IN THIS ECONOMY??!?!?!

THE TIME HAS COME ALL YE CREATIVES. aka we need you the community to pull thru for this:

I developed, built, designed, and bootstrapped with my lil tips ive gained over the years for this entire thing all by myself bc I am insane. Yes, I’ve basically become a developer throughout this journey, and the whole thing is built on an open-source stack. It took months of grinding, but it is finally time to spread the word: WE HAVE A CURATED NETWORK FOR ARTISTS to secure jobs, trade housing, and archive your own culture. And yes, it is completely FREE.

How is it free? Well, I’ve been studying a lot of different business models, and tbh it’s free because it needs to be. Later on, if you actually land a job or find housing through the network, we might ask for a donation or a sliding scale fee to help sustain server costs, operations, and paying people for their labour. It is what it is. (Unless, of course, someone out there knows a billionaire philanthropist who low key/high key cares about keeping culture archived and alive 👀).

JUST DON’T BE A CREEP

It is strictly curated, though. You have to apply to get in. A lot of people take advantage of creatives, so we are not just letting everyone in. Plus, there are creeps we keep out. So, y’know, just don’t be a creep or weird. After all, this is built for IRL artists and venues. We gotta trust you.

We talk a lot about sustaining culture as artists, but right now sustaining culture isn’t about abstract concepts—it’s about survival. It is about jobs and housing. The broader arts and culture industry adds a staggering $1.2 trillion to the economy, yet data shows over 57% of individual artists face severe financial vulnerability just trying to secure food and rent. The math is completely broken. In major cultural capitals like New York and Berlin, independent spaces are vanishing, forcing creatives further out to the fringes just to exist.

yes there is a housing feature yep yep and here’s why

So let’s do it ourselves. We are all looking for spaces, and most of us technically have spaces, studios, or apartments to share or trade when we travel or work. We already have 2 spaces in the network that want to host or trade with artists in our network—the only catch is that you have to be in our network to see them. Consider posting your own, or list your business space too to host artists. There is a lot to get out of it and once again, it is FREE, FREE, FREE. Lol.

WE HAVE TO BE THE SOLUTION!!!! I mean it and u know it.

This newsletter is different from all the others. This is our main feature and our real opportunity. If we want a chance for more fair, community-sourced jobs and housing, we really need the community to pull through right now. We have to collectively get this thing off the ground. We have to try to be the solution we need.

APPLY TO THE COUNTERCULT NETWORK HERE

JOIN FREE HERE NOWS THE TIME

apply here its not a scam wow

THE LAUNCH PARTY hehe

To celebrate this huge milestone, we are collaborating with a secret-ish Berlin club rooftop bar thing called Klunkerkranich. This September 17th. Local artist for a drawing (hosted by me, sketchy shona) and jazz jam, with house boppy DJs until 1am also from our countercult network who have been with us supporting all of our crazy ideas.

So come, meet us, network with us, netTWERK with us if you happen to be in Berlin. We’d love to have you. You just show up, feel free to bring others, and tickets are at the door. (Maybe even bring a tip for the artists).

And please, yes, promote it and share. The platform and our last community event for now.

local artists featured:

Drawing Jam: Sketchy Shona (live drawing performance + workshop)

Jazz Jam house band: Analog Beats Collective (organized by Bobbi)

DJs: MAD.MOD + Natascha Roze

(dm or comment or email us for an invite so we can remind u to the party!)

CREATIVE FEATURE

tbh surprise surprise its me. not that I like it, but its only fair that you know who built this is a fellow crust artist. I also do creative direction, strategy, and tech stuff, but mostly survive off of my art career. fortunately or unfortunately however u wanna look at it.

im a military brat, ended up in NYC, and now in Berlin. I didn’t know much about civilian life (ffs I was raised by soldiers on military posts) and naively decided to be an artist because I had no idea what to do if I wasn’t going to join the line of soldiers bc I didn’t know much else outside of that. I just knew I questioned authority too much and even the army was lie…ur an artist now GET OUTTA HERE.

and here I am trying to rally us up and get culture sustainable- at the end of the day that’s why we’re all here. To experience life, but it takes artists to translate that into culture.

so yeah- I paint, I sculpt, I make installations and tattoos. here’s one I did in bushwhick a few days ago of my bestie. its not the best, but its honest work iyk what I mean.

feel free to stalk me, I get it.

so please- please take a look at joining because yes it took a lot.

OPPORTUNITIES

PRESS TITLES TO APPLY

🟢 COUNTERCULT SPACE SWAP & DATABASE

• The Deal: Our native platform to trade spaces and secure work without middlemen or tech data-miners.

• Perks: Instant access to 2 verified partner spaces waiting to host or trade with artists.

• Cost: FREE.

🟢 RURALI-ART BY RURAL HACKERS (GALICIA, SPAIN)

• The Deal: An open-source AI creators lab in rural Galicia designed for artists who want to use tech to speed up administration, documentation, and operational bottlenecks so they can claw back actual studio time.

• Perks: Fully covers on-site accommodation and meals for 7 days in Anceu Coliving. They focus explicitly on ethical data and open-source tools. plus we trust them a lot.

• Cost: FREE to apply and participate.

🟢 SWATCH ART PEACE HOTEL RESIDENCY (SHANGHAI)

• The Deal: Live and work for 3 to 6 months in a dedicated studio inside a historic landmark building on the Bund. Open to all creative disciplines.

• Perks: Free accommodation, workspace, daily breakfast, and housekeeping. They also fully cover round-trip airfare to Shanghai.

• Cost: FREE to apply. Yes, it is completely free to submit your application; there are absolutely no processing or entry fees.

🟢 TOKYO BIENNALE 2027: SOCIAL DIVE

• The Deal: Open call for artists and curators to research and build site-responsive community projects across 11 designated neighborhoods in Tokyo.

• Perks: Covers flight costs (up to JPY 300,000), local accommodations, project development budget (up to JPY 200,000), and a JPY 100,000 honorarium.

• Cost: FREE to apply (Closes September 30).

🟢 GLOGAUAIR BERLIN RESIDENCY (BERLIN-KREUZBERG)

• The Deal: On-site artist residency in Berlin for terms throughout 2027 to develop your practice alongside a global cohort.

• Perks: Dedicated studio space, community exhibition opportunities, and curated curatorial support in the heart of the city.

• Cost: FREE to submit your initial open call application.

FREEBIES

We don’t have a freebie for you this time.

That said, we are always open to actual discounts and perks for our network. If you run an independent space, service, or brand and want to offer something real to our community, get in touch with us.

Let us know by sending us a message!

Thanks!

• Thank you for your time and continued support. Your engagement means the world to us. Let us know what you think of our newsletter in the comments. :)

  Subscribe now

Well, that’s all for the next two weeks! If you want more opportunities and updates, more often, make sure to check out our stories and posts on INSTAGRAM, since we only feature our most curated picks in this newsletter.

Stay creative!

-Sho
CounterCult is a global creative network working across contemporary art, culture, and technology, operating from Berlin and beyond.

written by Shona Neary from the backseat of a car in Florida in transit to get somewhere that never ends while passing Dollar Generals and billboards that say “JESUS SAVES” writing this article and researching ways to claw myself back into the EU longterm so they don’t have to become the actual Florida Man.

now back to why you’re here:

The truth? TBH I am burnt out- we got rejected from ALL the funding we applied for (we are human so we will share the wins and the losses after all), but we are pushing ahead with this anyway because this is something we truly need. I started Countercult because I am a career artist and want to help build infrastructure that we need. This led me to a path of learning about economics, business models, all that boring stuff so you don’t have to (though we also host events where you can learn while we learn).

We have grown as a network (thank you all) and we need a space outside of meta and instagram to congregate, share resources, and be found, so after a YEAR of building, I have made us a digital platform:

• It’s FREE for us.

• It’s curated by us (to keep it safe and high quality).

• Artist Rooms Feature: It’s for housing, but also for spaces to host workshops, shows, studio spaces, etc. Since there is a rough housing crisis seemingly everywhere in the world rn, I also added an artist room swap feature- if you’re not sure what that is, please check it out here.

  check out the room swap and stuff

Anyways, what I’m saying is that you are really invited to apply to join our official network. FFS it’s free after all, and it’s open to artists, cultural spaces, collectives, festivals, projects and more.

I am not a developer but have learned as I go, so there will be glitches I’m sure, so hang in there with us as we build this together. We of course would love to know your thoughts/your help (like sharing it hehe) of how to make this better.

UPDATES:

basically, our new platform and room swap. it’s free don’t worry. We will ask for donations at some point to cover server costs and so we don’t have to do forced subscriptions (ew) or run a shit ton of sponsored ads but that’s it if you’re curious.

JOIN OUR CULT

OPPORTUNTIES

✨ 🎨 MacDowell Fellowships (Endowed Foundation Funded)

• Who is eligible: International and domestic artists at all career stages working in architecture, film, interdisciplinary arts, literature, music, theater, and visual arts.

• What the terms are: Fully funded residency covering individual woodland studio spaces, living quarters, and three meals a day for up to six weeks.

• Link to apply: macdowell.org

✨ 🏛️ Dora Maar House Residency (Nancy B. Negley Trust Funded)

• Who is eligible: Mid-career international professionals focusing on creative or academic projects in the arts and humanities.

• What the terms are: Free housing, dedicated workspace, a travel grant, and a $1,500 monthly stipend for a duration of one to two months.

• Link to apply: maisondoramaar.org

✨ 🖼️ Woodson Art Museum Program (Museum Board Funded)

• Who is eligible: Contemporary visual artists from across the United States who work in any physical artistic medium.

• What the terms are: Full access to the Glass Box Studio, provided travel funding, a stipend, and public community workshop facilitation spaces.

• Link to apply: https://www.nyfa.org/opportunities/opportunity-info/?id=9fc52c32-fe03-4130-85fb-37fc26cfedc9

✨ 💻 BE OPEN Art Limitless Call (Global Philanthropy Funded)

• Who is eligible: Global creators, designers, and sculptors whose contemporary practices actively engage with upcycling or sustainable materials.

• What the terms are: Feature slots in the digital archive alongside tiered financial awards ranging from €300 to €1,000.

• Link to apply: https://art.beopenfuture.com/art-limitless/

✨ 🗺️ Skog Art Space Exhibition (Curatorial Team Funded)

• Who is eligible: Emerging and established international visual artists across all technical media seeking European gallery exposure.

• What the terms are: A cost-free solo or group exhibition showcase space in Oslo, Norway with complete gallery administrative backing.

• Link to apply: https://skogart.org/blog/5haqp3iqd3tkygl6iponogv3fyl8bx

✨ 🧶 NWDC Craft Membership Call (Designer Craft Association Funded)

• Who is eligible: Fine craft artists working specifically with clay, wood, glass, metal, fiber, or mixed material processes.

• What the terms are: Fee-free professional organizational inclusion, continuous exhibition tracks, master workshop networks, and curated digital gallery showcases.

• Link to apply: https://nwdesignercraftartists.org/apply-for-membership

✨ 🌲 Kimmel Harding Nelson Center Residency (KHN Foundation Funded)

• Who is eligible: Visual artists, writers, and music composers worldwide looking for structured blocks of intensive development time.

• What the terms are: Free living accommodations, private studio facilities, and a baseline financial stipend to cover weekly living costs.

• Link to apply: khncenterfortarts.org

✨ 🎥 Eyebeam Democracy Fellowship (Tech & Culture Endowment Funded)

• Who is eligible: International technology artists, digital designers, and mixed-media filmmakers tackling civic data transparency.

• What the terms are: A fully remote digital residency track carrying a flat $20,000 artist stipend alongside technical production support.

• Link to apply: eyebeam.org

  Thanks for reading Business Creatives! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.

  Share

CREATIVE FEATURE

CAROLINA LEON (LOBA) is a Latinx creative currently based in hawaii and one of my dearest, oldest friends. Flowing through film photography, djing, styling and content creation, she is one off the fist people to apply to be a part of our new curated platform. Check it out or get in touch with her here.

FREEBIES

We don’t have a freebie for you this time.

That said, we are always open to actual discounts and perks for our network. If you run an independent space, service, or brand and want to offer something real to our community, get in touch with us.

Let us know by sending us a message!

Thanks!

• Thank you for your time and continued support. Your engagement means the world to us. Let us know what you think of our newsletter in the comments. :)

Well, that’s all for the next two weeks! If you want more opportunities and updates, more often, make sure to check out our stories and posts on INSTAGRAM, since we only feature our most curated picks in this newsletter.

Stay creative!

-Sho
CounterCult is a global creative network working across contemporary art, culture, and technology, operating from Berlin and beyond.

UPDATES

Dear crusty artists and tech bros alike—before we get started on anything else, I can finally announce: WE ARE IN THE USA.

We are doing this takeover because it is still ridiculously hard for cultural laborers to connect across borders.

If you want to understand the exact math of why we need this network, look at the macroeconomic data. The arts and culture sector generates a staggering $1.2 trillion in annual value, making up 4.2% of the entire US GDP, yet over 50% of the actual creators and cultural laborers who build that IP make under $15,000 a year.[1, 2]

Basically, it’s a global crisis of distribution:

• The Global Picture: Creative industries drive 3.1% of global GDP and 6.2% of all employment, yet structural gatekeeping leaves indie creators behind. [1, 2]

• The Platform Concentration: Massive consolidation among a handful of tech platforms completely marginalizes underground creators, forcing us to rely on corporate algorithms just to be seen.

• The Local Economics: It doesn’t have to be this way. Arts attendees spend an average of $38.46 per event beyond ticket prices on local food, lodging, and transit. [1, 2]

We are building CounterCult to fix that. Obviously.

So let’s wisen up ourselves. If you want to help set this NYC link-up at the end of August, or if you simply have some cool people or venues to recommend, please comment so I can get in touch! My dream of bridging our networks from different continents is finally coming true.

Leave a comment

Now onto the rest: THIS NEWSLETTER IS LATE AND I APOLOGIZE mostly because I was sick during the build for WHOLE Festival but holy shit the stage and party were great. I literally jumped on a flight back to the states right after. If you want to see the chaos of that whole story, see the piece I wrote about the absolute whiplash of transitioning from the Berlin underground queer techno scene to a 50-person family cookout in Philly.

Berlin, USA, and a 5-Foot Butt Plug?

CREATIVE FEATURE: Solarpunk and Regenerative Filmmaking

I first met Pina, aka Juan, during the build for WHOLE Festival, and he is honestly the absolute definition of a chill guy and a visionary artist. Over the crew setup, he told me all about his research into sustainable media, which has now culminated in his latest book chapter, "A Seed Towards Regenerative Filmmaking," featured in Ecologies in Practice and Learning. His writing with the Fën collective serves as a practical, solarpunk blueprint, proving we can ditch toxic industry waste and create stunning cinema using carbon-neutral, solar-powered methods.

see more here

OPPORTUNITIES: Independent Art Grants, Residencies, and Open Calls

⚡🗽 The CounterCult NYC Takeover (Global / US)

• Open call for international organizers, underground artists, DJs, and venue plug-ins.

