AUTONOM
With its special funding program AUTONOM, the Fonds Darstellende Künste set itself the task of creating links between artistic production, academic questions and social challenges in order to further stimulate the debate on the relationship between man-machine-algorithms.
The AUTONOM program, which funded project proposals on artificial intelligence (AI) in the performing arts, was funded by the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media and was part of the German government's AI strategy.
What was funded?
Funding was provided for new projects and productions from all areas of the independent performing arts that dealt with and/or were related to artificial intelligence in terms of content or aesthetics.
Who could apply?
Independently producing artists and ensembles from the fields of dance, theater and performance were eligible to apply if they were active nationwide or across federal states, had many years of experience working with aesthetic formats and had dealt with the topic of AI as defined in the call for proposals in the years 2020-2022.
How much could be applied for?
The application amount was a minimum of €30,000 and a maximum of €100,000, with a co-financing share of 30% of the application amount from the public funds of states and municipalities, non-public funds or own means.
Application and funding deadlines
Applications could be submitted via the Fonds' online application portal.
Application deadline(s):
- 01 September 2020
- 01 February 2021
The possible project duration for approved projects ended on September 30, 2021 and March 31, 2022, respectively.
Funded projects
A listing of all funded projects can be found here.
Dokumentation
At the end of the funding program, the Fund published a documentation in German and English. The publication gives many participants space for their reflections and questions and provides insights into funded projects.
On December 3, 2021, the Fund also offered all funded artists and collectives in the AUTONOM program the opportunity for knowledge exchange with experts, artistic exchange and interdisciplinary networking with a symposium on Artistic Intelligence in the Performing Arts. The event is comprehensively documented - all artistic and scientific contributions can be listened to and read here.
Jury
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Irina-Simona Bârcă
Dramaturge, theater mediator | Berlin
© privat
Irina-Simona Bârcă
Dramaturge, theater mediator | BerlinIrina-Simona Bârcă is a dramaturge and mediator. Born and raised in Romania, she studied acting in Bucharest and theater pedagogy at Osnabrück University of Applied Sciences. After working in Münster and Berlin, she was a dramaturge at the FFT (Forum Freies Theater) in Düsseldorf from 2017 to 2024, where she was responsible for the Young FFT section, including the programmatic focus "The Theater of Digital Natives". She has worked with pulk fiktion, Ives Thuwis, subbotnik, Leute wie die, machina eX and PINSKER + BERNHARDT, among others. She is part of various juries in German-speaking countries (Spielarten NRW, kicks! Theaternetzwerk Schweiz, Landesbüro freie darstellende Künste NRW) and was a member of the board of trustees at the Augenblick mal! 2021. As a lecturer, she gives seminars and training courses. Since January 2024, she has been Head of Artistic Mediation and Participation at Theater an der Parkaue.
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Prof. Dorte Lena Eilers
Professor of Cultural Journalism at the University of Music and Theatre Munich | Berlin, Munich
© Ben Wolf
Prof. Dorte Lena Eilers
Professor of Cultural Journalism at the University of Music and Theatre Munich | Berlin, MunichDorte Lena Eilers is professor and head of the master's program "Cultural Journalism" at the University of Music and Theater in Munich in cooperation with the August Everding Theater Academy. She also works as a cultural journalist, predominantly in the fields of music and theater against the background of socio-political developments. Previously, she was editor from 2007 to 2021, most recently editor-in-chief of Theater der Zeit. She is a member of the German Academy of Performing Arts and the advisory board of the magazine "junge bühne" and has served on various juries (including the German Federal Theater Prize and the Mülheim Theater Days). Publications (as co-editor) include Frank Castorf, Dimiter Gotscheff, Bulgarian theater and new German-language drama. Most recently, her volume of talks "backstage TSCHEPLANOWA" was published.
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Martina Grohmann
Dramaturg, artistic director Theater Rampe | Stuttgart
© Felix Grünschloß
Martina Grohmann
Dramaturg, artistic director Theater Rampe | StuttgartMartina Grohmann, born in Mödling near Vienna, studied theater at the University of Vienna. She began as a production manager at steirischer herbst in '98 and '99. From 2000 on, she was engaged as a dramaturg at Staatstheater Kassel, at LTT Tübingen, at Theater Heidelberg, where she directed the venue zwinger1 for author's theater and projects from 2005 to 2007, and at Theater Basel. She has also worked as a guest dramaturge at the Schaubühne Berlin and the Schauspiel Frankfurt. Her work focuses on contemporary drama, play development, and interdisciplinary formats and festivals. Since August 2013, she has been the artistic director of Theater Rampe together with Marie Bues.
