Solitude Exchange Network
Artist Residencies in Central and South-Eastern Europe
The Solitude Exchange Network (SEN) is an international artist-in-residence exchange program between Akademie Schloss Solitude in Stuttgart, Germany, and partner organizations in Bulgaria, Croatia, Hungary, Poland, Romania, and Serbia.
The participating organizations are:
• Akademie Schloss Solitude (Germany)
• ARC Bucharest (Romania)
• art quarter budapest (Hungary)
• Atelietata in cooperation with the Goethe-Institut Bulgaria (Bulgaria)
• Centre for Contemporary Art Ujazdowski Castle (Poland)
• POGON (Croatia)
• STATION Service for Contemporary Dance (Serbia)
The aim of the Solitude Exchange Network is to foster transnational connections and cultural exchange between the respective local art scenes. Through residency exchanges, artists are given the opportunity to live and work abroad for three months and engage with a different cultural context.
Each year, every partner organization sends one artist based in its country for a three-month residency at Akademie Schloss Solitude. In return, the Akademie selects six artists from its community of current and recent fellows to take part in residencies at the six partner organizations. The residency exchanges are jointly funded by Akademie Schloss Solitude and the respective partners. Fellows typically receive accommodation, a monthly grant, travel support, and project funding.
Applications or nominations for a SEN fellowship at Akademie Schloss Solitude are made through the partner organizations. Calls for SEN fellowships at one of the partner organizations are issued exclusively within the network of current and recent Solitude Fellows.
The origins of the Solitude Exchange Network date back to 1990, when artists from the former GDR were awarded travel grants to join the Akademie’s international community. A pivotal partnership with CCA Ujazdowski Castle in 2003 marked the start of a structured exchange program, which later expanded to several countries in Central and South-Eastern Europe. Since then, Akademie Schloss Solitude has continually worked to strengthen regional cultural exchange.
In 2025, with support from the Adam Mickiewicz Institute, the network facilitates additional bilateral exchanges between CCA Ujazdowski Castle (Warsaw), ARC Bucharest, and STATION Service for Contemporary Dance (Belgrade).
Selection Procedure
The selection process is coordinated bilaterally with the respective partner institutions. Fellows are chosen by an independent jury.
Jury
The current jury members for the fellowship at Solitude are:
- Fabiola Eidloth – Cultural practitioner in the performing arts (dramaturgy/production/project management)
- Maximilian Lehner – Curator and author, Vienna
- Dr. Anne Fleckstein – Director of Akademie Schloss Solitude
For general inquiries, please contact: ee-program@akademie-solitude.de