Reflekt

A Filipino chant artist enacting sonic intimacies of singing in public, fusing improvisation and cultural resonance to reveal tensions between self-expression and shared experiences. An emerging contemporary artist from Timor-Leste examining ongoing struggle from freedom and its entailing complexities. A seasoned Indonesian choreographer blending genders, fluid identities, and spiritual traditions in an attempt to create dialogue that celebrates diversity.  

These artists were just a few of the selected participants in the past iterations of the REFLEKT residency program, a Goethe-Institut Southeast Asia initiative which fosters shared artistic collaborations, critical reflections, and creative re-learnings. Through workshops, discussions, and cross-disciplinary exchanges, REFLEKT residents engage with a variety of practices, deepening their understanding of both their own work and the broader artistic landscape. As they open up horizons and explore new narratives, REFLEKT transposes into a space where connections across cultures and disciplines coalesce. 

REFLEKT residency 2025 

For the 2025 residency, SAVVY Contemporary (Berlin) will continue as hosting organization. We are keen to collaborate with artists, thinkers, researchers, and cultural professionals who are active in developing artistic organizations, educational projects, neighborhood initiatives and public research programs. We are interested in initiating long-term engagement on topics such as: Afro-Pacific cultural and art-historical affinities, role of artists in cultural management, innovative and critical approaches in exhibition-making, intersections between social development and artist-run entities, accessibility in precarious conditions and aesthetic strategies in cross-sectoral mobilization.  

We welcome proposals from practitioners who have significant experience in art ecosystems as well as with practical knowledge in the fields of project management, education, community organizing, hospitality, communications, or public engagement.

About SAVVY Contemporary

SAVVY Contemporary is an artistic organisation, discursive platform, place for good talks, foods and drinks – a space for conviviality and cultural plurilog. It situated itself at the threshold of the West and the non-West to understand their conceptualisations, ethical systems, achievements, and ruins. It develops tools, proposes perspectives and nourishes practices towards imagining a world inhabited together. During the time of the residency, SAVVY’s exhibition projects will specifically focus on remittance culture and diasporic communities as well as how to create a counter-spell – from Guinea-Bissau to Papua New Guinea – against the echoes and presences of the Berlin Conference, that 140 years ago divided the African continent. Artists in residence are invited to expand their research and engage with the echoes of this project whilst simultaneously reinstate the gaze through other historic momentums. 

Requirements as prerequisite for eligibility

::  You are an artist, thinker, researcher, and/or arts & cultural professional with suitable experience, having worked in the arts sector for at least ten years or holding a relevant degree/master's degree. 

::  You are based in Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Timor-Leste. 

::  English will be the residency’s communication language. Since the residents are expected to actively engage during the residency, basic understanding, and comfort in spoken English will be required. 

::  You should have experience participating in an international exhibition, production, commission, festival, residency program, or conducting research. 

::  Practitioners with research-based and public-oriented engagements in their practices are strongly encouraged to apply. Prospective residents are expected to engage with the members and the larger community of the organisation. SAVVY Contemporary does not have studio spaces for production.

What to expect from REFLEKT residency

::  Residents will be accompanied throughout their residency by a team of SAVVY members – with regular meetings on research and project related topics as well as facilitating an entry to the city and its cultural landscape. 

::  Residents and SAVVY Contemporary will develop together their vision and schedule for the residency.   

::  The residents are invited to actively engage with the archives and current programmes of SAVVY Contemporary as well as to regularly exchange on our respective practices with the overall SAVVY team.

::  Residents are invited but not expected to actively participate in the space and our programme. Be it a presentation, workshop, performance, listening session, community dinner, or whatever you wish to do – you will be happily supported!