Culture

Academy for Theatre and Digitality

As an international pilot project, the Academy for Theatre and Digitality provides a space for digital innovation, artistic research and technology-oriented education and training. Every year, scholarships that are funded by the public sector and research institutions as well as private sponsors are awarded to artists and theatre professionals from all over the world.

Zwei Menschen mit VR-Brillen in einem neongrün belichteten Raum

Europe

Germany

Dortmund

Funding period: 2018-2023

The Wilo-Foundation supported the establishment of the latest, sixth division of Theater Dortmund, the Academy for Theatre and Digitality (ATD), which is unique in Germany, as well as the implementation of visionary formats. The Academy provides a space for applied and artistic research, vocational education and training, and debates on different subjects. It explores the possibilities of the performing arts in the modern digital world and develops new technologies, work structures and narratives. As a pilot project of the Theater Dortmund, the Academy receives funding mainly from the public sector, the federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia, the Federal Cultural Foundation and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) of the European Union. It also cooperates with private sponsors, including with the Wilo-Foundation.

Künstler Max Schweder realisiert reaktive audiovisuelle Kunstprojekte an einem Mischpult — Artist Max Schweder realizes reactive audiovisual art projects. Photo: Theater Dortmund, Credit: Birgit Hupfeld

Szenografin Ariane Trümper kreiert performative Installationen, Bühnenbilder und Medienarbeiten an einem PC — Scenographer Ariane Trümper creates performative installations, stage sets and media works. Photo: Theater Dortmund, Credit: Birgit Hupfeld

The core task of the Academy is to enable the artistic-technical and artistic-scientific research of the international scholarship holders, who spend five months with the Academy and develop theatre-related digital tools and methods there. These scholarships, made possible by the Federal Cultural Foundation, are supplemented by the so-called HIDA Fellowship. This Fellowship was launched by the Academy together with the Helmholtz Association as a pilot project that fosters encounters between science and art. From 2019 to 2023, the Wilo-Foundation awarded awarding fellowships for interdisciplinary research projects at the Academy to the so-called HIDA Fellows.

In the run-up to the founding of the academy in 2019, the Wilo-Foundation already supported the opera project "Einstein on the Beach" (2017) by Philip Glass and the 1st conference on theatre and digitality called "Enjoy Complexity" (2018) in Dortmund. The conference brought together artists and technology experts who, in numerous workshops, performances and exhibitions, explored ways to connect different digital technologies, such as Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality, Artificial Intelligence, robotics or sensor technology, with the performing arts.

Photo Header: Experimentation in the context of the founding conference "Enjoy Complexity" (2018), Theater Dortmund, Credit: Edi Szekely, Birgit Hupfeld

Our funding partner

Since its foundation in 2019, the Academy for Theatre and Digitality, the sixth division of Theater Dortmund, has developed into an national and important platform at the interface between culture, science, digitality and technology. It provides important impetus in the theatre scene for establishing a national, digital infrastructure in the performing arts and takes the lead on its practical implementation.

UN Sustainable Development Goals

The UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development with its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) forms the global framework for action for socially, economically and ecologically sustainable development. Our funding commitment also supports these sustainability goals. With this project, we are making a contribution to achieving the following SDGs:

What are the SDGs`?