Open Call: Making a Difference

WHO WE ARE

The Berlin-based network Making a Difference (MAD) has been working since 2018 to address gaps in training and artistic development for disabled, Deaf, and chronically ill artists. To this end, MAD organizes workshops, residencies, peer-to-peer labs, and co-productions, prioritizing people with lived experience of disability in artistic leadership and expert positions. In collaboration with partners from Berlin’s dance scene—including Uferstudios, Tanzfabrik Berlin, Sophiensaele, Junges Tanzhaus Berlin/TanzZeit, Tanzbüro Berlin, HZT Berlin, LAFT Berlin, FAIRSTAGE, HAU Hebbel am Ufer/Tanz im August, and Radialsystem—as well as Germanywide collaborations with Kampnagel Hamburg, tanzhaus nrw, Theater RAMPE Stuttgart, Festival Theaterformen / Real Dance Festival Hannover/Braunschweig, and the University of the Arts in Social Contexts, Ottersberg, MAD develops models for interregional collaboration and the visibility of disabled, Deaf, and chronically ill artists.

WHAT AND FOR WHOM

Making a Difference is awarding one working grant to a disabled, Deaf, or chronically ill artist based in Hamburg.

Would you like to finally make your website accessible? Or revise and share the documentation of your last project together with others? Maybe you want to update your access rider to clarify access needs for your next project? Reflecting on what “Aesthetics of Access” could mean for your collective work can also be a starting point.

If you would like to work on topics like these, you can apply for a one-month working grant. Making a Difference supports the labor required to create accessible art and cultural production. Traditional project applications will not be considered in this call.

WHAT WE OFFER

One-time 3.600€ for one month

PERIOD

The working grants can be awarded at any point between July and December 2026.

After completion of the project, we ask for a short written or oral final report by mid-December.

• Short outline of the proposed work, including information on collaborators if applicable
• Short bio

You can submit your application as:

• Text (PDF): max. 2 pages (outline + bio)
• Audio: max. 5 minutes
• Video: max. 4 minutes

DEADLINE

Please send all applications by June 1, 2026 via email or as a download link to: mad@uferstudios.com

Subject line: “Working Grant Hamburg 2026”

Applicants can expect a response by July 10.

QUESTIONS AND CONTACT

If you do not fully see yourself reflected in the conditions of this open call, please feel free to contact us. We are happy to enter into a conversation. For questions, to arrange a conversation, or if you require access support, please contact us via email at mad@uferstudios.com or request a call-back at: +49 (0)30 460 60 887.