Musicboard grants residencies – Co-creation residents live at Pop-Kultur Festival

Musicboard Berlin announces the 2026 recipients of its residency programme, awarding four domestic and international residencies and four co-creation residencies to Berlin-based pop musicians. The programme strengthens international links within Berlin’s pop scene and fosters long-term co-production networks. Get a glimpse of the programme on 29 August at the Pop-Kultur Festival.

Musicboard’s residency programme gives Berlin pop musicians the opportunity to work creatively in a new setting, whether in Germany or abroad. With co-creation residencies, Musicboard also welcomes international musicians to stay in Berlin. These residencies serve to further the internationalisation of Berlin’s pop music scene and establish long-term, transnational co-production. In 2026, 79 artists applied for a Musicboard residency. Four domestic and international residencies and four co-creation residencies were awarded. Depending on the location, the residencies take place in 2026 or 2027.

The residencies are granted on the recommendation of an independent jury of Berlin pop experts, consisting of Ebru »Ebow« Düzgün, Marit Posch, Melanie Gollin, Peer Steinwald, Yannick Niang and Yeşim Duman.

DOMESTIC AND INTERNATIONAL RESIDENCIES

For its residency programme, Musicboard cooperates with long-standing partners and established residency centres such as Villa Aurora in Los Angeles, the Goethe-Institut’s VILA SUL in Salvador de Bahia, the concert venue Le Plan near Paris, HELLERAU in Dresden, and Sternhagen Gut in the Uckermark. Depending on the residency’s profile, the focus of the stay may be on composition and production, live sound, or interdisciplinary exchange. The following artists receive a Musicboard residency in 2026:

It was not possible to apply for the residency at Villa Aurora in Los Angeles in 2026. Due to the devastating wildfires in Los Angeles in early 2025, Villa Aurora remains closed until fall.

CO-CREATION RESIDENCIES

The co-creation residencies place a special emphasis on long-term artistic and cultural exchange between Berlin-based and international musicians. In these two-part residencies, Musicboard not only awards stays abroad to Berlin artists but also invites international musicians to Berlin. This gives the residency partners the opportunity to collaborate over an extended period and in different locations.

For the co-creation residencies, Musicboard cooperates with techno legends Underground Resistance and the Detroit-Berlin Connection, with Nyege Nyege – a label and festival for experimental electronic music in Kampala, with the feminist initiative Black Girls Glow in Accra, and with the club Kuli Alma in Tel Aviv.

The following musicians receive a co-creation residency in 2026:

The co-creation residency in Tel Aviv and Berlin was not open for applications in 2026. Instead, Musicboard, in cooperation with Jonathan Lipitz (Kuli Alma in Tel Aviv), enables artist Yael Dagon to spend four weeks in Berlin, where she works with Berlin-based artist Àbáse. For the co-creation residency in Detroit and Berlin, the selection process is ongoing, with the residents to be announced at a later date.

INTERNATIONAL RESIDENTS IN BERLIN, CO-CREATION LIVE AT POP-KULTUR FESTIVAL

As part of the co-creation residencies, the stays of international residents in Berlin take place each year in August and September. This year, four international residents (from the 2025 and 2026 programmes) are working in Berlin with their co-creation partners on site. They perform live on 29 August at Pop-Kultur Festival at Frannz Garten at the Kulturbrauerei. Admission to the residency concerts is free!

Pop-Kultur Festival, Saturday, 29 August 2026, Frannz Garten (Kulturbrauerei)
5:30 p.m. Anabel Rose & Joy Frempong (Accra / Berlin)
6:40 p.m. Yael Dagon & Àbáse (Tel Aviv / Berlin)
7:50 p.m. Masaka Masaka & gugol maps (Kampala / Berlin)
9:00 p.m. Lil Misho & Olivia Mendez (Detroit / Berlin)