• Help us coordinate a physical, decentralized link-up to map out independent culture towards the end of August, 2026.

• Includes access to our cross-continental resource pool and economic networks.

• COMMENT/REPLY TO THIS NEWSLETTER TO TAP IN

🇪🇺✈️ Perform Europe Open Call (International / EU)

• Get up to €60,000 to fund a cross-border live arts or music tour across Europe.

• Teams must include at least three partners from different European countries.

• The grant fully covers travel, setup, and fair wages for independent artists.

• DEADLINE: October 22, 2026 — APPLY VIA PERFORM EUROPE

🔑🏢 THE FLOOR Artist Coliving Residency (International / Berlin)

• Rooms have officially opened back up starting this August through next summer at our invite-only secret location partner space and physical extension of CounterCult.

• Built for underground artists, builders, and DJs to live, create, and participate in our salon nights, studio experiments, and collaborative coworking days.

• Run entirely by artists for artists to build alternative, self-sustaining business practices and bypass structural industry gatekeepers.

• STATUS: Active rolling open call for September and Winter slots — APPLY TO LIVE WITH US HERE

🎨 Cash The New Emergence Art Prize (International / Online)

• accepting raw entries across all digital, sound, and visual mediums.

• Directly targets independent emerging creators who lack backing from major institutional galleries.

• Funding includes over £5,000 in unrestricted cash awards, resource stipends, and structured mentoring.

• DEADLINE: August 7, 2026 — SEE MORE HERE [1, 2]

🪵 Grant The Nantucket Hale Sculpture Residency (International / US)

• A fully funded physical residency built for independent sculptors and heavy-material installation artists.

• Absolutely zero application fees and zero expectations to teach or sell your work to wealthy collectors.

• Provides free housing, studio space, a $500 travel stipend, and a $2,000 cash stipend for materials and living expenses.

• DEADLINE: August 31, 2026 — SEE MORE HERE

🖼️ Lab The MOCA Performing Artist-in-Residence (International / NYC)

• Targeting independent creators working across performance art, independent film, music, and spoken word.

• Completely free to apply and designed to give artists access to deep archival research without corporate parameters.

• Provides a $3,000 cash honorarium, dedicated rehearsal spaces, and structural presentation support.

• DEADLINE: August 2, 2026 — SEE MORE HERE

  Want to help us for FREE? because it really, REALLY actually helps A LOT if you subscribe. I promise. just click it. we’re waiting…..

FREEBIES

We don’t have a freebie for you this time.

That said, we are always open to actual discounts and perks for our network. If you run an independent space, service, or brand and want to offer something real to our community, get in touch with us.

Let us know by sending us a message!

Thanks!

• Thank you for your time and continued support. Your engagement means the world to us. Let us know what you think of our newsletter in the comments. :)

Well, that’s all for the next two weeks! If you want more opportunities and updates, more often, make sure to check out our stories and posts on INSTAGRAM, since we only feature our most curated picks in this newsletter.

Stay creative!

-Sho

CounterCult is a global creative network working across contemporary art, culture, and technology, operating from Berlin and beyond.

We have a massive Friday ahead of us for our team based in Berlin.

The city’s famous bear mascot is a total historical accident. Berlin actually derives from the Old Polabian Slavic word berl, meaning “swamp,” “marsh,” or “wasteland.” Because the initial geography was so inhospitable, it never developed a soft, pampered aristocratic culture. Survivors here had to be tough, resourceful, and deeply adaptive.

That’s literally why Berlin never had a long-lasting bougie culture and owns the “Poor but Sexy” slogan, which we all know lives up to the name too well.

so The Bear is kinda the corporate, dry over tourist side sorry not sorry.

and The Swamp is the bottom-up cultural underbelly running this town. We consider ourselves swamp creatures. and if you’re reading this, there’s a high chance you are too.

s independent spaces disappear under rising costs, we aren’t waiting for institutional funding. So I founded THE FLOOR [ ] as an artist-run residency and project-space. so far we’ve kept where we are a secret. alongside our culture-tech network Countercult, we are working with hackers and underground artists to build our own rogue survival systems.

But now we’re having our first day inviting you all in this Friday, for 48hr Neukölln, we are inviting everyone in for our first exhibition, creative business networking, and a rooftop afterparty at Klunkerkranich. We have guest list for our real supporters! (you know who you are <3)

We’ve turned the space into DA SWAMP: a living, immersive environment co-created with myself, Sketchy Shona, Niamh-Erin Cusack and ohhi_uisce the streetartist, and our local network. Rejecting the sterile white-cube gallery model, it features a textile “human cocoon,” frog-meme sculptures, live tattooing, and raw large-scale paintings.

We want to invite you so you can see and be a part of what we are building from the ground up.

If you would like to meet some of us in person at our very Berlin swamp, or just join the afterparty, RSVP below. It’s free if you need it to be.

Artists and Niamh-Erin Cusack would love to welcome you to DA SWAMP.

RSVP DA SWAMP

Otherwise, we will be in NYC and Philly in August. Reach out if you have connections that you think can help!

🐸 CREATIVE FEATURE

Da Swamp Artists of course. It’s a big day, will we see you there? Come meet us at THE FLOOR or join us for a cheeky, swampy aperol at the afterparty the next kinda secret spot across the street.

rsvp free to find the address

OPPORTUNITIES

Wesa residency global open call (jeju island, south korea)

• the opportunity: a 10-day international artist residency located in the forests of jeju island for artists across all disciplines. support includes a dedicated workspace, accommodation, and a 2,000,000 krw stipend to cover airfare.

• link: submit via the wesa residency open call form HERE.

International digital art (NO AI) contest 2026

• the opportunity: an open global exhibition hosted by the academy of fine arts for digital artists worldwide. selected works are showcased in both physical and virtual formats.

• link: register directly via the alu sum digital art portal.

Shelley & donald rubin foundation sight/geist open call (nyc)

• the opportunity: a call for emerging film and performance artists. selected artists receive a stipend of up to $750 for solo live performances, plus an additional $250 to explicitly cover production costs.

• link: apply on the rubin foundation submission page HERE.

Curator in Residence 2026 (tirana, albania)

• the opportunity: a two-week research residency at bazament for international curators and creators. provides accommodation, a workspace, travel support, and an €800 fee to develop a curatorial concept for an exhibition.

• link: read guidelines via the bazament curator in residence listing.

The 7th VH award global open call + $30.000

• the opportunity: a major international platform for audiovisual, digital media, and screen-based artists. five selected finalists each receive a $30,000 usd production grant and a spot in an online residency.

• link: apply via the vh award global application portal.

Open Call for Infrastructure Partners, Funders & Protocols

• CounterCult is scaling its core into an interoperable cultural knowledge graph. We are actively looking for values-aligned tech ecosystems, alternative venture platforms, and open-web grant allocators to stress-test our data schema.

• If you are building data-sovereign tooling at Mozilla Foundation, distribution networks at Automattic / WordPress, or exploring alignment with creative-first ecosystem backers culture forward VC, let’s discuss how we can partner.

• Get in touch to review our technical documentation: countercultplatform@gmail.com

Have an opportunity you want to share? Let us know by sending us a message!

Thanks!

• Thank you for your time and continued support. Your engagement means the world to us. Let us know what you think of our newsletter in the comments. :)

Well, that’s all for the next two weeks! If you want more opportunities and updates, more often, make sure to check out our stories and posts on INSTAGRAM, since we only feature our most curated picks in this newsletter.

Stay creative!

-Sho

as independent creative spaces dry up globally, we aren’t interested in traditional gallery representation or playing the games required for corporate or institutional art grants.

countercult and the floor are operating entirely as a self-funded, open-source experiment. we are actively mapping our physical space in neukölln alongside hackers to figure out how decentralized tech can anchor local culture before the real estate market wipes it out entirely.

if you are reading this from a network like mozilla, restless egg, or any other funding node that actually cares about decentralized infrastructure, rogue survival tools, and keeping raw subculture alive:

• stop by the floor this friday: come see what an alternative, tech-adjacent underground community actually looks like in practice.

• track the architecture: we are looking for peers, developers, and radical ecosystem funders to help scale this blueprint.

• get in touch: skip the polished slide decks. email us directly at [your email/substack link] to look at the systems we are testing from the ground up.

The number one question usually got when I told people I’m an artists is “When did you know you were an artists?” but now that’s shifted to, “What are your thoughts on AI as an artist?”

To be honest- I’ve always loved tech. I grew up painting, yes, but I also grew up with tons of 80’s scify and am quite the nerd. It’s the only fictional genre that ends up booming true.

So this being said, I’ve been waiting for AI, and now that it’s here- I see it as a tool and am searching for more open source, web3 ethical versions of AI and llms that I can use. For example, I made this animation of my classic Sketchy Shona work (you can see below) for our upcoming art show (it’s free, you should join!)

But I don’t speak for all of us (obviously). Running CounterCult isn’t about my thoughts, it’s about our entire network. That’s why we are meeting tomorrow at the tech forward Delta Campus in Berlin for a Creative x Tech Exchange Day to bring artists, designers, developers, founders, and more into the same room. Plus as a sweet treat it’s followed by an artist walk and talk down to the very lovely Orangerie with Sofiya.

rsvp

What was that about Japan and a Salon Night?

The creative networking gods have reached out to me and brought Sayaka into our network. We are both passionate about culture, art, tech, and business so we’ve decided to partner up for next Salon Night. The concept centers on bridging the cultural and logistical gap between Europe and Japan by exploring Japanese aesthetics, market entry, and traditional tea culture in a modern context. Come to be our guest next week at THE FLOOR so we can treat you to this tea ceremony and curated, intentional crowd.

rsvp

We’re part of an art festival? It’s free? Why is it called DA SWAMP?

Yes, a few of our artists Sketchy Shona (me lol) and Niamh-Erin Cusack among others to be announced are part of a free arts festival in Berlin called 48 Stunden Neukölln. We’re not going to give too much away except there will be an club afterparty with our partner Klunkerkranich, a human cocoon, a pool of frogs, paintings, tattoos, and a wee bit for fashion week. We have free /pay what you can and patron tickets as this is not funded unfortunately and all sales go directly to the artists.

rsvp

We’re going to New York? and Philly?

Yes. I’m from New York but have lived abroad for over 7 years building roots here, and now it’s time to pull everything together. If you’re reading this from the east coast, now is your time to reach out if you want to collaborate in August.

Leave a comment

HOW TO HELP US FROM ANYWHERE (for free)

If you want to stop passive cultural extraction and help build the data infrastructure that pays independent creators, you need to be plugged into this ecosystem.

1. Subscribe to CounterCult: Don’t miss our weekly culture-tech breakdowns, data drops, and funded creative opportunities. Hit the subscribe button at the top of this page.

   Subscribe now

CREATIVE FEATURE

Sayaka is founder of the Japanese Green Tea Club and works between the EU and Japan. She curates and creative traditional Japanese tea ceremonies and we’re excited to be collaboration with her on the next one. See more about her here, and if you want to join the ceremony, rsvp here.

OPPORTUNITIES

🏡🛠️ Viv’s English Countryside Free Coliving Residency

• What it is: We love (she is an older OG PUNK so a very cool person). Volunteer 1–2 hours daily at a historic, pre-development English farmhouse in exchange for free accommodation this summer.

• Why it’s good for creatives: Gain cheap inspiration in nature, brainstorm development concepts, and co-live with other digital nomads. But keep in mind it is definitely a fixer upper status!

• How to apply: Contact Viv directly on WhatsApp at +44 7867 126408 to apply

  

  .

✈️🗽 CounterCult NYC August Residency Partnership

• What it is: Berlin-based CounterCult is traveling to NYC this August to connect with local creators and secure venues for cross-continental pop-ups.

• Why it’s good for creatives: Showcase your work to an international network, gain an immediate foothold in Berlin’s scene, and co-host upcoming EU-US events.

• How to apply: Email your project portfolio or venue proposal directly to the CounterCult team at countercultplatform@gmail.com.

🛍️🎨 Berlin Creative Store Open Call

• What it is: A retail opportunity for independent creators to sell their products inside a brand new shop located on Liegnitzerstraße in Kreuzberg, Berlin.

• Why it’s good for creatives: Gain physical storefront exposure in Berlin’s most creative district, reach local design buyers, and launch your brand without high retail overhead.

• How to apply: Submit your brand details, social handles, and product concept directly through the Google Application Form

❄️🎨 THE FLOOR Berlin Winter Coliving Residency

• What it is: An open call for international artists, builders, and cultural thinkers to apply for winter coliving residency slots starting November 2026.

• Why it’s good for creatives: Live, work, and collaborate inside a secret Neukölln apartment space designed for interdisciplinary exchange, community salons, and underground art events.

• How to apply: https://www.shonadesigns.store/experiment-residency

🌐 Open Call for Infrastructure Partners, Funders & Protocols

• CounterCult is scaling its core into an interoperable cultural knowledge graph. We are actively looking for values-aligned tech ecosystems, alternative venture platforms, and open-web grant allocators to stress-test our data schema.

• If you are building data-sovereign tooling at Mozilla Foundation, distribution networks at Automattic / WordPress, or exploring alignment with creative-first ecosystem backers culture forward VC, let’s discuss how we can partner.

• Get in touch to review our technical documentation: countercultplatform@gmail.com

Have an opportunity you want to share? Let us know by sending us a message!

Thanks!

• Thank you for your time and continued support. Your engagement means the world to us. Let us know what you think of our newsletter in the comments. :)

Well, that’s all for the next two weeks! If you want more opportunities and updates, more often, make sure to check out our stories and posts on INSTAGRAM, since we only feature our most curated picks in this newsletter.

Stay creative!

-Sho

CounterCult is a global creative network working across contemporary art, culture, and technology, operating from Berlin and beyond.

TL;DR

This issue breaks down why the creatives, queers, and internationals are broke but drive up the cost of living, how AI is forcing the corporate world to buy into human subculture, and what we doing about it (aka we are partnering with a big boy company and throwing a CREATIVE X TECH EXCHANGE DAY here in Berlin). Also we’re going to the USA soon.

Happy Pride month…so…are the artsy queers gentrifying?

Historically, marginalized subcultures cluster in cheap urban areas to survive, create, and build mutual aid. However, urban theorists like Richard Florida and Jane Jacobs have documented how this concentrated creative energy inevitably attracts big business, while ironically pushing the ones who built the value out. Jacobs famously observed in The Death and Life of Great American Cities, “New ideas must use old buildings,” proving that low financial pressure allows for high cultural risk. Sociologist Sharon Zukin later exposed in her pioneering book, Loft Living, how developers systematically leverage this authentic “artistic lifestyle” as a tool to skyrocket property values.