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Christoph Gurk
Dramaturg, Kurator, Autor, Teil des Leitungsteams am Volkstheater Wien | München, Wien
Christoph Gurk
Dramaturg, Kurator, Autor, Teil des Leitungsteams am Volkstheater Wien | München, Wien -
Prof. Friedrich Kirschner
Director, Software Developer | Berlin
© Martina Thalhofer
Prof. Friedrich Kirschner
Director, Software Developer | BerlinFriedrich Kirschner is a director and software developer. He uses interactionism as a theoretical and video games as a technological basis for participatory social simulations. As a professor for digital media, he leads the master's program Game and Object at the Ernst Busch Academy of Dramatic Arts.
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Julian Kamphausen
Künstlerische Leitung Prater Digital, Dramaturg, Regisseur | Hamburg, Berlin
© Performing Arts Programm / Dorothea Tuch
Julian Kamphausen
Künstlerische Leitung Prater Digital, Dramaturg, Regisseur | Hamburg, BerlinGeboren 1975, begann er 1994 in unterschiedlichen Funktionen hauptsächlich in den darstellenden Künsten zu arbeiten. Am Anfang hat er viel in Staats- und Stadttheatern gelernt und arbeitet seit 2003 selbständig als Autor, Kurator, Dramaturg und Regisseur. Hier hat er besonders viel Erfahrung als Regisseur von Galen und Charity-Veranstaltungen gesammelt, die wichtige Inhalte und große Unterhaltung miteinander präsentieren. 2013 hat er für das Performing Arts Programm Berlin (PAP) den Branchentreff der Freien Darstellenden Künste Berlin mitkonzipiert und zusammen mit anderen bis 2017 geleitet. Für das PAP konzipiert er auch weiterhin Fachtagungen, die spezifische Themen für ein professionelles Publikum vertiefen.
2016 hat er für das PAP zusammen mit der re:publica die Performersion gegründet, ein Format für Kooperationen der digitalen und der darstellenden Künste, das er seitdem auch mit einem inzwischen internationalen Fokus fortführt.
Die kuratorische Arbeit an der Schnittstille zwischen digitalen und analogen Künsten setzt er in Laborformaten für die Technologiestiftung Berlin u.a. oder als Mitglied des Culture Track Teams der re:publica um. Vermittelnd arbeitet er in diesem Spannungsfeld auch als Beiratsmitglied der bbw – University for Applied Sciences, des Berlinforums der Stiftung Zukunft Berlin, als Speaker oder Workshopgeber.
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Bettina Masuch
Artistic Director Festspielhaus St. Pölten | Vienna
© Florian Schulte
Bettina Masuch
Artistic Director Festspielhaus St. Pölten | ViennaBettina Masuch studied theater studies in Giessen. After working as a dramaturg at the Kaaitheater in Brussels and the Theaterhaus Jena, she moved to the Volksbühne am Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz in Berlin in 1998, where she worked as a dramaturg for productions by Frank Castorf, Christoph Schlingensief and René Pollesch, among others. In 2002 and 2003 she was production dramaturge for the choreographer Meg Stuart at the Schauspielhaus Zürich. From 2003 to 2008, Bettina Masuch worked as a dance curator for Berlin's Theater Hebbel am Ufer. Until 2008, she was a member of the artistic direction of the renowned dance festival "Tanz im August" and was also responsible for its 25th anniversary edition in 2013. She was artistic director of the Springdance Festival in Utrecht from 2009 to 2013. From January 2014, Bettina Masuch was artistic director of tanzhaus nrw in Düsseldorf, which was awarded the "Theaterpreis des Bundes" under her directorship in 2017. She is the editor and author of various specialist publications and holds teaching positions at national and international universities. Bettina Masuch is a member of various juries and expert commissions, including the German Federal Cultural Foundation, the Fonds Darstellende Künste and the Goethe-Institut. She has been Artistic Director of the Festspielhaus St. Pölten since fall 2022.