Organizer Information
ZADIK — the Central Archive for German and International Art Market Research — is an academic institute of the University of Cologne, dedicated to archiving, processing, critically researching, and communicating the history, structures, contexts, and developments of international art systems. Today it comprises over 200 holdings from gallery owners, art dealers, auction houses, art critics, curators, specialist photographers, and other art market figures, focusing on the period from the early 20th century to the present. It was founded in 1992 as the world's first specialized archive on the history of the art market, and was transferred to the Faculty of Arts and Humanities at the University of Cologne in 2020. The Carte Blanche Fellowship is awarded by ZADIK in cooperation with the Gesellschaft zur Förderung des ZADIK e.V. (Society for the Promotion of ZADIK).
Title & Description
Carte Blanche Fellowship 2026/27
The Carte Blanche Fellowship is an annual artistic research fellowship offered by ZADIK in cooperation with the Gesellschaft zur Förderung des ZADIK e.V. Each year, the fellowship seeks artists to engage with ZADIK's archival holdings as part of an artistic research project. Alongside a fee, the selected Carte Blanche Fellow receives support and guidance from the ZADIK team in working with the chosen archival material. The goal is an artistic engagement with ZADIK's archival documents that fosters a deeper understanding of artistic perspectives on the archive's themes and content; the fellow is free to define the framework of this engagement in the spirit of artistic research.
The fellowship builds on a 2022 artistic research project realized at ZADIK by the collective Kollektiv ZOO as part of the archive's 30th anniversary, which demonstrated that an archive can also be a fruitful basis for artistic production. Carte Blanche is intended to create "room for artistic research": fellows develop an independent artistic project and present it publicly in ZADIK's Intermezzo space, using both the space and the archival holdings freely in line with their own artistic practice.
Theme
Engagement with the ZADIK archive — a specific document, a particular holding, or a thematic approach — that demonstrates a clear engagement with ZADIK's archival collections. This engagement can take a documentary, experimental, performative, installation-based, or other form.
Categories
- Visual Arts
- Artistic Research
- Archives
Eligibility
- Open to all artists (individuals or collectives) with an interest in ZADIK's holdings, archives, and artistic research
- The only content requirement is engagement with the ZADIK archive
- Data protection rules must be observed: personal content may not be made public, or only after prior consultation
Program Benefits & Awards
- Fee of €2,500, paid on an invoice basis
- Reimbursement of material costs (by arrangement) of up to €1,000, for developing and producing the exhibition
- Guidance and support from the ZADIK team in working with the selected archival holdings
- A public presentation of the resulting artistic project in ZADIK's Intermezzo space
Application Fee
None
How to Apply?
Email Application. Submit the required documents as a PDF by 1 October 2026 to zadik-info@uni-koeln.de.
Key Dates
- Application Deadline: 1 October 2026
- Announcement of selected fellow: 1 December 2026
- Fellowship work period: 1 December 2026 – 15 April 2027
- Exhibition: mid-April 2027 – 15 July 2027
Location
ZADIK, Im Mediapark 7, D-50670 Cologne, Germany
Additional Details
- Content questions about the call or ZADIK's archival holdings: Brigitte Jacobs van Renswou (bjacobsv@uni-koeln.de)
- Questions about the application process, application status, or organizational conditions: Theresa Kousseva (t.kousseva@uni-koeln.de)
- A general flyer ("Carte Blanche allgemein") and the specific call for the 2026/27 fellowship are available as downloadable PDFs on the source page
- The current fellow for 2025/26 is Lis Schröder, whose project is featured on the ZADIK site