We see this extraction happening right now with our case study in Neukölln, Berlin. The Delta Campus, a 6,500-square-meter former parking garage, has been retrofitted into a tech hub just as residential asking rents peak at €15.80 per square meter, according to the CBRE / Berlin Hyp Housing Market Report.

Fighting the entire system won’t pay our rising rents, but the rise of AI gives us a massive point of leverage. Because automated code can now be copied instantly, tech ecosystems desperately need authentic human creativity to give their tools soul, context, and real-world relevance. This mirrors Walter Benjamin’s argument in The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction, where he posited that mass duplication strips away an object’s unique presence or “aura.” AI is doing this to software, turning code into a commodity and forcing tech to seek out the irreplaceable human “aura” found in underground subcultures. They need us. It’s a weird time to be alive.

CounterCult is about building practical bridges. Instead of remaining separate, adversarial entities, we are partnering with platforms like The Delta Campus to claim space inside the infrastructure shaping our neighborhood. We aren’t waiting for corporate handouts; we are bringing both tech builders and local culture into the exact same room to force a real exchange of human capital in this fast changing times. As a global culture-tech startup and decentralized infrastructure and irl network (jargon but thats what we do), we map living culture with data precision to route economic value back to the underground. We are designing a Localized Data Commons aligned with Mozilla’s Trustworthy AI blueprint to keep the ecosystem open, sovereign, and decentralized. ENOUGH WITH THE TECH TALK now-

So without further ado….you wanna come? check it out below.

UPDATES

June 16th: Get in the Right Room with us

To cross the bridge, you have to be in the room. Cringe aside- on June 16th, CounterCult and The Delta Campus are hosting a curated, full-day curated and focused event in Neukölln designed for founders, executives, developers, creative builders, and artists. We also have a local artist talk by Sofia and walk to the fancy Orangerie.

• From 9:30 AM to 5 PM, we are running deep work sessions, creative exchanges, and direct CounterCult Studios office hours for brand, go-to-market, and growth strategy.

• From 5 PM to 7 PM, get off the clock and go for the sweetest tread: a featured local artist talk and a guided creative neighborhood walk ending at a featured local independent business bar.

Space is highly limited and strictly curated to protect the room. You must apply for an invite to attend.

creative + tech exchange day ticket

ah, also did we tell you we will by in NYC and Philly in August? Let’s collab by sending us an email proposal.

and some of our artists in the cult are part of the Berlin Art Festival, 48 Hour Neukölln July 3-5th. it’s free.

HOW TO HELP US FROM ANYWHERE (for free hehe)

If you want to stop passive cultural extraction and help build the data infrastructure that pays independent creators, you need to be plugged into this ecosystem.

1. Subscribe to CounterCult: Don’t miss our weekly culture-tech breakdowns, data drops, and funded creative opportunities. Hit the subscribe button at the top of this page.

   Subscribe now

CREATIVE FEATURE

The amazing Camila Berrio (who is also the amazing photographer) gassed me up by coming in person to yesterday and very nicely petting my ego (I’m blushing). I’ve been taking a lot of meetings at THE FLOOR with artists and builders alike and it’s wholesomely growing. But enough about me- look at what Camila is doing: she’s basically a modern day pirate traveling the world as a photographer and videographer and teaching others how to as well! She also told me something about snail club newsletters and more to come on that at a future date, but to find her work and read her stories, check out the links in her bio HERE.

stalk Camila :)

OPPORTUNITIES

🌍✨ International Mobility Artist Funding & Cultural Programs

• What? The Goethe-Institut is Germany’s global cultural institution offering international opportunities for artists, collectives, and cultural practitioners through residencies, funding programs, exhibitions, and collaborative projects.
• Strong global network across 90+ countries, high visibility, and access to cross-cultural collaboration | Application processes can be structured, competitive, and require clear project proposals.
• Ideal for visual arts, music, film, literature, performance, and interdisciplinary work with an international or cross-border focus.

HOW TO APPLY: https://www.goethe.de/en/kul/foe.html

🌐✈️ Cultural Mobility & Artistic Exchange Grants for the Global South

• What? The Prince Claus Fund supports artists and cultural practitioners from the Global South with funding for international travel, collaborations, exhibitions, research, and urgent artistic interventions.
• Strong focus on underrepresented voices and independent cultural production | Competitive selection, typically requires clear social/cultural impact and international partner context.
• Ideal for artists and collectives working in visual arts, performance, photography, film, and socially engaged practices who need mobility support outside Europe-centered frameworks.

HOW TO APPLY: https://princeclausfund.org

🏳️‍🌈🌍 International Queer Artist Mentorship Program

• What? Queer|Art|Mentorship is a 10-month international mentorship program supporting LGBTQ+ artists across Film, Literature, Performance, and Visual Art through one-to-one mentorship, peer exchange, and public programming. Fellows are paired with established queer mentors to develop a specific creative project.
• Includes $2,500 stipend, travel support for an in-person retreat, monthly 1:1 mentorship, group cohort sessions, public work-in-progress presentations, and long-term access to a global queer arts network | Highly selective, US-based eligibility requirement, structured application process.
• Ideal for early-career queer artists with an existing body of work who want to deepen their practice through intergenerational exchange, international visibility, and sustained artistic development.

HOW TO APPLY: https://www.queer-art.org/mentorship

🎪✨ Free Berlin Event Space at Kalle Halle Open Call

• What? Kalle Halle is offering its event hall (or a selected space within the venue) for free for one day to communities, collectives, creatives, or anyone with a strong idea.
• Must be public, fit venue rules/timing, no external bar or catering allowed.
• Ideal for workshops, exhibitions, film screenings, community dinners, concerts, talks, tournaments, flea markets, or experimental formats.

HOW TO APPLY: link in Kalle Halle’s bio

🏡🧵 THE FLOOR Art Residency + Coliving (Berlin / Global Network)

• Our very own community space and coliving <3 Bookings open for September 2026 intake onward.

• Hybrid living + working residency for artists, musicians, researchers, and cultural builders.

• Focus on experimental production and local cultural reinvestment systems

APPLY HERE

🌐 Open Call for Infrastructure Partners, Funders & Protocols

CounterCult is scaling its core into an interoperable cultural knowledge graph. We are actively looking for values-aligned tech ecosystems, alternative venture platforms, and open-web grant allocators to stress-test our data schema.

If you are building data-sovereign tooling at Mozilla Foundation, distribution networks at Automattic / WordPress, or exploring alignment with creative-first ecosystem backers culture forward VC, let’s discuss how we can partner.

Get in touch to review our technical documentation:

countercultplatform@gmail.com

Have an opportunity you want to share? Let us know by sending us a message!

Subscribe now

Thanks!

• Thank you for your time and continued support. Your engagement means the world to us. Let us know what you think of our newsletter in the comments. :)

Well, that’s all for the next two weeks! If you want more opportunities and updates, more often, make sure to check out our stories and posts on INSTAGRAM, since we only feature our most curated picks in this newsletter.

Stay creative!

-Sho

CounterCult is a global creative network working across contemporary art, culture, and technology, operating from Berlin and beyond.

And this isn’t just an economic issue, it’s also a cultural one. Small businesses account for nearly half of employment and more than 43% of economic activity just in the U.S., meaning when local shops, studios, venues, and creative spaces disappear, communities lose jobs, identity, and the cultural ecosystems that make cities feel alive.

At the same time, studies show that local spending has a radically bigger impact on communities: for every $100 spent at a locally owned business, roughly $68 stays within the local economy, compared to just $43 when spent at chain stores.

AND WE’VE HAD ENOUGH OF IT. So we launched a new program and thesis- if we work within what exists now, just with alternative business plans and long term micro investment strategies, we’re finding new ways to fund local culture and community economies globally. Our system is simple: spending locally shouldn’t just be a transaction; it should act as an investment back into the people, businesses, and creative communities shaping the culture around us.

The goal is to create a model where every dollar spent locally generates even more value for the community strengthening independent businesses, funding culture, and building resilient local economies from the ground up.

So we’re putting our money where our mouth is- we have our first two pilots that you are invited to:

1. Street Party with Local DJ’s at a Ma&Pa Burger May 23rd

   1. why risk another great local spot going out of business with big chains opening across the street when u can also spend there AND it invests in your local culture?

      rsvp here

2. Culture x Tech Exchange Day Partnership with the Delta one 16th

   1. yes- we are breaking into the tech startup scene more and more. Right now, let’s call a spade a spade- they have a lot more resources than culture does. So we’re starting to build bridges in ways that help us both. Tickets still to come and we’re curating a local artist to feature from this OPEN CALL so keep an eye out on our channels for more. Message us if you want to be updated on when we launch the tickets!

(we know these are both Berlin based but we want to work with anyone, anywhere- so get in touch if this is you or if you have connections)

if this isn't your cup of tea (or even if it is), we inturrupt this broadcast to ask you to subscribe to this newsletter (biweekly) or to share it as it’s the best free way to help us A LOT to keep doing these things.

Subscribe now

FEATURE:

It just feels right to feature our DJ’s who trust us for our first pilot for CounterCult exchange with the burger joint this upcoming Saturday. This lineup came together the way most good things do in Berlin - through friendships, meetups and showing up for each other. Good energy, good music and between the four DJs, no genre is off limits.

So meet Gégé, MADD.MOD, Natasha Roze, & AVHD

OPPORTUNITIES:

🎨PhotoVogue Global Open Call — “Brave New Visions” (Global / Online)

Photography, video, and multimedia open call focused on experimental visual storytelling
Selected artists may receive global exposure through Vogue platforms and editorial features
🟢 OPEN CALL (current cycle active)

APPLY HERE

🏡🧵 THE FLOOR — Art Residency + Coliving (Berlin / Global Network)

Our very own community space and coliving <3 Bookings open for September 2026 intake onward
Hybrid living + working residency for artists, musicians, researchers, and cultural builders
Focus on experimental production and local cultural reinvestment systems
🟢 APPLICATIONS NOW OPEN (2026 intake)

APPLY HERE

🎧 Sound Art Lab Residency (Denmark)

Residency for sound artists, experimental composers, and spatial audio practitioners
Includes studio access, accommodation, and production support depending on project
🟢 OPEN / RECURRING APPLICATION CYCLE (check intake windows)

APPLY HERE

🎨CounterCult × THE DELTA — Featured Artist Open Call (Berlin)

We are inviting one artist to be featured in our curated Creative × Tech Exchange Day
This is not a passive showcase — it is an active exchange format between artists, founders, and technologists

Selected artist will:

• Present or share a live project / concept / research direction

• Participate in structured dialogue with builders + cultural operators

• Be integrated into a full-day ecosystem of creative + technical exchange

🟢 EVENT DATE: June 16, 2026 (Berlin Blockchain Week ecosystem)

APPLY by commenting your idea HERE

Have an opportunity you want to share? Let us know by sending us a message!

Thanks!

• Thank you for your time and continued support. Your engagement means the world to us. Let us know what you think of our newsletter in the comments. :)

  Subscribe now

Well, that’s all for the next two weeks! If you want more opportunities and updates, more often, make sure to check out our stories and posts on INSTAGRAM, since we only feature our most curated picks in this newsletter.

Stay creative!

-Sho

CounterCult is a global creative network working across contemporary art, culture, and technology, operating from Berlin and beyond.

Thanks for reading CounterCult. This post is public, so feel free to share it. This edition is written by .

Before we get started — it would actually mean a lot if you shared this newsletter with your network. We’re meeting a lot of cool people through here (hello you), but we’re still in that stage where word of mouth does most of the work.

Share Business Creatives

Dearest CounterCulters,

Sorry this edition is later but May 1st in Berlin kicked us in the butt (in a greattttt way). If you were in Berlin, you probably felt it. Did you stop by our ol’ classic späti rave in Kreuzberg? If not don’t worry, I wasn’t there either-

I wasn’t there because I can’t actually be everywhere at once anymore (hello burnout). There’s only one of me and way too many things happening at the same time, so I’m starting to step out of being in every room and focus more on building what’s around it instead.

More on that below but first-

Lately we’ve been thinking a lot about this: around 90% of startups fail (CB Insights), the global creative economy generates over $2 trillion annually (UNESCO), and yet most independent artists are still earning below sustainable income levels (reported across studies by groups like Creative Industries Federation).

Why is there so much value created by creatives and culture, but only a small fraction of it actually makes it back to the people making it?

It began with 7 people and now it’s a global network of thousands (thank you!), and somehow still feels like it’s just getting started.

So all of this value is being created… but not really circulating back and how and why are we in the middle of this? See our updates to see our strategy.

Now back to how I wasn’t there at the Späti Rave in person but how it worked: we started collaborating as a media partner (yes, for free) with smaller collectives around the world after looking at what we actually have to offer, attention, network, distribution and how we can use that to support underground and local culture as it grows.

UPDATES:

We’re late with this because honestly, we have a lot in the “pipeline” like:

• Partnering with a VC backed tech startup for a Creative x Tech Exchange Day later this month on May 27th. More to come in our channels soon!

• Salon Night 2.0 at THE FLOOR, but this time with life drawing on top of a curated dinner party with extremely limited seats. RSVP here but seats are filling fast.

• Partnering with the StickerApp again to make sticker packs of our curated collectives worldwide. We’re closing the open call soon, so comment on this post if you want to be considered please :)

• We’re going to NYC in August- hit us up with your collab proposals via email pls at countercultplatform@gmail.com

• In stealth mode rebuilding our free platform (global artist and venue database, and even some residency features, etc.)

• Our new agency arm, CounterCult Studios, had its first client (yay!) If you want to know more about what our studio arm does, check us out on the very serious Linkedin.

  

FEATURE:

This week we’re featuring SoundSisters Morocco. SoundSisters is a collective based in Morocco working across music, sound, and cultural programming. Their focus is on building space for women and femme artists in sound, and creating more access and visibility in a space that’s still pretty closed off.

They reached out through our open call with StickerApp, and we’ve been really excited to start connecting with the range of creatives getting in touch from different parts of the world.

We’re hyped to keep meeting more people like this through our open calls and seeing where it leads.

