Narezo
Katinka Narjes
Donja Nasseri
Silvie Naunheim
Matthias Nawrat
Raha Nejad
Jennifer de Negri
Cecilia Nercasseau Gibson
Claudia Neubert
Robert Neumann
Simon Neumayer
Sergey Nevskiy
Tra My Nguyen
Baly Nguyen
Detlef Niebisch
Sina Niemeyer
Charly Nijensohn
Anja Nowak
Andrés Nuño de Buen
Lulu Obermayer
Maxi Obexer
Nicole Oder
Ralph Oehme
Christoph Ogiermann
Robert Olawuyi
Pedro Oliveira
Oscar Olivo
Can Oral
Böhler Orendt
Julia Oschatz
Necati Öziri
Alexander Pannier
Tim Panzer
Paula E. Paul
Marios Pavlou
Anna Pein
Katharina Pelosi
Michael Pelzel
Mooni Perry
Manuel Pessoa de Lima
Coleman Pester
Christoph Peters
Sabine Peters
Regine Petersen
Charlotte Petersen
Gesche Piening
Katja Pilipenko
Paola Pilnik
Phaedra Pisimisi
Tim Plamper
Julia Plawgo
Stefan Pohlit
Ulrich Polster
Sophia Pompéry
Marta Popivoda
Anna Maria Praßler
Katja Pratschke
Sascha Preiß
Lilian Prent
Maik Priebe
Natalia Pschenitschnikova
Hans-Gerd Pyka
Hendrik Quast
Adriana Radu
Evelina Rajca
Jan Ralske
Andrea Rama
Lola Randl
Anahita Razmi
Jacqueline Reddington
Achim Reese
Janika Rehak
Teresa Reiber
Hendrik Reichel
Laura Reichwald
Rebekka Reinholz
Wolfgang Reinke
Fabian Reinsch
Theresa Reiwer
Jonathan Rescigno
Jürgen Retter
Mandla Reuter
Kiana Rezvani
Julia Charlotte Richter
Ute Richter
Lasse-Marc Riek
Denise Ritter
Scott Roben
Sabrina Rocha
Ana Maria Rodriguez
Philipp Rohé
Nahum Romero
Lula Romero
Thomas Rosenlöcher
Evan Roth
Tucké Royale
Iwona Rozbiewska
Marina Rüdiger
Jaroslav Rudis
Katia Rudnicki
Stefan Rummel
Hannah Rumstedt
Nicolás Rupcich
Irina Ruppert
Shirin Sabahi
Adriana Salazar Arroyo
Bernhard Sallmann
Andreja Saltyte
Max Sänger
Laura Santos
Belle Santos
Volker Sattel
Grgur Savic
Michael Sayles
Julia Schäfer
Silke Scheuermann
Ignaz Schick
André Schinkel
Marie Schleef
Gisa Schleelein
Katharina Schlender
Jordis Schloesser
Romana Schmalisch
Jonathan Schmalöer
Marcus Schmickler
Melanie Schmidli
Carsten Schneider
Moritz Schneider
Moritz Schneidewendt
Julia Schoch
Paula Schopf
Franziska Schrödinger
Evy Schubert
Franziska Elisabeth Schubert
Silke Andrea Schuemmer
Therese Schuleit
Nele Schulz
Peter Schulz
Gundula Schulze Eldowy
Javiera Schumacher
Anja Schumacher
Lara Schützsack
Laurie Schwartz
Maximilian Schwidlinski
Laure-Anne Segers
Markus Seibel
Hannes Seidl
Niklas Seidl
Ilka Seifert
Colin Self
Alam Cristiam Sena
Hara Shin
Lina Sieckmann
Heidi Sill
Johannes S. Sistermanns
Lena Skrabs
Anna Slobodnik
Vanja Smiljanic
Martin Smith
Jan Soldat
Sebastian Solte
Lisa Sommerfeldt
Jana Sonnenberg
Maria Speth
Burkhard Spinnen
Beate Spitzmüller
Rainer Splitt
Carsten Stabenow
Julius Stahl
Ivan Stanev
Saša Stanišić
Noga Steiner Chaimovitch
Dorian Steinhoff
Leander Steinkopf
Irma-Kinga Stelmach
Sophia Stepf
Marleen Stoessel
Lisa Marie Stojćev
Lukas Stopczynski
Stefan Streich
Norbert Stueck
Leander Sukov
Bahzad Sulaiman
Ernst Surberg
Chiyoko Szlavnics
Yergalem Taffere
Young-Jun Tak
Arjun Talwar
Katja Tannert
Sissi Tax
Caner Teker
Thorsten Tenberken
Mila Teshaieva
Jolanda Todt
Tina Tonagel
Anke Tornow
Tara Transitory
Mareike Trillhaas
Marcel Tröger
Anna Trzpis-McLean
Aaron Tsangaris
Eiko Tsukamoto
Lukas Ullrich
Sommer Ulrickson
Lilith Unverzagt
Johanna Unzueta
Andrey Ustinov
Anja Utler
Deniz Utlu
David Vajda
Philipp Valente
Caitlin van der Maas
Julia Veihelmann
Vangjush Vellahu
Ruth Velten
Julia Vetter
Michaela Vieser
Anna Virnich
Sabine Vogel
Anna Volkland
Sonja vom Brocke
Claudia von Alemann
Lena von Goedeke
Julia von Leliwa
Genoël von Lilienstern
Beatrix von Pilgrim
Franziska von Stenglin
Felix von Xylander Swannell
Biliana Voutchkova
Antje Vowinckel
Sibylla Vricic Hausmann
Bettina Wackernagel
David Wagner
Benedict Wahlbrink
Ying Wang
Ute Wassermann
Anton Wassiljew
Jörg Weidner
Stefan Weidner
Jakob Weingartner
Magdalena Weingut
Steffi Weismann
Joshua Weitzel
Nicole Wendel
Ralf Wendt
Leonard Wertgen
Maike Wetzel
Jannis Wichmann
Ernest Wichner
Kerstin Wiehe
Ruth Wiesenfeld
Marian Wijnvoord
Eva-Maria Wilde
Michael Wildenhain
Henner Winckler
Ron Winkler
Markus Wirthmann
Julia Wolf
Constanze Wolpers
Hengameh Yaghoobifarah
Benjamin Yavuzsoy
Viola Yip
Isaac Yuen
Frauke Zabel
Peter Zach
Norbert Zähringer
Malte Ruben Zander
Hanwen Zhang
Yiran Zhao
Lydia Ziemke
Ralf Ziervogel
Almut Zilcher
Benjamin Zock
Filip Zorzor
Benjamin Zuber
Logos for Download
The funding source must be indicated in all grant-related publications/releases by including the Akademie der Künste and NEUSTART KULTUR logos alongside the following formulation:
"Supported by the Akademie der Künste, Berlin, with funding from the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media as part of the NEUSTART KULTUR programme."
Logo Akademie der Künste eps file
Logo Akademie der Künste jpg file
Logo Neustart Kultur eps file
Logo Neustart Kultur jpg file
For the correct use of the logo files, the following information is available: