International artists in residence at the Federal Foreign Office’s rooftop studio in Berlin will address current foreign-policy issues in 2026 and 2027. The first residency began in late October with Pulitzer Prize awardee Susie Ibarra, who is focusing on the Arctic. The new residency programme, Bureau de Passage, is organised by the German Academic Exchange Service’s (DAAD) Artists‑in‑Berlin Programme.

“Foreign policy needs new ideas and people who ask unusual questions. That is why we are opening the doors to the Federal Foreign Office in our alumni residency programme to international artists who already have ties with Germany from previous fellowships and stays in the country. We look forward to discussions and new input from artistic viewpoints for our foreign policy and the challenges of our time,” said Serap Güler, Minister of State at the Federal Foreign Office.

“We are living in an age of tremendous geopolitical change and upheaval. Particularly at a time like this, personal connections to Germany are invaluable in many places around the world,” added Professor Joybrato Mukherjee, President of the DAAD. “In offering residencies to international artists at the Federal Foreign Office’s rooftop studio, we and the ministry want to show that art and free dialogue can provide important input for an open society.”

US composer and Pulitzer Prize awardee Susie Ibarra, an alumna of the DAAD’s Artists‑in‑Berlin Programme and an internationally renowned sound artist, is the first alumna in the Bureau de Passage. The motto of her residency is the Arctic. Working with the glaciologist Professor Michele Koppes, Ibarra recorded sounds of ice sheets in Greenland and glaciers in the Himalayas, among other sounds, for her project, Water Rhythms: Listening to Climate Change.

During her residency, Ibarra will speak with Federal Foreign Office staff and experts from the fields of culture, academia and security policy. Her schedule will include talks with State Secretary Dr Bernhard Kotsch and Dr Florence Gaub, Director of the Research Division at the NATO Defense College in Rome, who is herself a DAAD alumna.

In 2027, invitations will be issued to three outstanding international artists with special ties to Germany. Former international fellows of German international residency programmes and protection programmes funded by the Federal Foreign Office are eligible. Artists can apply after being nominated by their former host institution.