OPPORTUNITIES:

🎧🧵 Wave Farm Radio Artist Residency (USA / Remote)

• Rolling applications for sound artists, DJs, experimental audio work

• Broadcast your work on a real FM + online station

• Includes studio access + stipend support (project dependent)

SEE MORE HERE

🌏📡 Japan Foundation Grant Programs (Asia / Japan exchange)

• Ongoing funding streams for cultural exchange with Japan

• Supports projects, residencies, research, and collaboration

• Applications open in multiple cycles throughout the year depending on program type

• Strong for artists working between Europe + Asia

https://www.jpf.go.jp/e/program/list.html

🧠🏙 Eyebeam (NYC – rolling fellowships + support ecosystem)

• Tech + culture + critical design funding ecosystem

• Artists apply into rolling fellowships and project-based support tracks

• Strong for internet culture, surveillance, AI critique, systems thinking

https://eyebeam.org/programs/

🧠🔥 Open Source Tech Funding for Art

• We like Mozilla because they’re one of the few big orgs still rooted in open source and public internet values

• Through the Mozilla Foundation, they support a range of funding, fellowships, and creative + tech initiatives

• Worth following if you’re working at the intersection of art, tech, and systems thinking

https://www.instagram.com/mozillafoundation/

🏙 CounterCult / THE FLOOR (Berlin)

• We support selected cultural projects as a media partner (editorial + visibility support)

• We also host and share access to THE FLOOR coliving in Berlin to trusted people in our network to keep a focused, curated energy when it comes to art and business!

• If you’re working on something that connects culture, tech, and real-world practice, you can reach out with a proposal to countercultplatform@gmail.com

FREEBIES:

🧷🎨 CounterCult x StickerApp (Global Sticker Pack)

• We’re partnering with StickerApp to curate a sticker pack featuring collectives around the world this season

• It’s free to apply, and selected projects get their stickers printed and sent back at no cost

• The goal is not to sell anything, but to support small creative scenes, give them physical visibility, and connect them to other communities internationally

comment on this post to be considered

Have an opportunity you want to share?

Let us know by sending us a message!

Thanks!

• Thank you for your time and continued support. Your engagement means the world to us. Let us know what you think of our newsletter in the comments. :)

Well, that’s all for the next two weeks! If you want more opportunities and updates, more often, make sure to check out our stories and posts on INSTAGRAM, since we only feature our most curated picks in this newsletter.

Stay creative!

-Sho

CounterCult is a global creative network working across contemporary art, culture, and technology, operating from Berlin and beyond.

There was something about this city on this specific day that I kept coming back to. The political march in the morning, red flags, chanting, thousands of people moving through Kreuzberg like the city had decided to remember something important. And then, almost seamlessly, everything else. Free parties spilling out of courtyards. Sound systems in parks. No loudness limits. No clear line between the protest and the celebration, between the political act and the pure joy of being together in public space.

You could do the march, or the parties, or both. Most people did both.

That porousness between politics and pleasure, between resistance and release, was what I kept coming back for. A city that understood that taking care of each other could look like dancing just as much as it could look like marching. When I finally moved here seven years ago, May 1st was already a big part of the reason why.

It’s different now. More policed. More sanctioned. COVID tightened things that were already tightening. But we still get to take the streets, and that still matters more than it might seem on an ordinary Tuesday.

INSIGHT: The 8-hour dream was never just for factory workers

May Day came into official existence because in 1886, workers in Chicago decided that giving your entire waking life to someone else’s profit was not the natural order of things. They wanted eight hours for work, eight hours for rest, eight hours for what they will. They organised, they struck, people also died, and slowly the demand became law, for some workers, in some places.

The keyword is some.

Because the logic of the labour movement was built around a specific kind of worker. One with a contract. One whose labour was legible to the systems designed to protect it. Creative workers, by and large, don’t have that. Freelancers, independent artists, cultural producers: the labour is real, but it’s invisible. Or romanticised: you do it because you love it. But we all know love isn’t always enough.

And here’s the thing: even the eight-hour day itself is increasingly being questioned. The four-day work week movement is gaining real ground, with trials across the UK, Germany, Japan and beyond consistently showing that people produce the same output, often better, in fewer hours. The logic is simple and the data backs it up: more rest, more focus, better work. If the industrial era needed a fight to cap the working day at eight hours, maybe the knowledge and creative economy needs its own version of that fight, one that asks whether the nine-to-five was ever really designed for how creative work actually happens.

But here’s what the original movement understood, that the creative industries still haven’t absorbed: visibility alone doesn’t create change. Organisation does. The eight-hour workday happened because people built structures, unions, coalitions, collective bodies with real weight. The community wasn’t just moral support. It was the mechanism.

The gig economy repackaged all of this with better branding. Suddenly precarious work became "freelance freedom." Unpaid exposure became "building your portfolio." Exploitation became "being your own boss." The aesthetics changed. The power dynamics didn't.

Independent creatives are running the same fight. The demands aren’t so different, fair pay, credit for your work, the right to rest, some say in your own conditions. What’s missing is the infrastructure to make those demands collectively. That doesn’t have to look like a union. But it has to be structural. Not just cultural.

UPDATES:

🌍🌙 CounterCult is two things at once.

We recently broke down what that actually means: the Network (Earth) is our free, open-source database and media platform for underground and local culture. The Studios (Moon) is our creative and strategic arm for brands and startups who want real cultural relevance.

If you’ve been wondering what we’re building, this is the clearest we’ve put it yet. Check the full carousel on our Instagram.

🎨 Berlin creatives, this one’s for you.

Sketchy Shona is hosting a quiet, self-directed work session at THE FLOOR, Berlin’s artist-run coliving and project space. No workshop, no networking, no agenda. Just a small group of independent creatives (4-7 people) working side by side in a focused studio environment. Exactly the kind of thing we love to see more of.

Spots are limited and entry is confirmed via registration. Register here.

🏠 THE FLOOR is now open for artist residencies.

Our Berlin base in Neukölln is officially welcoming resident artists for 1 to 3 month stays. A private bedroom, shared creative spaces, garden access, and mentorship sessions with Shona, all in the heart of one of Berlin’s most active creative neighbourhoods. Spots are limited and a video interview is required.

From €750/month. Find out more and apply here.

FEATURE:

There is no way I am writing a newsletter about labour, community, and what it means to show up for each other without mentioning one of my favourite people doing it right in Berlin: DJ Rocco.

Yes, I am biased. He is part of Klub Ostkreuz, and so am I. But that is exactly why I have seen it up close. I have sat next to him on door shifts and watched person after person come up to say something about his set, and every single one of them said something different. A different moment, a different feeling, a different memory from the same night. That is rare. That is the thing you cannot manufacture.

He also plays live, which is rarer than people realise and more work than people see. We know this because we have lugged his suitcases full of equipment across Berlin more times than we would like to admit. We would do it again without thinking.

Rocco is from Chioggia, the original Venice, a fishing town that has been quietly gorgeous long before the tourists found the canals. A gem of a place, honestly worth adding to your Italy list. He carries something of that unhurried quality into everything he does, whether that is behind the decks, behind a stove (the man can cook), or behind a microphone as a radio host.

He is also a resident at Kallisto Festival, which is reason enough to put that on your summer calendar too.

For your next party open up his soundcloud.

Berlin has a lot of DJs. It doesn't have a lot of Rocco’s.

OPPORTUNITIES:

👗💻 Design Academy SIZE — VORN x Zalando, Berlin

• Deadline: May 20, 2026

• Open to: Freelance fashion designers and designers from emerging or established brands based in Europe (post-graduate, CLO experience a plus but not required)

• Programme: 8-week online learning programme (June 2 – July 23) with live sessions via Zoom, 6 hours/week. Top 10 selected designers move to a paid Design Sprint (Oct–Nov, partly in Berlin), culminating in a showcase at Berlin Fashion Week 2027

• Funding: 💰 Fully free programme + €2,000 scholarship for Design Sprint awardees, plus production, materials, and travel budgets

• Apply

🎨🏙️ Color Wave Walls Mural Festival — Open Call, Lakeland FL

• Deadline: May 1, 2026 @ 11:59PM EDT

• Open to: International muralists (all)

• Funding: 💰 Accommodation + equipment + materials covered

• Apply

🤖💼 Free Business & AI Skills Bootcamp for Creative Freelancers

• Deadline: Rolling (cohorts starting May 12 + May 14, 2026)

• Open to: Self-employed creatives and small business owners based in England

• Funding: 💰 Fully government-funded, no cost

• Apply

📷✨ 4-Day Photography Summer School — North Greenwich Studio

• Deadline: Check link for details

• Open to: Beginner and intermediate photographers

• Funding: Paid programme (studio equipment provided)

• Apply

🏝️🐑 Røst AiR Internship — Skomvær Island, Norway (Summer 2026)

• Deadline: May 2026

• Open to: Emerging artists and cultural workers (priority to applicants based in Nordland)

• Funding: 💰 Travel + accommodation covered in exchange for 4-5 hours/day of communal work

• Apply: foreningarostair@gmail.com

🖼️🏛️ Project Assistant Exhibition Management — KBB Berlin

• Deadline: April 21, 2026

• Start date: June 1, 2026

• Open to: Based in Berlin (check link for full requirements)

• Funding: Paid position

• Apply

  Have an opportunity you want to share?

  Let us know by sending us a message!

  ---

  Thanks!

  • Thank you for your time and continued support. Your engagement means the world to us. Let us know what you think of our newsletter in the comments. :)

  Well, that’s all for the next two weeks! If you want more opportunities and updates, more often, make sure to check out our stories and posts on INSTAGRAM, since we only feature our most curated picks in this newsletter.

  Stay creative!

  -Danaja

Your batch of curated creative opportunities, community dispatches, and one person’s thoughts on what it means to actually gather.

CounterCult Apr 6, 2026

Growing up, the radio was never really about just the music.

It played in the kitchen and in the car, sometimes background, sometimes the main event. You couldn’t skip the commercials. You couldn’t skip the song you would already heard four times that day. You just sat with it, or you turned it off. There was something quietly communal in that lack of control, everyone tuned to the same station was having the same experience, at the same time, whether they liked it or not.

Today you can go back, pause, save, share. The friction is gone. And so, to some extent, is the togetherness.

That’s the thing about radio that streaming never quite replaced: it’s inherently communal. You don’t choose it the way you choose a Spotify queue. You receive it. And somehow that act of receiving, together, in the same moment, creates a kind of shared experience that’s increasingly rare.

Last week, CounterCult got to curate our own show for KOX Radio, broadcasting live from the Torhaus at Tempelhof Airport an old guardhouse of the now-decommissioned airfield, with a history worth a whole newsletter of its own (next time). We brought two incredible artists to the mic: Miss T Delight & Mehmood. With each we got a chance to get to know them better through a short interview and a 1 hour set that really brought the heat up.

A huge thank you to Miss T Delight & Mehmood, THF Radio for the space, Klub Ostkreuz for handing us over the mics , and to Soyboy Photography for capturing it all so beautifully. The rebroadcast airs April 11th on ALEX FM, FM 91.0 MHz, from 10pm to 1am — and on the online stream at alex-berlin.de.

Let us know which other independent radios we should look into!

INSIGHT: What community ownership actually means for creative businesses

Community radio is one of the oldest working models of community ownership in the creative sector and most creative businesses still haven’t absorbed what it’s actually teaching.

The model is straightforward: the people who broadcast are the people who belong to the community being served. Programming decisions aren’t made by shareholders or advertisers. The value produced stays close to the source. And because of that, the audience isn’t just an audience they are stakeholders. They tune in because something is being made specifically for them, not at them.

This is what most creative businesses get wrong when they talk about “community building.” They treat community as a marketing channel, something to grow, convert, and monetize. Community radio treats it as the actual structure of the organisation. The community isn’t the audience. The community is the thing.

For creative businesses, the practical question is: how much of your decision-making actually involves the people you serve? Not in a survey-feedback kind of way. In a structural way. Who has a say in what gets made, what gets platformed, what direction things move in?

The ones who get this right tend to build something that outlasts trends, algorithms, and funding cycles. Because the people inside it have a reason to keep showing up that goes beyond the content itself.

UPDATES:

The first salon dinner at THE FLOOR happened and it went great.

Sho’s curated dinner series for creatives, builders, and thinkers kicked off with an evening at THE FLOOR. The topic was: PR, content creation, copywriting, journalism, and everything in between. Stay tuned for a recap, the next edition and how to get a seat at the table.

We ARE also looking for creatives working behind desk jobs. If you want share your story, we want to hear from you. Get in touch.

FEATURE: “EXP004- THE OUTLANDSIH FESTIVAL RESIDENCY”

EXPERIMENT Residency and Outlandish festival have opened applications for their fourth edition: a week-long, hands-on residency in Hanoi and Gam Troi Arts Valley. Residents spend the first few days grounding and meeting in Hanoi, then travel together to the festival site to help physically build and shape the Outlandish environment.

Outlandish itself is a boutique music and arts festival outside Hanoi that brings together emerging Vietnamese and regional creative talent alongside international artists. EXPERIMENT has previously run residencies in Berlin and Da Nang, this is their fourth edition and their most intensive yet.

They are looking for visual artists, designers, architects, builders, and performers who are hands-on, collaborative, and comfortable getting scrappy. This is not a funded program, so factor in your own travel and living costs.

Applications close April 10th.

Apply here

OPPORTUNITIES

🌿💰 Anonymous Was a Woman Environmental Art Grants

• Deadline: April 7th

• Open to: women-identifying artists (US-based) working at intersection of art + environment

• Funding: 💰 Grants of $10,000 each

Apply

📻⚡ Alte Münze Berlin — Radio / Livestream Open Call

• Deadline: April 15, 2026

• Open to: radio projects, DJ collectives, experimental broadcasters rooted in Berlin club culture

• Funding: 💰 Space + visibility + equipment access (self-sustaining model required)

• Send everything to: community@alte-muenze-berlin.de — subject line “Radio”

🏔️🎭 Nomadic School 2026: Alternative Mentorship, Italian Alps

• Deadline: May 2, 2026

• Open to: artists, architects, performers, researchers, designers

• Funding: 💰 Full board + accommodation covered (12 days at 2,450m altitude — no Wi-Fi, shared dorms, 3.5h hike to site)

  Apply

🌋🎨 Tagli Artist Residency 2026 — Independent Art Commune, Stromboli

• Deadline: April 30, 2026

• Open to: visual artists, performers, musicians, poets, video and photography artists (individuals and collectives)

• Funding: 💰 Accommodation + meals included · travel and materials not covered · shared rooms · remote island conditions (plan ahead)

Apply

Have an opportunity you want to share?

Let us know by sending us a message!

Thanks!

• Thank you for your time and continued support. Your engagement means the world to us. Let us know what you think of our newsletter in the comments. :)

Well, that’s all for the next two weeks! If you want more opportunities and updates, more often, make sure to check out our stories and posts on INSTAGRAM, since we only feature our most curated picks in this newsletter.

Stay creative!

-Danaja

#CreativeCommunity #ArtistsOnSubstack #IndependentArtists #CommunityRadio #ArtLife #ArtistOpportunities #CreativeFunding #ResidencyOpenCall #FundedResidencies #InternationalArtists #GlobalResidency #BerlinArtScene #Vietnam #ArtAndTech #HackTheSystem #CreativeCollaboration #CreativesWanted #SubstackNewsletter #CreativeNews #ArtistUpdates #CommunityNewsletter #ArtNewsletter

These part few months I’ve made nothing.

