About the Fellowship

The 2027 Tilting Axis Fellowship will be supporting two fellows in a six-week programme centred on research, exchange, and network-building between the Caribbean and the Netherlands. One fellow will be selected from the Dutch Caribbean. Applicants may also apply as a pair from different regions of the Caribbean including the Dutch Caribbean; if selected, the pair will together occupy both fellowship positions. Otherwise, the selected fellows will be paired by the organisers. Within the six-week programme, Nieuwe Instituut facilitates a one-week tailor made visit to the Netherlands. This fellowship is conceived as a period for networking, research, reflection, and dialogue.

Are you interested in how knowledge is produced, preserved, and contested through archives, storytelling, digital platforms, or community practices? Do you work with themes such as memory, social or environmental change, or collective forms of knowledge-making? We welcome practitioners working across writing, film, sound, design, research, architecture, and other creative or interdisciplinary fields—especially those exploring how culture is shaped through collaboration, technology, and lived experience.

Structure of the Fellowship

The fellowship consists of a six-week period, including a 10 day visit with a 5 day tailor-made program for cultural exchange in the Netherlands. The fellowship takes place in April and May 2027. The one-week visit will be hosted within this period, with the exact timing to be determined in consultation with the two selected fellows.

During this visit, the two fellows will travel together, fostering exchange and dialogue between practitioners from across the Caribbean that supports intraregional exchange through this fellowship experience. They will participate in a programme organised through tailor-made meetings, site visits, and opportunities for dialogue with artists, cultural practitioners, researchers, and institutions. The programme is designed to facilitate meaningful encounters and intercultural exchange.

The fellowship supports an end result defined by the fellows themselves, with a clear milestone based on their project. Applicants are expected to outline this milestone in their application. Throughout the six weeks, fellows will take part in weekly check-in meetings.

Fellowship Support

Each fellow will receive a stipend of €2,500 to support the broader fellowship period. In addition to the stipend, fellows may access up to €1,000 in travel support connected to their research proposal.

This travel budget may be used for travel within the Caribbean or beyond, where relevant to the proposed research, exchange, or network-building activities. Fellows can use this support flexibly according to their needs—for example to extend their stay in the Netherlands, conduct research travel, connect with collaborators, or dedicate time to the development of new work.

During the one week visit, all travel costs to and from the Netherlands, as well as the week-long programme in the Netherlands, will be covered separately by Nieuwe Instituut Fellows may choose to extend their visit at their own expenses.

For whom?

The fellowship is open to researchers, designers, writers, curators, or cultural producers based in the Caribbean region who are interested in developing their research practice and building connections with cultural institutions in the Netherlands. Applicants may work across different cultural fields and practices, including those engaging with archives, social and ecological questions, cultural memory, spatial practices, design, architecture, or digital culture.

The fellowship is open to applicants with or without formal degrees or institutional affiliations. Equal priority will be given to those who can demonstrate creativity, critical thinking, and strong potential within their practice, regardless of educational background. There is no age limit for applicants.

Applicants must be residents of and based in one of the following Caribbean countries or territories:

Anguilla, Antigua & Barbuda, Aruba, The Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, Bonaire, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Cuba, Curaçao, Dominica, Dominican Republic, French Guiana, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Martinique, Montserrat, Providencia, Puerto Rico, Saba, San Andrés, St. Barthélemy, St. Eustatius, St. Lucia, St. Kitts & Nevis, St. Vincent & the Grenadines, Saint Martin, Sint Maarten, Suriname, Trinidad & Tobago, Turks & Caicos Islands, US Virgin Islands.

Application Process

The Open Call for the 2027 fellowship will open on 1st September 2026, with a submission deadline of 15th October 2026.

Proposals should be submitted via email to ta-fellowship@nieuweinstituut.nl with the subject line: Tilting Axis Fellowship 2027 – [Applicant Name]

Applicants may also apply as a pair from different regions of the Caribbean but one must include an applicant from the Dutch Caribbean; if selected, the pair will together occupy both fellowship positions. Otherwise, the selected fellows will be paired by the organisers.

Applicants may submit their proposal in written, audio, or video format, or a combination of these. We encourage applicants to choose the format that best allows them to communicate their research, ideas, and approach.

Written proposals should be a maximum of 1,000 words and include:

• Statement of intent: Explain your research focus, key questions, and proposed methodology.

• Relation to the fellowship themes: Describe how your proposed project engages with the themes outlined above.

• Working calendar: Provide a proposed timeline for the fellowship period, including your availability to travel to the Netherlands between April and May 2027.

• Previous work: Include documentation of up to five relevant previous works, with links and/or brief descriptions where useful.

For audio or video submissions, the same information should be addressed within the submission. Audio/video submissions should be a maximum of 5–7 minutes.

Previous work may be included separately as links or brief documentation, with up to five relevant works. All materials should be submitted as one PDF document where possible, with links to audio/video material embedded or clearly indicated. If the submission itself is an audio/video file, this may be submitted alongside the PDF containing the applicant’s supporting materials.

Applications must be written or recorded in English, and applicants should have a working knowledge of the language. English does not need to be the applicant’s first language; however, translation support is unfortunately not available at this time.

Applicants with specific questions or access requirements are encouraged to contact ta-fellowship@nieuweinstituut.nl to discuss the availability of support services.

Selection Process

The fellows will be selected through a jury process composed of:

• Yesomi Umolu (Artistic Director, Nieuwe Instituut)

• Charl Landvreugd ( Head of Research & Curatorial Practice, Stedelijk Museum)

• Annalee Davis (Tilting Axis / Fresh Milk – Barbados)

• Ana Maria Hernandez (RAA! – Aruba )

• David Gumbs (Visual Artist, Educator – Martinique)

• Tirzo Martha (Instituto Buena Bista – Curaçao)

Following the initial review of applications, five shortlisted candidates will be invited for an online interview with the 3 members of the jury. The final fellows will be selected following this interview process. The fellowship will begin in April 2027.

Key Dates

October 11, 2026, 23:59 CET / 18:59 AST: Open Call closes
November 2–3, 2026: Shortlisted applicants are invited to interviews
November 9, 2026, 14:30–18:30 CET / 09:30–13:30 AST: Interview session
November 10, 2026, 14:30–17:00 CET / 09:30–12:00 AST: Interview session

Q&A Session

We will host a one-hour Q&A session on 15 September, 10:00–11:00 AM AST (4:00–5:00 PM CET) via Google Meet. The session is an opportunity to ask questions about eligibility and the application process. No registration is required; you can join directly here.

For more information or questions, reach out to our team via ta-fellowship@nieuweinstituut.nl.