International Visitors Programme

The programme is based on the belief that it is people and their ideas and competencies who are develop and organise sustainable cultural dialogues and artistic collaboration: The International Visitors Programme provides financial, organisational as well as contextual assistance to support this aim. The international guests are proposed by organisers and cultural institutions within the cities and the state of North Rhine-Westphalia as well as by international network partners, for the main part the Goethe-Institut’s representations abroad, along with embassies and other external cultural organisations.

Aims and Implementation

No matter what individual or transdisciplinary artistic sector, each International Visitors Programme is usually four to five days long. They each take place in small groups and are organised in line with specific events (festivals, cultural events, conferences) or particular themes. The core programme consists of attending performances, concerts and exhibitions, but also includes many opportunities to swap ideas and know-how with organisers, artists and experts.

The different types of programmes, whether research, event, networking or press trip, are targeted at the interests of the visitors. The aims of the Visitors Programme include the promotion of, and familiarisation with, NRW-based arts and cultural creatives as well as the strengthening of their international focus through sustainable networks. 
Throughout the programmes, guests receive intensive support and are introduced to the key cultural operators in the region. This enables contacts to be established, networks fostered, and collaborations promoted. Furthermore, targeted reporting by journalists draws attention to North Rhine-Westphalia as a top-class state for culture, thus elevating its profile. Since 2019, the Visitors Programme has increasingly concentrated on implementing digital and hybrid formats of visitors’ trips and international networking meetings. 

How can I participate?

Cultural institutions, organisers and festival organisers in NRW can apply with proposals for international guests to be considered for the annual programme. Unsolicited applications from international guests are not possible. The next call for applications for programmes in the period from March to December 2024 will take place with a deadline of 31 October 2023. In future, the calls for applications will be annual. Further information on the application procedure can be found here.

Incidentally, cooperation projects resulting from the Visitors' Programmes will be given preferential consideration when applying for Cooperation and Export Funding of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia (in German only).

Personal contacts made locally lead to lasting networks which often result in co-productions and cooperations. By establishing sustainable networks in different artistic spheres, the International Visitors Programme supports cultural leaders and multipliers from both abroad and NRW. The aim of the networking activity is to encourage participants to hold thematic discourse and to deepen connections with respect to collaborations. The International Visitors Programme supports these networks by helping coordinate administration and logistics, which includes maintaining contacts in a structured manner.

A key element of the future sustainable progression of the International Visitors Programme is an increasing focus on, and maintenance of these international networks – with particular emphasis on the integration of digital formats. An international conference entitled »Synergize! Culture in Democratic Action. The Socio-Political Impact of International Networks and Cultural Relations« took place in 2019 as part of the tenth anniversary celebrations of the founding of the International Visitors Programme; it was a hybrid event that brought together many cultural operatives, including alumni from across the globe and their NRW counterparts (Documentation). In 2020, this networking and alumni activities included an online video project entitled »Culture in the Time of Corona« with contributions from 35 international cultural operators from 28 nations.

With the residency programme "CROWD - International Dance Exchange", which will be held for the first time in 2021, the International Visitors Programme in cooperation with the Goethe-Institut London, the Arts Council England, Creative Scotland and Nordisk Kulturfond promotes the establishment of networks between dance professionals in NRW and Northwest Europe. In collaboration with the Academy for Theatre and Digitality at the Dortmund Theatre, the virtual networking platform "togather" is being created as an open place for international and cross-disciplinary encounters and joint project development.

A newsletter provides regular information on developments in NRW's cultural landscape as well as on collaborations that have emerged from the visitor programmes. In order to evaluate the trips, create continuity and further develop networks, the visitors report on their experiences in the form of written feedback at the end of the programmes. The aim is to promote the continuity and expansion of new connections and to continuously develop the quality of the visitor programmes. 

The International Visitors Programme supports the following statement by the Kulturrat NRW, NRW KULTURsekretariat and other cultural institutions in Germany in response to the Hamas massacre in Israel on 7th October 2023:

We condemn the hideous terror of Hamas and stand at Israel's side

We have followed the pictures and news from Israel over the last few days with horror. There is no justification or any excuse for the inhumanity of Hamas. Any reference to a struggle for independence or the pursuit of self-determination completely bypasses the motives of Hamas and its supporters. Their goal is to destroy the State of Israel, kill Jews and establish an Islamist regime. It is important to clearly state this constellation of goals in the face of euphemisms, be it naive or strategic – and to take it seriously.

Israel is experiencing traumatizing hours and days. Yet again, the Jewish state is the preferred target of Islamist terror by Hamas, Hezbollah and, not least, Iran. This fight is being forced on Israel. Waging it will cost more victims. Not waging it is obviously not an option.

Israel has our full solidarity; it is defending its very existence. It will be an important task to bear this understanding clearly in mind over the coming days and weeks.

Unfortunately, this has to be emphasized in this way within the context of previous discussions within Germany. Time and again there have been sweeping delegitimizations of Israel, broad reversals of perpetrator and victim roles that were regularly interwoven with anti-Semitic patterns. These can have no place in our discourse. This is not a specific ban on factual criticism – a fallacy claimed all too frequently.

We stand for open-minded tolerance, for open and pluralistic democracy, for the rule of law, and that an individual’s development be recognised and defended. All these values must be defended against totalitarianism, nationalism, anti-Semitism and every form of misanthropy. This necessity to defend values entered the public consciousness more clearly than ever with the Russian war of aggression on Ukraine. It has once again been made painfully clear by the brutal attack on Israel.

Many cultural institutions and cultural initiatives as well as many artists have already expressed their horror and expressed their solidarity with Israel. We welcome this, and we encourage all cultural operators to join their ranks.