Starting projects, taking risks, and living the creative life looks like the dream from the outsides- and don’t get me wrong- it totally is. But sometimes reality hits and the electric bills, health insurance, and taxes starts adding up. So now the fire is really under my ass.

But I’m a big believer in strategy. The first NYC rich kid I met told me it’s about working smarter, not harder. Though I learned you really need both.

So instead of moping around, I’ve decided to host curated salon night dinner parties for creatives, builders, and thinkers at my home and art residency, THE FLOOR. The first one is next week. There’s only 8-10 people able to come because it is my house after all, so expect real networking and conversations.

The first one is about media (PR, content creation, copywriting, journalism) and where it meets art and creativity. If that sounds like you, there’s a few seats left to rsvp, just let me know why you want a seat and if you have any dietary restrictions.

RSVP to Our Dinner

And listen- if you like this newsletter- please subscribe, it’s the free thing you can do to really help us out. But it won’t just be me yappin on here- if you’re a writer and want to do a takeover of this newsletter, get in touch :) we want to share different perspectives from our network.

Subscribe now

UPDATES

Whoever said artists are broke, clearly didn’t see how much our industries are making off of us.

💸 The global creator economy is worth $250B+, but middlemen capture most of the revenue — only ~4% of creators earn $100k+, while the top 10% take 62% of all income.

The creative industries aren’t underfunded — they’re massively profitable. The problem is that artists rarely participate proportionally in the value they produce. Platforms, brands, and institutions capture the upside, while most creators remain structurally underpaid.

Ah and we also started a services arm of CounterCult- CounterCult Studios. In short we connect brands and people to local creative leaders and communities and work on sustainable, local economic strategies to make sure funds get to the right places.

You can see what we mean- like this case study of our work with Zalando in Berlin.

FEATURE: “Da Swamp”

Artist Niamh and myself, are part of an art festival in Berlin this July. We have an exhibition at THE FLOOR and are looking for an art resident to join our exhibition. We left a slot open at the coliving residency free to see if there’s any good matches for our theme “DA SWAMP” (basically Berlin is built on swamplands, and the local creatures- rats, frogs, crows, bugs, Berliners in general- are the creatures of the swamp. Expect a whole immersive takeover)

If this sounds like you- apply to our OPEN CALL and say that you want the June-July 2 month slot to join us for this art festival.

open call (join us)

OPPORTUNITIES

🏛️⚡ Skopje 2028 (European Capital of Culture Call)

• Deadline: March 29, 2026

• Open to: artists, collectives, curators (international)

• Funding: 💰 Project-based funding available (varies per proposal)

Apply

🎬🔥 Anibar / ICSS Co-Production (Balkans)

• Deadline: March 31, 2026

• Open to: filmmakers, animators, media artists

• Funding: 💰 Production funding + development support (co-production model)

Apply

🌐💡 AFAC Creative Caravans / Festivals

• Deadline: March 31, 2026

• Open to: artists + cultural producers (focus on MENA-linked projects)

• Funding: 💰 Grants (often €5k–€20k+ depending on project scale)

Apply

📸📘 Der Greif Open Call (Photography / Visual)

• Deadline: Currently open cycles

• Open to: photographers + visual artists globally

• Funding: 💰 Grants + publication (total prizes ~€4,000 across winners)

Apply

Have an opportunity you want to share?

Let us know by sending us a message!

Thanks!

• Thank you for your time and continued support. Your engagement means the world to us. Let us know what you think of our newsletter in the comments. :)

Well, that’s all for the next two weeks! If you want more opportunities and updates, more often, make sure to check out our stories and posts on INSTAGRAM, since we only feature our most curated picks in this newsletter.

Stay creative!

-Sho

#CreativeCommunity #ArtistsOnSubstack #IndependentArtists #Southafrica #ArtLife #ArtistOpportunities #CreativeFunding #ResidencyOpenCall #FundedResidencies #InternationalArtists #GlobalResidency #BerlinArtScene #ParisResidency #ArtAndTech #HackTheSystem #CreativeCollaboration #DevelopersWanted #SubstackNewsletter #CreativeNews #ArtistUpdates #CommunityNewsletter #ArtNewsletter #womensday #women

Did you know CounterCult is entirely run by women? Queer FLINTA to be specific. Sometimes we feel like we are behind on the business end but it’s taken us a bit more to get the resources of knowledge and figuring out how money flows to get where we are today.

(Did you know according to World Economic Forum, startups founded solely by women in Europe raised only about 1.8 % of total venture capital funding in 2023 — despite women founding roughly half of all businesses in the population, while research from the Boston Consulting Group and MassChallenge finds that female‑founded startups generate more revenue per dollar of investment — roughly 78 cents per dollar, compared with about 31 cents for male‑founded startups.)

Thoughts on Men <3

We saw that a lot of men don’t know what to do on Women’s Day. TBH we got a few “happy women’s day, sorry I forgot flowers!” well intentioned comments but here’s what we really want:

We love being in business and proud to be who we are BUT we realize we actually want and need to work with more men (as more than 98% of VC funding sit with men)- so if this is you, here’s your chance!

We want to collaborate- bring more success to each other’s businesses- we know that building bridges through allyship is essential. So we want to reach out and build a bridge with men who want equitable, supportive collaboration — helping amplify voices, resources, and impact across communities.

If that’s you, here’s your chance to work side by side with our team to grow cultural creative projects, open source technology, build funds, share knowledge, and create meaningful change together.

Thoughts on Now

On that note- after our deep research and testing over the past 2 years of how to get a more sustainable and bottom up creative economy- we’re testing in bringing brands into our events that fit with the culture, with respect, and direct cultural investment. As much as we love artists, artists can’t keep selling to artists. We need to bring in the private companies with the resources, and they want access to what we have too. So if you’re a brand that wants an in and a direct investment in culture and community, pitch why you’d be a good fit to work with our communities!

Again, on this women’s day, we truly mean business.

For example, we started posting some of our past events- like this dinner party we held in a hard to access Berlin club, hiring local artists, curated #authentic (lol) vibes, all for a music conference. In the end its was truly a win win. See more about it here (yes we have a linkedin)

stay in the loop with us

UPDATES

Come live and create with us! Open Call Artist Coliving

The long awaited OPEN CALL for new residents for 2026 at THE FLOOR, our artist run coliving and project space in Berlin. We saw a need for more third spaces for culture, and realized it needs to come from us, the creatives, with whatever resources we have. So check it out down in our opportunities section in this newsletter if you want to stay irl with us!

open call

FEATURE: Trackside Studios

“More beats. More paint. More love.”

I (Sho) am still in South Africa but returning soon to Berlin. I met another great collective once again in Soweto (I really recommend you creative and business types to visit if you ever have the chance).

Trackside Creative Studios on the - shocker - trackside in Soweto provides local artists with space for music, art, workshops, and community events. They are the people to connect with if you’re looking to paint, make some music, collab etc.

trackside studios

OPPORTUNITIES

🇮🇪🖼️ International Curator Residency in Cork, Ireland

The National Sculpture Factory and The Guesthouse invite one curator to their inaugural residency (3–29 Aug 2026).

• 🏡 Accommodation included at The Guesthouse

• 💻 Workspace & access to NSF tools, equipment, expertise

• 💰 Funding: €250/week stipend + up to €300 travel + up to €100/week subsistence

• 👩‍🎨 Open to: emerging curators with exhibition/event experience, self‑directed practice & interest in Cork/Munster; partners welcome

• 📄 Application fee: No fee required (applications are free)

👉 Apply/More info: nationalsculpturefactory.com

🎨 🏡 Open Call THE FLOOR Artist Coliving

• Become a resident artist/creative contributing to artist run THE FLOOR’s Berlin community and projects for 1-3 months in 2026

• Open to emerging creatives interested in collaboration, exchange, and building work in an experimental space

• Applications require your info & why you want to join (project/vision)

👉 Apply here

🌈✍️ Quouch is Looking for Content Creators

Become a content creator for Quouch, the queer travel & community platform based in Berlin.

• 📸 Share stories, visuals, and queer travel experiences

• 🤝 Collaborate with a global creative community

• 📝 Applications: your info + why you want to contribute

👉 Apply/Connect: quouch-app.com

🇺🇸💡 Call for Light-Based Public Art – Scottsdale, AZ

@scottsdalearts invites artists, teams, architects, designers, and multimedia creators to submit proposals for Canal Convergence 2026.

• 🌃 Focus: Outdoor, light-based installations (nighttime activation required)

• 📅 Dates: Nov 6–15, 2026

• 📍 Location: Scottsdale Waterfront, AZ

👉 Apply/More info: https://scottsdalearts.org/explore-scottsdale-arts/canal-convergence/call-for-art-2026/

🇩🇪🎨 Free Artist Studio in Berlin – Women & FLINTA

3CA is offering a 3-month residency for one artist in their Berlin studio within RWK Studios.

• 🏡 Studio: 15 sqm within a shared studio, basic setup provided (table, chair, easel, storage)

• 🤝 Community: Join 3CA’s international artists, use photo services, participate in Open Houses & events

• 💰 Cost: Free, including studio access and infrastructure

📅 Move-in: April 1, 2026
📝 Applications: Open for 3 weeks → Apply via form in bio

🇩🇪👗 CEO Wanted – Fashion Company in Berlin

@von_innen_ is looking for a new CEO to lead their fashion company.

• 💼 Role: CEO

• ⏰ Type: Full-time

• 📍 Location: Berlin

👉 Apply/More info: von-innen.com

Have an opportunity you want to share?

Let us know by sending us a message!

FREEBIES

our friends over at Ohr- a music discovery platform tailored for DJ’s. I met the founder, Noam, last year at the Most Wanted Music Conference in Berlin. They are launching next month and have free tickets to the beautiful Orangerie. RSVP HERE

Thanks!

• Thank you for your time and continued support. Your engagement means the world to us. Let us know what you think of our newsletter in the comments. :)

Well, that’s all for the next two weeks! If you want more opportunities and updates, more often, make sure to check out our stories and posts on INSTAGRAM, since we only feature our most curated picks in this newsletter.

Stay creative!

-Sho

#CreativeCommunity #ArtistsOnSubstack #IndependentArtists #Southafrica #ArtLife #ArtistOpportunities #CreativeFunding #ResidencyOpenCall #FundedResidencies #InternationalArtists #GlobalResidency #BerlinArtScene #ParisResidency #ArtAndTech #HackTheSystem #CreativeCollaboration #DevelopersWanted #SubstackNewsletter #CreativeNews #ArtistUpdates #CommunityNewsletter #ArtNewsletter #womensday #women

UPDATES

OPEN CALL Berlin Art Residency

The long awaited OPEN CALL for new residents for 2026 at THE FLOOR, our artist run coliving and project space in Berlin. We saw a need for more third spaces for culture, and realized it needs to come from us, the creatives, with whatever resources we have. So check it out down in our opportunities section in this newsletter if you want to stay irl with us!

Tech bros and creatives- friends or foes?

Our next step is testing this. We feel there’s a lot of synergy between the tech scene and creatives- in a way it’s like bringing both sides of the brain together. Today in Neukölln, the tech scene is starting to move in quick, so we’re thinking how we can work together for each other’s best interests and needs. So we’re partnering with a new big name in Berlin to start coworking, skills matchmaking, panels, and more soon! If you’re at all interested in joining, drop a comment so we can see!

Residents in Vietnam

Kora and some of our past residents are running a new cohort of residents and project back in Da Nang, Vietnam. See what they are up to HERE.

Stay Updated on our Next Moves

FEATURE

Sawubona Music Jam in Soweto (the reason for my hangover haha) is such a gem. I met a local chef who invited me to go after I said I was looking for the spot where the artists chill at, and I ended up at this guy, Lucky, home.

Started by Lucky Thobela (we will be posting his video short interview in the coming weeks) who saw the need for a space for artists to come together over 14 years ago, started hosting jam sessions from his home. Now it’s grown to a weekly event where all types of artists congregate. He’s writing a book on his life experience and theory on how music can heal, coming out next year!

OPPORTUNITIES

🇩🇪🎭 Become a resident in Berlin at THE FLOOR

• Become a resident artist/creative contributing to artist run THE FLOOR’s Berlin community and projects for 1-3 months in 2026

• Open to emerging creatives interested in collaboration, exchange, and building work in an experimental space

• Applications require your info & why you want to join (project/vision)

👉 Apply here

🏛️🇫🇷 Open Call for Exhibition – Paris

• Exhibit your work in the Galerie du 59 Rivoli, a 90 m² collective art space in central Paris — proposals generally favour at least 3 artists per show.

• Submit a single PDF with exhibition concept, CV, and portfolio via the open‑call form.

• Exhibiting artists help with installation, reception, and gallery duties during the show.

👉 Apply here

🗽🏙️NYC Paid Summer Internship – All My Friends Are Artists

• 2 paid intern roles supporting community art events

• Must be NYC-based & 24 or younger

• Focus on event production, arts admin, and creative community building

👉 Apply here

🧵🔨 Open Call – Freelance Craftspeople Wanted

• Seeking freelance craftspeople/all‑around makers who enjoy building, fixing, and hands‑on creative work as part of Culterim’s projects (Berlin‑based independent arts organisation).

• Ideal if you’re comfortable with hands‑on tasks including construction, repairs, and helping support the space and events.

• Opportunity involves working with an experimental creative community and contributing practical skills.

👉 Apply/express interest here: mailto:jobs@culterim.de (send your info & why you’re a fit)

🎵🗂️ Junior Production & Accreditation Manager – Whole Festival 2026

• Support production + accreditation for the 2026 Whole Festival

• Great for someone highly organized & detail‑oriented

• Fixed role during the festival season with hands‑on event responsibility

👉 Apply here (deadline: 18:00 CET, 09.03.2026)

Have an opportunity you want to share?

Let us know by sending us a message!

FREEBIES

our friends over at Ohr- a music discovery platform tailored for DJ’s. I met the founder, Noam, last year at the Most Wanted Music Conference in Berlin. They are launching next month and have free tickets to the beautiful Orangerie. RSVP HERE

Thanks!

• Thank you for your time and continued support. Your engagement means the world to us. Let us know what you think of our newsletter in the comments. :)

Well, that’s all for the next two weeks! If you want more opportunities and updates, more often, make sure to check out our stories and posts on INSTAGRAM, since we only feature our most curated picks in this newsletter.

Stay creative!

-Sho

#CreativeCommunity #ArtistsOnSubstack #IndependentArtists #Southafrica #ArtLife #ArtistOpportunities #CreativeFunding #ResidencyOpenCall #FundedResidencies #InternationalArtists #GlobalResidency #BerlinArtScene #ParisResidency #ArtAndTech #HackTheSystem #CreativeCollaboration #DevelopersWanted #SubstackNewsletter #CreativeNews #ArtistUpdates #CommunityNewsletter #ArtNewsletter

become a business minded creative

I’m a third culture kid—meaning I’ve moved so much that I no longer know where I’m from. For a long time, that gave me an identity crisis. I “belong” in many rooms, but never fully enough to blend in. There’s always a trace of somewhere else in the way I show up.

