For its inaugural core project Tension/Spannung, the Berlin Institute for Cultural Inquiry announces five fellowships for 2007-08. It welcomes applications from doctoral students, postdocs, curators, and artists from all disciplines.
The expression ‘tension’ appears in manifold contexts with diverse meanings. We speak of social, religious, electrical, sexual, and creative tension. Tension is something to be controlled and used (physics), avoided and reduced (politics), to be worked through and resolved (therapy, scientific theory), to be endured and sustained (modern art, much postmodern theory), or to be sought after and enjoyed (criticism, media). In most cases, tension refers to a static but unstable state. Such a state is on the verge of a dynamic process that may be destructive, but also productive. Tension provides the condition for transformations, but determines neither their beginning nor outcome. As a state of undecided potentiality, tension promises us agency and demands our involvement, while also captivating us aesthetically.
As indicated in the mission statement, the ICI is dedicated to bringing diverse cultures into productive confrontation. Given its broad understanding of culture, the natural sciences, social sciences, humanities, and the arts, or discourses of epistemology, ethics, politics, economics, and aesthetics are among the cultures to be put into productive confrontation – or tension. By exploring the critical role of tension within and between different cultures and discourses, the ICI’s inaugural core project also seeks to reflect upon the institute’s mission. (further details)
The ICI invites doctoral students, postdocs, curators, and artists from all disciplines to link their individual projects to the topic of Tension/Spannung, individuate the role of tension within their own work, and engage in a joint exploration with other fellows at the institute.

Fellowships are for ten months beginning October 1, 2007 and are renewable for one year. Stipends range from 1100 to 1650 € per month. (See also the fellowship guidelines.)

Interested applicants should consult the application instructions, complete the information sheet, and send their application to fellowships(at)ici-berlin.org.Application deadline is April 30, 2007.