Organizer Information
BcmA is a non-profit art platform and collaborative project space based in Berlin, Germany. The organization focuses on supporting both emerging and established artists through exhibitions, curatorial initiatives, interdisciplinary collaborations, and experimental artistic practices. Operating independently within Berlin’s contemporary art ecosystem, BcmA aims to create accessible opportunities for artists working across disciplines, especially those engaging with socially, politically, and philosophically urgent themes.
The organization regularly hosts artist-led exhibitions, performances, and curatorial projects that encourage critical dialogue between art, society, and technology. Through its collaborative model, BcmA provides artists with a space to test new ideas, develop experimental works, and connect with diverse audiences. Rather than functioning as a commercial gallery, the platform emphasizes cultural exchange, independent artistic production, and community-oriented programming.
For the fourth edition of MindAIness, BcmA collaborates with curators Foteini Karatza and Ricardo de Larrea to develop an interdisciplinary performance art festival exploring embodiment, artificial intelligence, consciousness, surveillance, and posthuman conditions through live artistic practice.
Title & Description
MindAIness IV – Out of Mind: Presence, Flesh, and the Posthuman Condition
MindAIness IV is an international open call for performance artists, technologists, interdisciplinary practitioners, and collectives whose work critically explores the relationship between the human body and artificial intelligence. The festival positions itself not as a showcase for technological spectacle, but as a platform for embodied inquiry into what it means to exist in a world increasingly shaped by algorithms, machine learning systems, predictive technologies, and digital consciousness.
The central premise of the festival asks: What happens when intelligence moves outside the body? As memory, perception, decision-making, and communication become increasingly externalized through digital systems and AI technologies, the festival invites artists to investigate what remains uniquely human — and whether the body itself can become a site of resistance, reflection, or transformation.
The curatorial framework draws from multiple disciplines and intellectual traditions, including AI ethics, phenomenology, embodied cognition, neuroscience, somatic practice, critical race theory, Indigenous knowledge systems, disability justice, anthropology, cultural studies, and performance theory. Rather than purely theoretical or academic responses, the festival seeks performance-based works that allow audiences to physically and emotionally experience these questions through presence, movement, sound, narrative, and sensory engagement.
Artists are encouraged to submit projects that engage with themes such as surveillance culture, algorithmic control, digital identity, machine consciousness, memory externalization, bodily autonomy, technological anxiety, and speculative futures. The organizers welcome performances that are experimental, poetic, confrontational, contemplative, collaborative, low-tech, multimedia, or hybrid in format.
Potential formats may include theatrical performance, movement-based practice, spoken word, performance lecture, live audiovisual experimentation, choreography, participatory actions, immersive experiences, or interdisciplinary performance installations. Works may be solo or collective and can range from short interventions to longer durational performances.
The festival will take place during one or two weekends in July 2026 at the BcmA art space in Berlin.
Categories
The open call welcomes interdisciplinary and experimental performance-based practices, including but not limited to:
- Performance Art
- Experimental Theatre
- Live Art
- Multimedia Performance
- Dance & Movement Practice
- Somatic Practice
- Spoken Word & Poetry
- Sound Performance
- Interdisciplinary Art
- AI & Technology-Based Art
- Participatory Performance
- Experimental Narrative
- Collaborative & Collective Practice
- Hybrid Performance Formats
Eligibility
MindAIness IV is open internationally to artists at any stage of their career. Emerging, mid-career, and established practitioners are all encouraged to apply.
The organizers actively encourage submissions from artists and communities historically underrepresented in mainstream art and technology spaces, including:
- Women and non-binary artists
- BIPOC artists
- LGBTQI+ artists
- Refugees and migrant artists
- Artists living with disabilities
- Artists from the Global South
- Artists working outside institutional systems
- Independent and self-organized practitioners
Applicants do not need formal academic credentials or technical expertise in AI-related fields. The curatorial team emphasizes honesty, curiosity, embodied practice, and conceptual engagement over institutional recognition or technological sophistication.
While international applications are welcome, preference will be given to artists based in Berlin because the organization cannot reimburse travel or accommodation expenses.
Program Benefits & Awards
- Inclusion in the fourth edition of the MindAIness performance art festival
- Opportunity to present work within Berlin’s independent contemporary art scene
- Curatorial dialogue and collaboration with the festival team
- Professional exposure through BcmA’s digital promotion and marketing channels
- Access to the BcmA performance venue in Berlin
- Opportunity to connect with interdisciplinary artists, performers, theorists, and technologists
Please note:
- No artist fees are provided
- No production budget is available
- Travel expenses are not reimbursed
- Accommodation support is not available
BcmA covers venue costs and digital marketing for selected participants.
Application Fee
None
Application Requirements
- A brief description of the proposed performance project
- Visual support materials such as photos, sketches, or video documentation
- Explanation of how the project engages with the festival concept and themes
- Technical and logistical requirements for the performance
- Artist biography
- CV / résumé
Applications should clearly communicate the conceptual and embodied aspects of the proposed work.
How to Apply?
Online Application
Key Dates
- Application Deadline: 22 May 2026
- Festival Dates: July 2026
- Location of Festival: BcmA Art Space, Berlin
- Detailed Schedule: To be coordinated individually with selected artists after acceptance
Location
Berlin, Germany
Additional Details
Selected artists may alter the gallery space for their performances; however, walls and floors cannot be painted or permanently modified.
The organizers emphasize openness toward diverse performance durations, aesthetics, and methodologies. Projects may be short or long, technologically advanced or intentionally minimal, solo-based or collective. There is no prescribed format for participation as long as the proposal meaningfully engages with the festival’s conceptual framework.
MindAIness IV also places strong emphasis on ethical data handling and GDPR compliance. Personal data submitted through the application process will only be used for evaluating applications and will not be shared with third parties without consent.
Applicants retain the right to access, modify, or request deletion of their submitted personal data.