OPEN CALL 2025 – Forecast

We’re delighted to announce the six new mentors and open call for applications for the tenth anniversary edition of Forecast Mentorships.

Artistic practitioners and cultural producers working in all creative fields, anywhere in the world, are encouraged to apply to Forecast’s international mentorship program with projects that could benefit from the expertise of one of this edition’s mentors and their unique approach to material and knowledge production. The call is open to applicants of all ages and does not prescribe a theme. The only requirement is to submit projects that are relevant to the expertise of the mentor you wish to work with.

Send us your project ideas for the chance to work with one of the following mentors: fashion designer Hussein Chalayan (Cyprus/UK), vocalist and composer Elaine Mitchener (UK), performer and theater-maker Lulu Obermayer (Germany), artist and filmmaker Ruth Patir (Israel), video and installation artist James Richards (UK), and electronic musician Sote (Iran/USA).

The mentors in Forecast Mentorships’ 2025–26 edition use modes of defamiliarization in their work, expanding the tools and mediums they work with to generate new propositions. By conceptually and technically alienizing familiar creative possibilities, they each venture into uncharted realms in their own practice.

As Forecast marks its tenth anniversary edition, for the first time an alumna of the program will serve as a mentor: theater-maker and performer Lulu Obermayer, who participated in Forecast 5.

Find out more about each mentor’s field of expertise and what they are looking for in a potential mentee here.

The deadline for applications is 11:59pm CET on Monday, February 10.

About Forecast Mentorships
As an international mentorship program with annual editions, Forecast offers artists and creative thinkers from anywhere in the world the chance to work with accomplished mentors toward bringing their projects to fruition. Each edition of Forecast is different; the selected mentors impact the nature and content of every iteration. Forecast is not a grant. It is first and foremost a mentorship program meant to promote a deep transdisciplinary exchange and extend professional networks. If you are selected as a nominee and later, as a mentee, you will also receive an artist fee and production budget, in addition to support in applying to further collaborations and/or funding.

The selection process is two-tiered. First, the mentors carefully review all proposals and invite three nominees each to workshop with the mentor and present their ideas at the Forecast Forum in Berlin, taking place in July, 2025. All eighteen nominees receive an artist fee. Following the Forum, each mentor will select one mentee.

Those six mentees will have several months to produce their project with the mentor’s support. They will receive a production budget and a licensing and artist fee. In addition to ongoing exchanges with the respective mentor, this period also includes a one-on-one work-stay for the mentor and mentee at a partner institution.

The final productions will be presented to the public at the Forecast Festival in spring 2026. The Forum and the Festival both take place at Radialsystem, Berlin. Travel and accommodation are covered by Forecast (if you apply as a duo or collective, note that Forecast can only cover the cost of one representative).

Forecast can only accept applications submitted in English via the online application form. Please consult the Guidelines and FAQ sections on our website before applying.

Forecast is a project by Skills e.V. It is supported by the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media.