Call for applications: Prince Claus Mentorship Awards

The programme is a cultural and artistic response to environmental change. The year-long mentorship and interdisciplinary initiative seeks to create space for artists and cultural practitioners to explore critical artistic practices on the intersection of arts and environmentalism.

The mentorship brings together 12 emerging artists and cultural practitioners (plus or minus eight to 15 years of relevant professional experience) with four mentors, all working across a range of disciplines and environmental issues. The 12 individuals will each develop a body of work, form a peer group, and throughout the year receive mentorship guidance, exchange ideas, collaborate and jointly delve deeper into their practices. The four mentors, all experts on the intersection of arts and the environment, will guide the participants throughout the programme.

The programme consists of two labs (weeklong mentoring intensives, one in person and one online), bimonthly online masterclass, peer group sessions, an awards ceremony and visitors programme in Amsterdam and Berlin.

Each participant will receive €6 000 (about $7 000) to work on the concept for a body of work that they outlined in their application, with an additional €4 000 being available for either a collaboration with other participants, or if their concept solidifies in the process and needs extra budget to be realised.

The mentorship programme aims to:

• Support critical and unconventional work by emerging artists working on a range of issues related to environmentalism, the climate crisis and climate justice.
• Stimulate leadership of individuals whose artistic work fosters awareness and empathy.
• Accelerate the artistic practices of artists and cultural practitioners who show a commitment to creating lasting change through environmental activism.
• Facilitate exchanges, meaningful connections and learning between engaged practitioners.
• Strengthen and amplify new perspectives on environmentalism, the climate crisis and climate justice.

How to apply

Interested applicants can apply here before 26 August.

Applicants should read the guidelines and eligibility here before applying.

Read the FAQs for more information.

“Alarming changes in nature and our environment are all around us: forests and wildlife are disappearing; air and oceans are increasingly polluted; sea levels are rising; and extreme weather phenomena are escalating; additionally the outbreak of a worldwide pandemic has been a wake-up call,” a joint statement reads. “While causes and consequences of environmental change and the climate crisis are being debated by politicians, scientists and the broader public, the most affected people are often those least heard.”

View the original call here.