As the years pass, I’ve realized that most people I know are also third culture kids—either because of their childhood circumstances, or because the digital age lets us connect deeply with cultures far beyond where we’re physically based.

Some of our team is in South Africa right now. We expected to meet many new faces with no connection to our existing circles. Instead, we were reminded that when it comes to culture—especially subcultures—it’s a small world. The people pushing culture forward rarely stay in one place. Travel is built into creative life, and often into how creatives get paid.

That said, the physical nest still matters. Creatives reflect the culture around them, and that only happens by being part of real communities. (That’s why I started THE FLOOR in Berlin—a space to turn digital connections into something tangible, where culture is lived, not just discussed.)

When I talk to older generations, culture seems rooted in physical spaces. For younger generations, there’s been a shift. We experience culture digitally first. Now, we’re seeing the need for both to converge.

We meet online. Then we create IRL.

In creative business, forget big-name chasing or gallery prestige. The most powerful thing for me—behind nearly 80% of my biggest breaks—has been meeting artists I first connected with online, in person. We feel each other out (usually successfully), and those meetings often turn into larger collaborations, real opportunities, and paid work.

UPDATES

Creative Field Notes: Mapping Culture Everywhere

We started a new cultural research/video investigate project “Creative Field Notes” where we are finding local creatives and asking them to share some of their life, gossips, and asks. We are posting them on our channels. We are in South Africa (feel free to connect us with local artists here we should feature) right now, but we are moving to other countries soon!

🛠️ Volunteer Developer Wanted: Artists Need You!

CounterCult is run by artists, we have an open source map of culture- a free directory without a paywall or connected to google (we need more automony when it comes to our data). However, we have reached out technical skill limits and need the help of a volunteer developer. Please get in touch and take a look at what we have so far here.

🎨 Artists & Spaces, Join the Map!

You’re all asking how we find/document the artists and cultures we are finding. It’s through this map we made! You can also submit yourself, cultural spaces, and cultural artifacts. Let us know what you think. It’s free bc it’s built by artists for artists.

CREATIVE FEATURE

Lulu is our next art resident at our new artist run coliving and project space in Berlin, THE FLOOR. She is a very talented street and tattoo artist- who is also looking to connect with the scene! Hit her up if you want to connect :)

Lulu was also one of our first residents at our Da Nang cohort with resident and is good people!

(If you want to be resident at the coliving, see more here)

more about our coliving

OPPORTUNITIES

1. 🎨🇪🇪 Stencibility Street Art Festival Open Call (Estonia)

• 📍 What it is: International open call for street art projects at Stencibility Festival in Tartu, Estonia (June 11–14, 2026). (stencibility.eu)

• 🎯 Who can apply: Street artists, muralists, and creative makers from around the world.

• ✨ Perks: Artist fees, travel support, accommodation, and materials (varies by track).

• 📅 Deadline: March 1, 2026 — submit to join the festival.

👉 Apply here: Stencibility Open Call

2. 🪩🎤 WHOLE Festival 2026 Open Call: Workshops & Creative Submissions

• 📍 What’s open: Submit workshop proposals or design market stall applications for WHOLE 2026 (July 17–20, Ferropolis, Germany).

• 🧠 Who can apply: Creatives, facilitators, and artists with ideas for participatory culture, learning, and expression at the festival.

• 📆 Deadline: Submissions are accepted through Feb 28, 2026 (responses by March 31).

👉 Apply here: Apply to WHOLE Festival Workshops & Design Market Open Call (linktr.ee/whole.festival)

3. 🏠🎨 THE FLOOR Open Call: Become Our Next Resident

• 📍 What it is: Short-term residency in Neukölln, Berlin for 1–2 artists (1–3 months) with private bedrooms, access to THE FLOOR project space, and garden. (Apply Here)

• 🎯 Who we’re looking for: Experimental, collaborative artists from any discipline who want to create, host events, and contribute to the local creative community.

• 💌 How to get updates & apply: Subscribers are notified first via email about available spots and booking dates.

  Sign up to stay in the loop.

4. 🇯🇵✨ Japan Fully Funded Residency — ARCUS 2026

• 📍 What it is: Artist residency in Moriya City, Japan with studio, housing, and work support.

• 💸 Covered: Stipend, accommodation, studio, and round‑trip airfare.

• 📅 Deadline: March 19, 2026 — Apply for Sept–Dec 2026.

👉 Apply here: ARCUS Project 2026

5. 🪐🏙️ ABOUTKOKOMO: Senior Spatial Designer

• 📍 Who they are: Creative studio in Berlin, building immersive brand and spatial experiences.

• 🎨 Who they want: Senior designers to shape environments, experiences, and installations.

• 📩 Apply: Send portfolio + resume to work@aboutkokomo.com. (More info)

6. 🌈🏛️ Berlin Queeres Leben: Project Funding Open Call

• 📍 What it is: Funding program by SenASGIVA for queer associations, initiatives, and volunteers to run projects and events in Berlin’s districts.

• 🎯 Who can apply: Queer organizations, initiatives, and community groups supporting LGBTIQ* life.

• 💸 What’s available: €250,000 total:

  • €50,000 for Magnus-Hirschfeld-Tag projects (May 1–31, 2026)

  • €200,000 for district-wide queer life projects (March 1–Dec 31, 2026)

• 📅 Deadline: Feb 15, 2026

💌 Bonus: If you want CounterCult to join your application, email us your proposal and let us know!

👉 Apply / More info: SenASGIVA Queeres Leben

FREEBIES

• Our friends at Quouch who started couch surfing for women, queer people, and others at risk when they travel made a hangout feature so you can find your sub communities around you when you travel, I’ll be checking it out in Cape Town for sure.

  • Check it our here

• if you have a freebie you want to offer to our creative community, get in touch!

Thanks!

• Thank you for your time and continued support. Your engagement means the world to us. Let us know what you think of our newsletter in the comments. :)

Well, that’s all for the next two weeks! If you want more opportunities and updates, more often, make sure to check out our stories and posts on INSTAGRAM, since we only feature our most curated picks in this newsletter.

Stay creative!

-Sho

#CreativeCommunity #ArtistsOnSubstack #IndependentArtists #Southafrica #ArtLife #ArtistOpportunities #CreativeFunding #ResidencyOpenCall #FundedResidencies #InternationalArtists #GlobalResidency #BerlinArtScene #ParisResidency #ArtAndTech #HackTheSystem #CreativeCollaboration #DevelopersWanted #SubstackNewsletter #CreativeNews #ArtistUpdates #CommunityNewsletter #ArtNewsletter

1. Subscribe to CounterCult Business Creatives

2. Subscribe to Sho’s artist newsletter about the realities of creative careers and updates on THE FLOOR

3. or just learn more about what we do in general through our main site

This edition was written as a collab post by Sho, one of our founders.

I’m Somewhere Above the Sahara Right Now

Literally.
As I write this. I’m floating above the Sahara Desert. Maybe not floating actually- there’s a lot of turbulence and I actually have a huge fear of heights and flying yet here I am on my 109304839 flight of my life.

48 Hours Ago: Neukölln, Berlin

48 hours ago I was in one of the epicenters of creativity in the world-Neukölln, Berlin, where I launched a physical space expansion of what I’ve been building over the years with my art career, and Residency. I had no idea what to expect, but the launch of this new project, which I call THE FLOOR (mostly because it is in fact, located on the floor level), was beyond a success with our first resident and probably 100 people walking through my doors in a matter of hours to see my curation of local Berlin artists. It was fun curating- it was my first time!

This Felt Bigger Than a Launch

It really showed me the need for third spaces- spaces outside of the corporate and brand sponsored spaces. As far as I know, a lot of us are broke, it’s a recession- and ai has displaced a lot of jobs. This also means that the luxury bubble that most brands are catered to will pop soon. Which also means- the underground will come back. THE FLOOR is what I see as the artists taking their stake again. I have no idea what will happen, but win or lose I will put what happens in these little newsletters that I’m not sure anyone reads.

Back to the Plane ✈️

So back to the Sahara Desert- I’m on my way to South Africa- don’t ask why I just sniff out and follow the artists and the business partly to be strategic, but mostly for adventure. I booked the cheapest ticket there so my travel is almost 30 hours, here I am about 10 hours in. But! I flew a French airline on the literal cheapest seat of this plane in front of the toilets in the last row and yet I’m drinking fine French wine and champannge (don’t even know how to spell that)- wow- that’s mostly falling out of my cup because the turbulence that I’m trying to ignore (the booze is helping).

What I’m Doing in South Africa

So South Africa- I’m there with and myself as an artist for about a month and a half and I’m not exaggerating when I say I’m foaming at the mouth ready to make things happen with artists. We posted a feeler out there a few weeks ago and had some bites but NOW is the time to really connect me- and I’m not being humble about it because I mean business. Hell, I’m flying across the world for it

.

UPDATES

• residency .003 is starting soon mid February back in Da Nang, Vietnam, with my cofounder Kora, one of our past residents MJ, and local who will act as stewards for our new cohort- congrats to our new artists coming to Da Nang- I can’t wait to see what happens!

• We have also accepted our first residents in our art coliving in Berlin at THE FLOOR and will be posting updates on our instagram @thefloorberlin. We have an ongoing open call and artists from all over can apply for a stay from 1-3 months.

• We are soft launching @countercultstudios, more to come soon as we are preparing to accept new clients

  ---

CREATIVE FEATURE

As I’m combining my and newsletters (get it bc im SketchyShona), I’m going to skip the creative feature bit (because I also want a slightly dramatic pause since I want to fill the feature with South African artists that I will soon hopefully meet), and omg the flight attendants are even bucklin in- so let me just get to the opportunity bit of this newsletter.

👁️ 👁️

OPPORTUNITIES

🇿🇦CounterCult OPEN CALL for Cape Town Collabs

• We are in Cape Town and are scouting local businesses that want to host a networking and small exhibition for First Thursdays in Cape Town

• Expect our usual artist connections in irl vibe! Free to apply and al :) Can’t wait to meet all the new artists in South Africa and to see what will come out of this time.

  🔗Contact us

🎖️ Leica LOBA Women Grant

• Context: New international grant under the Leica Oskar Barnack Award dedicated to supporting female photographers with project funding and professional support.

• Funding: €10,000 + a Leica Q camera and professional development support.

• Who Can Apply: Female professional photographers aged 21+ from anywhere.
  📅 Deadline: March 15, 2026
  🔗 Apply

🌲 National Park in Mountains Artist-in-Residence (Michigan, USA)

• What it is: Nature-immersive residency program in the Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park for diverse disciplines.

• Funding/Context: Cabin accommodations + creative time in a stunning wilderness setting; public engagement components required.

• Who can apply: All art forms welcomed if aligned with park’s mission.
  📅 Deadline: February 14, 2026
  🔗 Apply

🌀 Culture Moves Europe — Residency Host Call

• Context: Part of Creative Europe, this call funds organizations (and indirectly creative practitioners) to host and support artist residencies across Europe.

• Funding: Total budget ~€6.9M; up to €2.5M per project supporting residencies & mobility.

• Who Can Apply: NGOs, cultural orgs, foundations, universities, media bodies from Creative Europe countries.
  📅 Deadline: March 16, 2026
  🔗 Apply

🖌️ Olive Oil Artist Awards??

• Context: Open international art award celebrating creative works across visual mediums (illustration, painting, collage, etc.).

• Funding: €1,000 + prize perks and visibility.

• Who Can Apply: Artists anywhere in the world — no age or geographic restrictions.
  📅 Deadline: March 10, 2026
  🔗 Apply

  ---

  FREEBIES

  Our friends at Quouch who started couch surfing for women, queer people, and others at risk when they travel made a hangout feature so you can find your sub communities around you when you travel, I’ll be checking it out in Cape Town for sure.

  • Check it our here

• if you have a freebie you want to offer to our creative community, get in touch!

  Thanks!

  Subscribe now

  Thank you for your time and continued support. Your engagement means the world to us. Let us know what you think of our newsletter in the comments. :)

  Well, that’s all for the next two weeks! If you want more opportunities and updates, more often, make sure to check out our stories and posts on INSTAGRAM, since we only feature our most curated picks in this newsletter.

  Stay creative!

  -Sho

  #CreativeCommunity #ArtistsOnSubstack #IndependentArtists #SupportCreatives #ArtLife #ArtistOpportunities #CreativeFunding #ResidencyOpenCall #FundedResidencies #InternationalArtists #GlobalResidency #BerlinArtScene #ParisResidency #ArtAndTech #HackTheSystem #CreativeCollaboration #DevelopersWanted #SubstackNewsletter #CreativeNews #ArtistUpdates #CommunityNewsletter #ArtNewsletter

hiiii again- Sho here. Before we start, we please ask you to subscribe to this newsletter as it’s the free way to really bring this community forward! and if you have subscribed already THANK YOU and please consider sharing our newletter.

Subscribe now

ARTIST ROOMS LAUNCHED

We started THE FLOOR in Berlin- our new artist run project and coliving space. We finally have also launched the ARTISTS ROOMS at the coliving and are hosting our first open call for an artist from now until mid March. This is an art residency space for artists to live, network, have a studio and event space in one of the world’s top creative hubs.

apply for a room + more info

MINI ART FAIR FOR STARTER ART COLLECTORS

Who are the next generation of art patrons? As an artist myself, I have a few- and they aren't the stereotypical patrons that you see in old movies. They are young- they want to get to know the artist personally before making a purchase. Some start with small works and build up a collection from the same artist. Half of my clients are young and had good luck in the tech world, especially with bitcoin. Idk I don’t make the rules.

For my 30th birthday and to bring in the new year of promised experimentation with CounterCult, I am creating my first curated mini art fair at our new artist living and project space THE FLOOR.

So! If you are curious about dipping your toes in the world of becoming an art patron, this is your easy way in. All local artists, curated, and all original works under 50 euros. This Jan.23rd from 4pm-10pm in Berlin.

If you want to come to become a starter patron, or if you want to apply to the art fair as an artist, get your free ticket here to find out where the secret location is here:

Free ticket

CAPE TOWN:

we’re putting together a little curated creative networking there to throw around some experiments- so if you have connections or are an artist yourself in Cape Town, get in touch.

On another note, some of us are headed back to Da Nang, Vietnam with residency, and some of us are headed to Cape Town. We just accepted our creatives for this cohort!

