open call for ideas

Artistic practitioners and cultural producers working in all creative fields, anywhere in the world, are encouraged to apply to Forecast’s international mentorship program and festival 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 program’s only requirement is to submit projects that are relevant to the expertise of the mentor you wish to work with.

Apply with your project for the chance to work with one of the following mentors: writer and comedian Vidura Bandara Rajapaksa (LK); performance maker Tom Cassani (UK); artist and filmmaker Keren Cytter (IL); sci fi artist and body architect Lucy McRae (Aus); multimedia artist Almagul Menlibayeva (Kaz); and composer and sound artist Heinali (UA).

This year’s mentors weave lived experience into their practices in ways that challenge, complicate, and expand artistic ideas of autofiction and the often untenable ideal of a coherent separation between work and life. Since Forecast’s tenth anniversary in 2025, program alumni have served as mentors. This year, performance maker Tom Cassani—who collaborated with Florentina Holzinger during Forecast’s seventh edition—is mentoring in the field of expanded performance practices.

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

About the Forecast Festival
As an international mentorship program and a festival 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 Festival, taking place in July, 2026 at Radialsystem, Berlin. All eighteen nominees receive an artist fee. Following the Festival, each mentor will select one mentee. 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). 

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 joint residency for the mentor and mentee at a partner institution. At the conclusion of this residency, mentees will premiere their projects at the hosting institution.

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.