The fully funded INHABIT Artist Residency offers performing artists and musicians an €8,000 artist fee, €2,000 for accommodation, travel costs, and project-dependent production support.
Table of Contents
The INHABIT Artist Residency 2027 invites artists working in performing arts and music to develop work within the Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. Selected artists receive an €8,000 artist fee, €2,000 accommodation fee, travel costs to and in Frankfurt, a production budget depending on the project, and access to the Institute’s research facilities. The residency creates a framework for artists to work alongside scientists and researchers while developing a new project or advancing an existing one.
Applications are open for two 2027 residency periods. INHABIT #16 takes place from April through July 2027, and INHABIT #17 runs from September through December 2027. Applications close September 1, 2026, at 23:59 CET.
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INHABIT Artist Residency Snapshot
What: Fully funded artist residency connecting artistic and scientific research
Who: Artists from performing arts and music interested in interdisciplinary collaboration between artistic and scientific fields
Where: Frankfurt am Main, Germany
Award / Support: €8,000 artist fee; €2,000 accommodation fee; production budget depending on the project; realization of the final project; travel costs to and in Frankfurt; collaborations with scientists; access to the library, sound studio, and scientific facilities; curatorial support
Application Fee: FREE
Residency Duration: Three months
Application Opens: Not listed
Deadline: September 1, 2026, 23:59 CET
Official Link: https://www.aesthetics.mpg.de/en/research/inhabit-artist-in-residence.html
Strategy Coach Notes: https://www.patreon.com/pformart/posts/inhabit-artist-166910251
Get The Application Strategy
INHABIT places unusual weight on the relationship between the proposed artistic project and the scientific environment of the Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics. Applicants have only 500 words for their project description, and the call specifically asks them to outline potential connections with the Institute’s work and scientific interests. This makes the proposed relationship with the research environment central to the application. Applicants should identify a project with a clear artistic question, explain how their working method can engage researchers or research groups, and demonstrate why access to this particular Institute would contribute to the project’s development. The artist statement, proposal, and portfolio should establish a coherent trajectory between existing practice and the proposed residency.
Join the network to access the full Strategy Coach Notes for this opportunity.
About the INHABIT Artist Residency
INHABIT is the artist-in-residence program of the Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics. The program brings artistic practice into a scientific research environment and treats artistic thinking and knowledge as forms of inquiry within the Institute. Artists work in proximity to scientists and researchers, creating opportunities for experimentation, dialogue, and collaboration across disciplinary methods. The residency is designed for artists who have a genuine interest in engaging with the Institute and are prepared to work with individual researchers or research groups.
Artists are invited to spend three months creating new work or further developing an existing project within this research environment. The Institute provides space, resources, facilities, and access to its scientific community. Work developed through INHABIT is presented in cooperation with local arts institutions through an exhibition, performance, concert, or another mode of presentation. These presentations can be accompanied by discursive formats, extending the residency from research and development into public exchange.
What Is Offered
Selected INHABIT artists receive:
- €8,000 artist fee
- €2,000 accommodation fee
- Production budget depending on the project
- Travel costs to and in Frankfurt
- Realization of the final project
- Opportunities to collaborate with scientists
- Access to the Institute’s library
- Access to the sound studio and scientific facilities
- Curatorial support during the residency
The fixed financial support therefore totals €10,000, with additional production and travel support whose monetary values are not specified in the call.
Who Should Apply
The 2027 call is directed toward artists from the performing arts and music who have an interest in interdisciplinary collaboration between artistic and scientific fields. Applicants should be prepared to develop and publicly share a project as an exhibition, performance, concert, or another format.
The Institute is specifically seeking artists who are active in contemporary culture and can respond to its research environment with innovative and challenging ideas. The proposal should therefore establish a meaningful reason for developing the work within a scientific institute. Applicants should be prepared to engage with researchers and consider how artistic and scientific forms of inquiry can inform the residency process.
INHABIT Artist Residency Timeline
Application Deadline: September 1, 2026, 23:59 CET
Jury Decision: November 2026
INHABIT #16: April–July 2027
INHABIT #17: September–December 2027
Applicants should be prepared for one of the two listed residency periods when developing their proposed project.
Why The INHABIT Artist Residency Matters
INHABIT offers substantial direct support while giving artists access to an unusual institutional context. The €8,000 artist fee and €2,000 accommodation fee establish €10,000 in fixed financial support before the additional production budget and travel costs are included. The residency also provides access to researchers, scientific facilities, a sound studio, library resources, and curatorial support. For performing artists and musicians whose practices already involve research, perception, sound, aesthetics, experimentation, or exchanges with other fields of knowledge, the residency offers time and infrastructure to develop a project through sustained contact with a scientific research community.
Apply
Applications close September 1, 2026, at 23:59 CET.
https://www.aesthetics.mpg.de/en/research/inhabit-artist-in-residence.html
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