CREATIVE FEATURE

Fancy a shag? Claire, our very own Berlinesque hairdresser aka @getting_scissored is gaining traction in the city, who usually works with the talented collective at Berlin Frisuere is actually having her very first pop-up at Teen Angst Party Dyke event. You could get your hair to look like mine lol. Could it get more Berlin?

see more here

OPPORTUNITIES

1. 🎨🗝️ OPEN CALL mini Art Fair — THE FLOOR

• Eligibility: Curated, private show; artists experimenting with intimate formats and small works.

• Works: Original paintings, sculptures, zines, or objects; up to 3 pieces per artist, all under €50; no unlimited prints.

• Install & Fees: Set up and takedown on Jan 23; must be able to drop off and pick up in person. no submission fees, donations appreciated but optional.

👉 Submit your work here, rolling open call until spots fill: Apply for Speakeasy Art Fair

2. 🗿✨ Monument Open Call: Interactive Art

• Funded: Paid — compensation varies by scope and is discussed with the artist

• Eligibility: Interactive, participatory, sensory, or performance-based artists; independent, collaborative, leaves-no-trace

• Apply: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfyqLHW2J-cF6Kbfy3JJlI0XqD6ykxeRE4hQmcWwzWqXBCbxg/viewform — deadline Jan 30, 2026 (23:59)

3. 🇪🇺✈️ Culture Moves Europe — Individual Mobility Grants

• EU-funded grants for artists & cultural professionals to work on projects in another Creative Europe country.

• Open to creatives 18+ across sectors: visual art, music, design, literature, performance, and more.

• Covers travel, daily stipend, and additional support for accessibility or project needs.

👉 Apply here: https://culturemoveseurope.eu/individual-mobility

4. 🎨🌊 Bogliasco Art Residency — Open Call

• Funded: Accommodation, meals, and studio provided (no stipend or travel)

• Eligibility: International artists & scholars; not enrolled in a degree program

• Apply: https://www.bfny.org/en/apply

5.🟡🎨 KÖR Vienna Public Art Grants

• Funded: Yes — project funding up to ~€150,000 for public art in Vienna’s urban space

• Eligibility: Artists and project teams whose work engages with Vienna’s public space; must be freely accessible and not commercially driven

• Apply: https://www.koer.or.at/en/funding/application/

FREEBIES

FREE ENTRY: Mini Secret Art Fair in Berlin

free tickets

If you’re an artist who wants to apply their work, here’s the OPEN CALL for our speakeasy art fair! Apply here

Thanks!

Thank you for your time and continued support. Your engagement means the world to us. Let us know what you think of our newsletter in the comments. :)

Well, that’s all for the next two weeks! If you want more opportunities and updates, more often, make sure to check out our stories and posts on INSTAGRAM, since we only feature our most curated picks in this newsletter.

Stay creative!

-Sho & Danaja

#CreativeCommunity #ArtistsOnSubstack #IndependentArtists #SupportCreatives #ArtLife #ArtistOpportunities #CreativeFunding #ResidencyOpenCall #FundedResidencies #InternationalArtists #GlobalResidency #BerlinArtScene #ParisResidency #ArtAndTech #HackTheSystem #CreativeCollaboration #DevelopersWanted #SubstackNewsletter #CreativeNews #ArtistUpdates #CommunityNewsletter #ArtNewsletter

If you enjoyed this post, you can tell Sho & Danaja’s Substack that their writing is valuable by subscribing.

Subscribe now

I’m turning 30 soon and have been feeling like I’ve fucked up my life.
After 15 years on a creative path, I hit an existential crisis—so I wrote about it.

Long story short: I wrote down

• what I’ve done

• how much money I made this year

• and what “enough” actually means to me.

EXTRA EXTRA read all about it

About CounterCult (Not the Usual Newsletter)

This isn’t a typical CounterCult update.

We didn’t have money when we started, and we don’t have money now. We hoped to connect with more resources, but that hasn’t happened yet—so our path is slower. Still, persistence beats resistance.

What we do need right now is help.

We’re looking for a pro bono developer to help make our open-source map of local artists, cultural spaces, and heritage less buggy. We believe culture needs alternatives beyond the metaverse and massive AI platforms.

If you can volunteer time or energy, please get in touch.

What We’re Building for 2026

• Art Residencies
  Our residency is holding another OPEN CALL for our second Vietnam edition. See our opportunities section to apply.

• South Africa
  CounterCult is heading to Cape Town to connect with creatives and spaces. We’ll be hosting artist salons and contributing to First Thursdays—reach out if you’re there.

Leave a comment

• The Culture Map
  We’re growing our open map of artists and underground spaces—built by all of us. You can submit your favorite artist or space.

add to the map (pls)

• THE FLOOR
  OPEN CALL for our first exhibition and speakeasy mini art fair at THE FLOOR on Jan 23rd.
  All works must be small and under €50. No fees. The rest is up to you! I’m creating this for my 30th birthday celebration and want to make it an artsy collab thing.

  open call

Creative Studio Soft Launch & Collaboration

I’m also a designer, and I’m starting to curate our most involved creatives to pitch projects together to larger clients. We’ve learned we’re strong at IRL experience branding and marketing.

If you’re interested in collaborating, get in touch and tell me how you see yourself fitting in.
Portfolio and past clients are linked here for reference of the vibes we’re going for.

CREATIVE FEATURE

We’d like to feature someone, but we’d like to give a little drama to the fact that we are looking to connect with South African creatives so we can feature and collab with them.

OPPORTUNITIES

🎨🗝️ OPEN CALL Speakeasy Art Fair — THE FLOOR

• Eligibility: Curated, private show; artists experimenting with intimate formats and small works.

• Works: Original paintings, sculptures, zines, or objects; up to 3 pieces per artist, all under €50; no unlimited prints.

• Install & Fees: Set up and takedown on Jan 23; must be able to drop off and pick up in person. no submission fees, donations appreciated but optional.

👉 Submit your work here: Apply for Speakeasy Art Fair

🇪🇺✈️ Culture Moves Europe — Individual Mobility Grants

• EU-funded grants for artists & cultural professionals to work on projects in another Creative Europe country.

• Open to creatives 18+ across sectors: visual art, music, design, literature, performance, and more.

• Covers travel, daily stipend, and additional support for accessibility or project needs.

👉 Apply here: https://culturemoveseurope.eu/individual-mobility

🖼️✨ Culterim Exhibition Scholarship — Berlin (2026)

• Funded support: Free exhibition space at Culterim | Spaces + €500 exhibition fee for selected artists.

• Who can apply: Open to all artists with an exhibition concept; no specific requirements.

• Timing: 1‑week exhibition grant — applications open Dec 1–31 each year, winners announced Jan 15, exhibitions take place the following year.

👉 Apply/Info: https://www.culterim-stipendium-ev.org/ausstellungsstipendium

🌲🎨 U.S. National Park Artist‑in‑Residence Programs (2026)

• Create work inspired by iconic park landscapes; lodging often provided at low or no cost.

• Residencies vary by park — typically 2–4 weeks, open to visual, performing, literary, and interdisciplinary artists.

• Some parks offer stipends and housing support for selected artists.

👉 Explore and apply:
https://www.nps.gov/subjects/arts/air.htm

🎨✨ Cee Cee Creative — Junior Designer (Berlin)

• Entry‑level Junior Designer role (fixed‑term 12 mo) starting January 2026 in Berlin.

• Work on digital + print design with hybrid studio/home‑office setup.

• Must have basic design tools (Adobe/Figma) skills and creative portfolio.

👉 Apply here: Apply for Junior Designer at Cee Cee Creative (Berlin)

🌏🎨 EXPERIMENT Residency — Da Nang, Vietnam

• One‑month creative residency culminating in a public exhibition.

• Open to all creatives with a project to develop during the residency.

• NOT FUNDED as this is an artist co created project. Artists cover living costs; shared or self‑arranged housing options available.

👉 Apply here:

EXPERIMENT Residency 🧪

OPEN CALL: Da Nang, Vietnam Residency (Feb-March 2026)

EXPERIMENT Residency is exactly what it sounds like – a creative experiment. Founded by Sho Neary and Kora Kwok, two artists who live on different continents and work across borders, EXPERIMENT is a global residency committed to fostering meaningful cultural exchange between artists and local communities…

Read more

8 months ago · 3 likes · 5 comments · EXPERIMENT

FREEBIES

Our OPEN CALL for our speakeasy art fair! Apply here

Thanks!

Thank you for your time and continued support. Your engagement means the world to us. Let us know what you think of our newsletter in the comments. :)

Well, that’s all for the next two weeks! If you want more opportunities and updates, more often, make sure to check out our stories and posts on INSTAGRAM, since we only feature our most curated picks in this newsletter.

Stay creative!

-Sho & Danaja

#CreativeCommunity #ArtistsOnSubstack #IndependentArtists #SupportCreatives #ArtLife #ArtistOpportunities #CreativeFunding #ResidencyOpenCall #FundedResidencies #InternationalArtists #GlobalResidency #BerlinArtScene #ParisResidency #ArtAndTech #HackTheSystem #CreativeCollaboration #DevelopersWanted #SubstackNewsletter #CreativeNews #ArtistUpdates #CommunityNewsletter #ArtNewsletter

If you enjoyed this post, you can tell Sho & Danaja’s Substack that their writing is valuable by subscribing.

Subscribe now

Before we start, please subscribe if you haven’t already it helps us so much, and it’s completely free. More subscribers = better opportunities and access for everyone.

Subscribe now

✨ Cult Chronicles #01 Basic Income for Artists Is Not Radical. It Is Rational.

by Danaja Antonija Volk · 08.12.2025

Description:
We’re officially introducing The Cult Chronicles, our new series where we dive deeper into the ideas shaping culture, creativity, and the systems that keep them afloat… or don’t.

For our first-ever Cult Chronicle, Danaja dives into why basic income for artists isn’t some utopian fever dream it’s a policy backed by data, common sense, and countries bold enough to test it. From Ireland’s groundbreaking pilot to Slovenia’s cultural growing pains, this piece argues that supporting artists isn’t charity. It’s infrastructure. And small countries might just be the ones who can lead the way.

Snippet:

“Numbers are imperfect, but they remain the closest thing we have to a shared political language. Ireland replaced vague rhetoric about the value of culture with measurable outcomes giving other countries a model they can adapt, not just admire.”

We would love to hear what you think whether this direction for Cult Chronicles should be punchier, more chaotic, more data-heavy, or all of the above. Your feedback helps shape what we build next.

Read full article here

UPDATES

We are currently working on collecting more data to make our first real localised case study. We have also had the honour of blessing “THE FLOOR” with our first private co-working day and it was MAGICAL. We are super excited to have you join and share the inspiring cozy space in the heart of Neukolln. Otherwise we have been sending in applications, doing a lot of IRL meetings with great people, trying to get the most in before we hermit for the winter and get this project off the ground!

CREATIVE FEATURE

This month’s creative feature is close to my heart. I never quite know where to start with this story, but maybe you’ve felt it too: moving somewhere new, trying to stitch together a life, meeting people who are almost your people, and others who definitely aren’t. And then if the universe is kind someone appears in your 13 people WG flat who makes the whole thing feel less alien and more human.

For me, that someone was Sofia.

Sofia is the kind of person who walks into a room and somehow turns the lights on without touching a switch. She is endlessly curious about you, about the world, about the weird in-between spaces where art and life tend to hang out. And while being a ray of sunshine is already a full-time job, she also teaches art with the kind of dedication that makes you wish you could go back to being a kid just to be in her class. We all have that one teacher who rescued us during our growing pains; Sofia is one of those.

But let me get to the work itself.

After almost a year in Mexico City, Sofia returned with an orbit of ideas and began creating these plant-creature hybrids sculptures that feel like they belong to a parallel world where everything breathes a little differently. I have listened to her stories behind some pieces, and honestly, being a ceramicist sounds like a heroic saga. You are not just sculpting. You are negotiating with time, with the kiln, with gravity, with people who accidentally break things, with insurance forms, with custom wooden boxes you have to build so your artwork survives a car ride. It takes a village… or it takes one Sofia Maspero.

And as if that wasn’t enough, she also makes prints that have been rescuing our boring white walls for years. If you’re still Christmas shopping, trust me you are in time.

Check out more about Sofia

OPPORTUNITIES

Our curated picks this month 🐀✨

1. PX3 – Prix de la Photographie Paris (Open Call) 📸✨

What it is: International photography award celebrating global talent across fine art, documentary, portrait, experimental, and more. Winners are exhibited in Paris + published in the annual PX3 book.
Who can apply: Photographers of all levels; open internationally. 🌍
Why it’s good: Paris exhibition + publication = huge visibility and a strong boost to your artistic CV. Juried by industry leaders.
Deadline: Feb 18, 2026
🔗 @px3

2. Grant Applications – Museum Foundation of the Philippines 🏛️📚

What it is: Grants supporting projects that preserve and promote Philippine cultural heritage — research, exhibitions, publications, and museum staff development.
Who can apply: Artists, researchers, curators, cultural workers, institutions.
Why it’s good: Ideal for heritage-focused work; offers institutional backing and funding for projects that rarely get enough support.
Deadline: Mar 1, 2026
🔗 @museumfoundationph

3. NYLAAT – Artists-in-Residence 2026 🧪🖌️

What it is: A process-focused residency offering studio time + optional immersion programs exploring new social and technological practices.
Who can apply: Artists working across contemporary, interdisciplinary, or emerging mediums.
Why it’s good: Perfect for experimenting, prototyping, or expanding your practice into new fields.
Deadline: Feb 15, 2026
🔗 @nylaat_org

4. NIC – Neighborhood Interpretive Center (Los Angeles), Open Call 2026 🌆🎭

What it is: Annual open call for cultural practitioners and creatives to propose programs for NIC’s project space. Selected proposals should creatively engage with the neighborhood’s diverse communities.
Who can apply: Artists, curators, educators, designers, collectives, cultural workers.
Why it’s good: Ideal for community-engaged projects with institutional support from Goethe-Institut.
Deadline: Jan 5, 2026
🔗 @goetheinstitut

5. Rijksmuseum – Open Call (Residency / Research Fellowship) 🏺🇳🇱

What it is: A prestigious residency offering access to the Rijksmuseum’s archives, resources, and curatorial support.
Who can apply: Artists, writers, researchers, curators, cultural practitioners.
Funding:

• €39,000–€45,000 stipend 💶

• €5,000 travel allowance ✈️

• Museum workspace

• Curatorial guidance
  Why it’s good: A rare chance to develop research or practice inside one of the world’s most respected museums — with excellent financial support.
  Deadline: Jan 4, 2026
  🔗 artconnect.com

6. UNIDEE × Fondazione Pistoletto – Ecosystems as Living Communities (Residency) 🌱🌀

What it is: A production-focused residency for emerging international artists working with socially engaged practices that address contemporary ecological issues. Organized by Fondazione Pistoletto Cittadellarte + UNIDEE, in collaboration with UniCredit Group. Two artists will be selected: one Italian and one international artist residing in Europe. Their final works will become part of the UniCredit Art Collection.
Who can apply: Emerging artists in Europe working with socially engaged and ecologically driven artistic practices.
Funding:

• Travel, food, and accommodation covered ✈️🍽️🏡

• €6,500 compensation 💶

• Up to €2,500 production budget for the final artwork
  Why it’s good: Strong institutional backing, full financial support, and the rare opportunity to produce new work that enters a major corporate art collection.
  Deadline: December 14, 2025
  Residency: Feb–Apr 2026
  Public Presentation: May 2026
  🔗 @unideeresidencyprograms
  
  
  More Opportunities 🔍💼

  For more open calls + grants like these:
  👉 https://www.prazzlearts.com/opportunities
  
  Follow us on insta and LinkedIn to keep up to date with more opportunities that only artists would curate.
  

