Making a Difference
Making a Difference is a Berlin-based network founded in 2018 to promote the independent work of disabled, d/Deaf and chronically ill artists in dance. Eight organisations have joined forces to create high-quality, accessible training and production opportunities through workshops, residencies and co-productions. The central guideline of the project is to fill all leadership and expert positions with disabled, d/Deaf and chronically ill people.
News and recommendations
OPEN CALL: Working grants for disabled, Deaf, or chronically ill artists based in Berlin
WHAT AND FOR WHOM
Making a Difference is awarding three working grants to disabled, Deaf, or chronically ill artists based in Berlin.
Would you like to finally make your website accessible? Or revise and share the documentation of your last project together with others? Maybe you want to update your access rider to clarify access needs for your next project? Reflecting on what “Aesthetics of Access” could mean for your collective work can also be a starting point.
If you would like to work on topics like these, you can apply for a one-month working grant. Making a Difference supports the labor required to create accessible art and cultural production. Traditional project applications will not be considered in this call.
WHAT WE OFFER
PERIOD
The working grants can be awarded at any point between July and December 2026.
After completion of the project, we ask for a short written or oral final report by mid-December.
APPLICATION
- Short outline of the proposed work, including information on collaborators if applicable
- Short bio
You can submit your application as:
- Text (PDF): max. 2 pages (outline + bio)
- Audio: max. 5 minutes
- Video: max. 4 minutes
DEADLINE
Please send all applications via email or as a download link to: mad@uferstudios.com
By June 1, 2026.
Subject line: “Working Grant Berlin 2026”
Applicants can expect a response by July 10.
QUESTIONS AND CONTACT
If you do not fully see yourself reflected in the conditions of this open call, please feel free to contact us. We are happy to enter into a conversation.
For questions, to arrange a conversation, or if you require access support, please contact us via email at mad@uferstudios.com or request a call-back at: +49 (0)30 460 60 887
Open Call in DGS:
Audio flyer in english spoken language:
OPEN CALL: Working grants for disabled, Deaf, or chronically ill artists based in Hamburg
WHAT AND FOR WHOM
Making a Difference is awarding one working grant to a disabled, Deaf, or chronically ill artist based in Hamburg.
Would you like to finally make your website accessible? Or revise and share the documentation of your last project together with others? Maybe you want to update your access rider to clarify access needs for your next project? Reflecting on what “Aesthetics of Access” could mean for your collective work can also be a starting point.
If you would like to work on topics like these, you can apply for a one-month working grant. Making a Difference supports the labor required to create accessible art and cultural production. Traditional project applications will not be considered in this call.
WHAT WE OFFER
PERIOD
The working grants can be awarded at any point between July and December 2026.
After completion of the project, we ask for a short written or oral final report by mid-December.
APPLICATION
- Short outline of the proposed work, including information on collaborators if applicable
- Short bio
You can submit your application as:
- Text (PDF): max. 2 pages (outline + bio)
- Audio: max. 5 minutes
- Video: max. 4 minutes
DEADLINE
Please send all applications via email or as a download link to: mad@uferstudios.com.
By June 1, 2026.
Subject line: “Working Grant Hamburg 2026”
Applicants can expect a response by July 10.
QUESTIONS AND CONTACT
If you do not fully see yourself reflected in the conditions of this open call, please feel free to contact us. We are happy to enter into a conversation.
For questions, to arrange a conversation, or if you require access support, please contact us via email at mad@uferstudios.com or request a call-back at: +49 (0)30 460 60 887.
Open Call in DGS:
Audio flyer in english spoken language:
Further funding through TANZPAKT Stadt-Land-Bund
Making a Difference has once again been selected for funding in the fourth round of applications for TANZPAKT Stadt-Land-Bund! Over the next three years, we will continue our work to empower disabled, Deaf, and chronically ill artists in dance!
We are particularly pleased that our network will continue to grow in the new project phase: with HAU Hebbel am Ufer / Tanz im August and Radialsystem, two important Berlin institutions are joining us. At the same time, we are establishing permanent collaborations in five other federal states for the first time with Kampnagel Hamburg, tanzhaus nrw, Theater RAMPE Stuttgart, Festival Theaterformen/Real Dance Festival Hannover/Braunschweig, and the University of the Arts in Social Work, Ottersberg.
The aim is to make the approaches developed in Berlin for barrier-free production and presentation processes accessible nationwide on a sustainable basis. Together with these partners, who already pursue inclusive programs, standards for barrier removal, fair working conditions, and long-term prospects in artistic work are being developed. Residencies, co-productions, guest performances, and knowledge transfer go hand in hand with peer-to-peer empowerment, awareness-raising, and mediation formats.
In this way, we are continuing on our path of not only demanding structural change, but also actively implementing it—and continuously strengthening the visibility of a growing community.
We look forward to the next three years!