Images by Camille Blake
Video by Stephan Talneau
In winter 2024, creatives from around the world answered an open call and submitted their proposals to work with one of the mentors shaping Forecast's ninth edition: choreographer Alice Ripoll, artist Theo Eshetu, documentary filmmaker Tomer Heymann, designer Fiona Raby, photographer Lieko Shiga, and composer and performer Ute Wassermann. Active in a variety of disciplines, the mentors in the 2024–25 edition renegotiate the common definitions of their respective fields and experiment in ways that defy simple readings of their work.
The project ideas they have received via our open call have also reflected these expansive approaches. Reading a total of 1,140 applications from 113 countries, the mentors invited 18 nominees to participate in the Forecast Forum in August 2024 at Radialsystem, Berlin. There, visitors could experience boundary-pushing contributions ranging from performances and screenings to performative explorations and aural experimentations. At the event’s conclusion, the mentors each selected one mentee and accompanied the development of their respective projects until their premiere at the Forecast Festival.
During the eight months between the Forum and the Festival, one-on-one mentorships took place, in which each of the six mentees went on an individual work-stay with their respective mentor. In this edition, Forecast partnered with organizations in Brazil, Japan, Iceland, Italy, the Netherlands, and Turkey for these work-stays, which offer generous space for a condensed period of creative exchanges, fine-tuning, and concrete mentoring. These personal exchanges and work sessions, which prove crucial for the final productions ahead of the Forecast Festival, were captured in short videos produced with local camera people on the ground.
Having reached the end of their mentorship period in March 2025, the mentees Mehdi Dahkan, Hao Zhou, Mei Liu, Trà Nguyễn, Johanna Seelemann, and Camil Navarro unveiled their productions in the two-day Forecast Festival, and brought their projects to life in concerts, performances, installations, and conversations. The six mentors also offered insights into their own work, and the topics that inspire and move them. The entire venue was buzzing with boundary-pushing contributions by the mentors and mentees including documentary films, performances, video installations, speculative-design presentations, and vocal experimentations.
"We often get asked why do we call ourselves Forecast," said Artistic Director Freo Majer. "In a nutshell, we believe that working with those audacious minds that we seek out with each edition, can help us take a glimpse into the future. Because we see that artists, designers, musicians, and other creative practitioners have a unique audacity in common: they can deal with uncertainty."