  Opportunties

Thanks!

Thank you for your time and continued support. Your engagement means the world to us. Let us know what you think of our newsletter in the comments. :)

Well, that’s all for the next two weeks! If you want more opportunities and updates, more often, make sure to check out our stories and posts on INSTAGRAM, since we only feature our most curated picks in this newsletter.

Stay creative!

-Sho & Danaja

#CreativeCommunity #ArtistsOnSubstack #IndependentArtists #SupportCreatives #ArtLife #ArtistOpportunities #CreativeFunding #ResidencyOpenCall #FundedResidencies #InternationalArtists #GlobalResidency #BerlinArtScene #ParisResidency #ArtAndTech #HackTheSystem #CreativeCollaboration #DevelopersWanted #SubstackNewsletter #CreativeNews #ArtistUpdates #CommunityNewsletter #ArtNewsletter

If you enjoyed this post, you can tell Sho & Danaja’s Substack that their writing is valuable by subscribing.

UPDATES

We’ve messed up a lot- we had to- to be able to go where we are now.
If you’ve been with us from the start- you know that we started as creatives becuase we needed more fair pay and protection.

About our past ooop

So we set up a marketplace knowing not so much about tech since that was what the cult was asking for

Turns out:

• the running costs were very high for what we got,

• Since we used a low code platform- the also had access to our data,

• and too connected to Google and the Metaverse.

• Plus- the onboarding process was a pain in the ass-

What We Learned 🐀

What we originally thought we needed was a marketplace run by creatives- but what we found out through our research and experience with our community in the past year- is that we just want access to each other, real opportunities, and to do our business on our own terms- whether thats a personal site or whatever platform you choose. Plus, we just want to strengthen culture- the thing that a lot of the world seems to gloss over when it comes to business and political forces.

What We Did Next 🐀🐀🐀

So we took what worked- and simplified it all.
Made it open source which means it’s free and we can control our own data.
Instead of a few of us inputting posts, it’s open to the entire community.

Anyways, we can keep explaining it- but it’s probably easier if you just check it out.

What we built now

How to Use It 💻🐀💥

Basically you can add your own culture- whether its an artist, a cultural space, or an heritage artifacts.
Now go at it! We even made a b-roll film explaining it.

check out a wee lil film

Tech Support 🤖

We needed tech help, so we reached out and worked with some literal Rural Hackers (we’ve tagged them quite a bit on our socials) on helping us with the backend dev.
But now we’re trying to find the help to continue the development of this for us all.
Get in touch if you have time to volunteer or access to some funds!
We are but artists trying to get into tech solutions after all. If you help- we will make you a rat version of yourself 🐀 and add you to our contributors page haha

Paris Update 🗼🇫🇷

We also had a stopover in Paris last week and were able to connect with some of the scene there.
We also learned of an open call in an old artist squat in the center of the city for a group exhibition- we want to apply but need help! It’s called 59 Rivoli (we also added it in our opportunities section)
Any curators and artists out there that want to join forces? Get in touch!

CREATIVE FEATURE

We have to feature Rural Hackers- who gave us this all inclusive trip to rural Spain to help them, and other at risk cultural communities, find solutions with tech. What we were already building on was a good fit, and we were curious to see if we could adapt it to rural areas.

Turns out we can! It worked so well, that we even formed another CULT there with about 18 of us “youngsters” as they called us there, code word RAT MOTEL since we may or may not have lost our minds building out our site more.

The locals we’re also super stocked and threw us a crazy hobbit style party ( was actually there earlier this year to paint a mural, which is how we got in contact with the locals). They explained that most of the rural population is aging out and they need the younger generations to connect with them, not only because we’re meant to live intergenerationally, but also because they hold so much of our shared cultural knowledge that is quickly getting lost. Ah also it was sponsored by the gov and the open source Wordpress community.

Rural Hackers does a lot of projects that relate to rural areas, tech, and arts and we can’t recommend them enough! They also try very hard to get funding to make their programs as accessible as possible.

See what we did with Rural Hackers!

OPPORTUNITIES

1. THE FLOOR Berlin Salon Nights Series/Artist Co-living

• is starting our first brick and mortar project space and artist coliving.

• The first Salon Night is Dec. 11- curated crowd and very limited space and free tickets. Imagine Warhol’s Factory in NYC mixed with Gertrude Stein’s Salon Nights in Paris- just the contemporary crusty Berlin version. If you don’t get in the first one, don’t worry there will be more!

• See more about events and how to get a room in the space here:

THE FLOOR OPEN CALL

2. 59 Rivoli — Open Call / Artist Residency (Paris)

• What it is: Artist-run studio squat + exhibition space in central Paris; temporary residencies (3–6 mo) for artists to work and show art.

• Cost: ~ 150 €/month contribution to the association. 59 Rivoli but you are able to sell your work as there is a lot of foot traffic

• Why it’s good: Gives access to a shared studio in a major art-city, visibility via public exhibitions, potential exposure to visitors/collectors — great chance to build network and show work.

• Apply Here: 59 Rivoli

  ---

3. Rural Hackers

• What it is: Tech + art rural-innovation collective / residency working with creative + tech projects in a rural settlement. Rural Hackers+2Eleven Yellow+2

• Funding: Always some level of funding- at minimum flights and accommodation. Sometimes an additional work grant. I did this and got all of the above +700 eu for my Labor hehe.

• Why it’s good: Offers free living + support + community, space to build your own project, and connection to a network mixing art, tech & rural-development. Follow them to see their next open calls!

4. IKT – Curators Webinar Open Call 2026

• What it is: Call for proposals to run a 90-min webinar about contemporary-art curation with IKT. IKT Curators Association

• Who can apply: Active IKT members only (speakers don’t have to be members). IKT Curators Association+1

• Funding / Payment: If accepted: €500 for coordinator/moderator, €250 for each speaker. IKT Curators Association

🔗 Apply here: https://www.iktsite.org/news/ikt-open-call-for-webinar-proposals-2026

5. FIG – Festival for Illustration and Graphics (Open Call)

• What it is: Curator role for the next FIG festival + main exhibition.

• Who can apply: Curators with relevant experience in illustration/graphic arts.

• Funding: €3,200 honorarium + travel + accommodation + exhibition + artist-fee budgets covered.

• Apply Here: https://www.iktsite.org/news/fig-festival-for-illustration-and-graphics?utm_source=chatgpt.com

6. Illustrator/Graphic Designer wanted for Karneval der Kulturen 2026

• What it is: They’re looking for a designer/illustrator or visual artist to create the official “keyvisual” for the 2026 festival — your artwork will appear on posters, website, socials, and all festival visuals. 2026.karneval.berlin+1

• Who can apply: Illustrators, designers, visual artists — solo or teams; open to anyone (no strict residency requirement mentioned). 2026.karneval.berlin

• Funding / What you get: The position is “honorierte Beauftragung” (a paid commission) + visibility on a major cultural‑event platform + collaboration with the festival’s organisation. karneval.berlin+1

Deadline: 7 December 2025 (23:59)

7. Fotografiska Berlin – Emerging Berlin (Open Call)

• What it is: A photography program for early‑career photographers — selected artists get a solo exhibition in the museum’s Graffiti Hall and professional support (mentorship, exposure, publicity). Fotografiska Berlin+1

• Who can apply: Photographers in early career stage; all ages welcome; works should engage with Berlin — 15–20 images, plus artist bio & project statement. Fotografiska Berlin+1

• Cost / Funding: Entry is free (no application fee) and selected artists get exhibition & support — no hidden cost indicated. Fotografiska Berlin+1

7.5 Fotografiska Open Call for Queer Photographers

• Honestly a lil birdie told us that there are queer artists within the organization looking for queer photographers to add to their database at Fotografiska

• Apply Here: https://survey.hsforms.com/1XTvsBfcvSXehh6bSJHquPg5iiu5

Follow us on insta and LinkedIn to keep up to date with more opportunities that only artists would curate.

opportunities

FREEBIES

Become a Podcast Guest:

Yes, we started a podcast sharing local artists and subculture stories of real life, inspiration, and how the pay the bills. Full podcast coming soon, but check out our teasers on our social media.

Your own free stickers by commenting and subscribing to this newsletter!

Get 30 euro in whatever sticker design you want for free! Comment on this newsletter and we’ll send you the code :)

thanks!

Thank you for your time and continued support. Your engagement means the world to us. Let us know what you think of our newsletter in the comments. :)

Well, that’s all for the next two weeks! If you want more opportunities and updates, more often, make sure to check out our stories and posts on INSTAGRAM, since we only feature our most curated picks in this newsletter.

Stay creative!

-Sho

#CreativeCommunity #ArtistsOnSubstack #IndependentArtists #SupportCreatives #ArtLife #ArtistOpportunities #CreativeFunding #ResidencyOpenCall #FundedResidencies #InternationalArtists #GlobalResidency #BerlinArtScene #ParisResidency #ArtAndTech #HackTheSystem #CreativeCollaboration #DevelopersWanted #SubstackNewsletter #CreativeNews #ArtistUpdates #CommunityNewsletter #ArtNewsletter

UPDATES

We’re growing. Fast.
What started as a street rat idea 🐀 is turning into a vagabond crew — one getting money and resources into the right places in culture.

(ALSO get 30 euro in free stickers of your designs if u comment on this newsletter and share hehe)

This week we’re interviewing potential CTO / tech people — aka the brains who can help us merge the 🧩 left + right sides.

Creatively? We’re overflowing 🎨
Analytically? Time to level up 🧮

And while that’s happening, we’ll be in 🇫🇷 Paris and 🇪🇸 Galicia, Spain, linking up with rural hackers + builders who are redefining what “innovation” even means.
The contrast is beautiful — code + countryside, culture + tech 🌾💻

We’ve had some wildly qualified applicants (still a little shocked tbh 😭).
And since it’s not a paid role yet, the fact that folks are showing up purely to build something real with us? 🔥
That’s huge.

It feels like everyone’s trying to solve the same problem — just from different corners of the map 🗺️

Where we’re headed

We’re expanding from a simple marketplace/map site into a larger open-source platform.

That means:
🛑 current site = paused (cocooning 🐛🦋)
🚀 new ship = in the works
🏴‍☠️ still recruiting our ragtag crew

It’s strategy mode now.
Still messy. Still scrappy. That’s a promise.

🌍 What’s next

Here’s what’s cooking:

• ✈️ Another residency, most likely Cape Town 🇿🇦

• 🌾 Paris + Galicia (Spain) collabs with rural hacker networks — blending local culture + tech building

• 🧱 FLOOR, a creative space in Berlin 🇩🇪 by me & Sho — inspired by Gertrude Stein’s salon nights + Andy Warhol’s Factory

• 💸 More creative paid opportunities

• 🗺️ A growing map of our heritages + subcultures

  ---

  CREATIVE FEATURE

  Surprise it’s me. Sketchy Shona. Realized it’s time to use my ego and show yall what I’m up to as one of the founders of CounterCult, but also myself as a career artist.

• I’m a visual artist, painting, mixed media, tattoos, digital art, and recently headed into the performance art sphere. Also yes the cover photo today is me as a rat of Berlin. But im originally from the states, sort of all over.

• I share how i survive as an artist financially as that’s the number 1 question i get, but you have to read about it between my written yapping of the probably too tmi of an artist.

• I’m also announcing a project that I’m starting soon that has the potential to involve you all, called FLOOR, a physical space that also acts as the cross over of my personal art, CounterCult, and residency. So make sure to stay updated on that newsletter as i am moving away from insta and would ideally love to never have a digital footprint but alas.

  More about Sho

  ---

  OPPORTUNITIES

✍️ 1) Shakespeare & Company “Tumbleweeding” Residency – Free/Funded (Paris)

• Short residencies at the historic Paris bookstore for writers & artists

• Open to creatives looking for immersive literary + cultural space.

• Link: https://www.shakespeareandcompany.com/tumbleweeding

🏞️ 2) Locust Projects – Funded Exhibition Call (USA)

• Open to local/national/international artists for installation work.

• $10,000 project budget + $5,000 artist fee; no entry fee.

• Link: https://www.locustprojects.org/for-artists/submissions/exhibition-open-call.html

🎨 3) ACRE Residency – Funded option (USA)

• 14‑day sessions in rural Wisconsin for visual, sound, performance, writers, curators.

• Some fellowships: no‑fee + $500 honorarium for selected artists.

• Link: https://www.acreresidency.org

🌍 4) Culture Moves Europe – Funded Grant (Europe)

• Supports artists/cultural professionals to work internationally in Europe (travel + daily allowance).

• Open to individuals & small groups across disciplines.

• Link: https://culture.ec.europa.eu/node/3679

🧱 5) La Napoule Art Foundation Residency – Free/Funded (French Riviera) APPLY TODAY

• For artists of any genre; includes accommodation + studio support.

• Spring 2026 session.

• Link: https://artistcommunities.org/directory/open-calls/international-artist-residency-spring-2026

FREEBIES

Become a Podcast Guest:

Yes, we started a podcast sharing local artists and subculture stories of real life, inspiration, and how the pay the bills. Full podcast coming soon, but check out our teasers on our social media.

Your own free stickers:

Get 30 euro in whatever sticker design you want for free! Comment on this newsletter and we’ll send you the code :)

thanks!

Thank you for your time and continued support. Your engagement means the world to us. Let us know what you think of our newsletter in the comments. :)

Well, that’s all for the next two weeks! If you want more opportunities and updates, more often, make sure to check out our stories and posts on INSTAGRAM, since we only feature our most curated picks in this newsletter.

Stay creative!

-Sho

#CreativeCommunity #ArtistsOnSubstack #IndependentArtists #SupportCreatives #ArtLife #ArtistOpportunities #CreativeFunding #ResidencyOpenCall #FundedResidencies #InternationalArtists #GlobalResidency #BerlinArtScene #ParisResidency #JapanResidency #ArtAndTech #HackTheSystem #CreativeCollaboration #DevelopersWanted #SubstackNewsletter #CreativeNews #ArtistUpdates #CommunityNewsletter #ArtNewsletter