Goethe-Institut / Max Mueller Bhavan Announces Launch of ARThinkSouthAsia – annual fellowship programme in arts management & cultural policy

Goethe-Institut / Max Mueller Bhavan Announces Launch of ARThinkSouthAsia – annual fellowship programme in arts management & cultural policy

New Delhi: The South Asian Network of Goethe- Instituts, the cultural institute of the Federal Republic of Germany, announces the launch of ARThinkSouthAsia, a fully funded annual Fellowship in Arts Management and Cultural Policy addressed at today’s cultural practitioners. In its first edition, seventeen fellows from across South Asia have been selected for the fellowship programme that includes a two week-long residential course at Manesar starting March 15, 2010. What gives this fellowship a unique distinction is that the chosen scholars will interact with international tutors on home ground before participating in a month long internship in Germany over the year 2010-11. The fellowship programme will culminate with a concluding seminar in March 2011.

The ARThinkSouthAsia Fellowship is designed to help develop skills, knowledge, networks and experience of potential leaders in the cultural sector of South Asia which includes museums, the visual and performing arts and digital media.
Says Dr. Stefan Dreyer, Regional Director South Asia, Goethe-Institut / Max Mueller Bhavan: “We believe that by supporting exceptional individuals to make a step-change in their skills and career potential, we can bring substantial benefit to the cultural field as a whole.”

The two week residential course at Manesar is designed to include a balance of theory and professional training and will consist of five to six modules which include latest thinking in cultural management in areas such as strategic planning, project management, strategic finance and fundraising, marketing, communication, and internet technologies amongst others. These modules will be led by a mix of Indian and international professional trainers and academicians and will be supplemented by expert guest lectures. Each participant will be offered a funded four week secondment/internship best suited to his/her needs, interests and objectives in a cultural organization in Germany during the year. The Fellows will attend a closing seminar at the end of the Fellowship year to present and share updates on his/her project and learnings of the secondment with new Fellows of 2011-12.

Says Ms. Pooja Sood, Project Director: “We had invited applications from practitioners working across a wide range of creative and cultural activity, as also from those who are working outside it who demonstrate a knowledge, understanding and passion for culture. We are elated at the response we received, with even artists and people with unconventional careers applying for the same. We have selected for the first programme, seventeen fellows from South Asia, with most being from the field of visual arts.”