Akademie Schloss Solitude

The Akademie Schloss Solitude is an international artist-in-residence programme that has supported more than 1,700 young artists and scholars from over 120 countries since its foundation in 1990. It forms an important global and transdisciplinary network for the international art scene.

The name Akademie Schloss Solitude combines the idea of a refuge with the idea of artistic and scientific exchange. A stay at Akademie Schloss Solitude enables fellows to devote themselves to their work projects under good material and intellectual conditions. The available resources can be used in a needs-oriented manner. It is central to the Academy's self-image that fellows from all fields can work and research artistically without the constraints of everyday life and presentation. At the same time, the Academy offers opportunities to communicate projects to the outside world and to promote them with publicity. With numerous events and its online presence, the Academy ensures the international visibility of its scholarship holders and their topics and also creates a space for new digital projects.

Its unique model provides artists and scientists with valuable freedom to develop their work and conduct research in both physical and digital space. The Akademie Schloss Solitude's wide-ranging fellowship programme promotes the interweaving of art and science in all disciplines and fields of practice. Thematic focal points are set through changing special programmes. With a variety of public events, the Akademie Schloss Solitude provides access to artistic thought and action for a broad public.

The Akademie Schloss Solitude is a place of togetherness. For over 30 years, it has offered professional support and solidarity to fellows with different cultural experiences and expertise. The work at the Akademie Schloss Solitude follows the principle of absolute voluntariness and openness to results. The long-term fellowship residencies create time and space for multi-perspective learning processes and collective productions. On the basis of this freedom, it becomes possible to question existing knowledge hierarchies and develop alternative designs for the future.

Through the presence of fellows and the cooperation with local and international partner organisations, the Akademie Schloss Solitude makes a direct contribution to the internationalisation of the region. In addition, the Akademie Schloss Solitude cultivates sustainable relationships with its international network of fellows. It accompanies artists and scholars in carrying on dialogues throughout the world. By promoting artistic thought and action, the Akademie Schloss Solitude provides important impulses for social transformation.

The Akademie Schloss Solitude has 42 furnished residential studios and three guest studios at its disposal. In addition, the house has a lecture hall, a wood and a metal workshop, a library, a cafeteria and other communal rooms. Exhibitions, symposia, performances, concerts and other events take place mainly at the academy but also in cooperation with partners from Stuttgart and the region at other venues. Since 2008, the Academy has also been using a renovated half-timbered barn on the castle grounds, especially for classical concerts. The Römerstraße project space in Stuttgart's city centre is an off-space for exhibitions, workshops and other formats. With this off-space, the Academy not only revitalises Stuttgart's cultural scene, but also creates a meeting place where new forms of community can be tested.