Germany's Foreign Ministry and DAAD Launch Alumni Artist Residencies: First Resident, U.S. Composer Susie Ibarra, Focuses on the Arctic
Germany's Federal Foreign Office said in a press release on November 5 that it and the German Academic Exchange Service's (DAAD) Artists-in-Berlin Programme have launched a new alumni residency programme, Bureau de Passage. In 2026 and 2027, international artists in residence at the Federal Foreign Office's rooftop studio in Berlin will address current foreign-policy issues.
The first residency began in late October. The first resident is U.S. composer and Pulitzer Prize awardee Susie Ibarra, an alumna of the DAAD's Artists-in-Berlin Programme and an internationally renowned sound artist, whose residency focuses on the Arctic.
Ibarra's project, Water Rhythms: Listening to Climate Change, was created with glaciologist Professor Michele Koppes and includes recordings of the sounds of ice sheets in Greenland and glaciers in the Himalayas, among other sounds.
During her residency, Ibarra will speak with Federal Foreign Office staff and experts from the fields of culture, academia and security policy. Her schedule includes talks with State Secretary Dr Bernhard Kotsch and Dr Florence Gaub, Director of the Research Division at the NATO Defense College in Rome, who is herself a DAAD alumna.
Serap Güler, Minister of State at the Federal Foreign Office, said: "Foreign policy needs new ideas and people who ask unusual questions. That is why we are opening the doors to the Federal Foreign Office in our alumni residency programme to international artists who already have ties with Germany from previous fellowships and stays in the country. We look forward to discussions and new input from artistic viewpoints for our foreign policy and the challenges of our time."
Professor Joybrato Mukherjee, President of the DAAD, said: "We are living in an age of tremendous geopolitical change and upheaval. Particularly at a time like this, personal connections to Germany are invaluable in many places around the world. In offering residencies to international artists at the Federal Foreign Office's rooftop studio, we and the ministry want to show that art and free dialogue can provide important input for an open society."
In 2027, invitations will be issued to three outstanding international artists with special ties to Germany. Former international fellows of German international residency programmes and protection programmes funded by the Federal Foreign Office are eligible, and artists can apply after being nominated by their former host institution.
(Source: Federal Foreign Office of Germany)
Source: Federal Foreign Office of Germany
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：位于柏林的德国外交部大楼。公共领域，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / Photo: The Federal Foreign Office building in Berlin, Germany. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
