The 2026 Mentoring Program for Newcomers is intended for artists and culture makers of all ages who are planning to begin working within the independent performing arts community in Berlin. Experienced mentors, including, amongst others, artists, dramaturgs and producers as well as representatives of established performance venues and institutions within Berlin’s independent performing arts community support newcomers from all work areas and genres within the independent performing arts. Within each group, 12 mentees will benefit from the experience of their mentors, who will provide them with intense support in individual sessions over the course of 9 months.

The 2026 Mentoring Program for Newcomers includes:

• Advisement from experienced mentors in the form of regular individual sessions during the program period of 9 months
• A two-day seminar on project development and realization as well as further topics relevant to production and distribution
• Three network meetings in which the mentees have the opportunity to present their projects and network within the Group; chances to meet and exchange with the alumni network are also provided.
• Access to a high-quality and open network for the independent performing arts community as well as additional open networking meetings
• Additional support from the coordinators of the Mentoring Program
• Access to the additional offers of the Berlin Performing Arts Program

Requirements for Participation:
A mandatory prerequisite for taking part in the 2026 Mentoring Program Newcomers is that the participants have their work based in Berlin for the upcoming year and understand being a part of the program as a priority.

Potential participants should have made their first experiences in their artistic field, have had initial contact with the local independent scene and be planning to become a part of the independent performing arts community in Berlin. The working language in the group events is German, which means they should have good knowledge of German spoken language.
We expect that the mentees are able to work on their own initiative and that they will independently coordinate the individual meetings with the mentors as well as continuously take part in all opportunities offered by the Mentoring Program (individual meetings, seminar as well as networking meetings) for the entire duration of the program.

Application:
The representation of the diversity of society within our offerings is our goal. As a result, we expressly invite people from marginalized groups to apply. We are happy to discuss what we can do in order to remove any barriers that still exist.

We look forward to applications with resumes that clearly illustrate the previous professional/ artistic development as well as a statement of motivation that clarifies an outlook and plans for the upcoming year as well as your desire for participating in the program: What do I want to work on? What aspects do I need support in? What do I expect from the mentoring and from the additional parts of the program? What do I desire from my exchanges with the Group as well as the networking with alumni and professionals? What artistic and professional goals am I following in the long-term?

In addition, you are welcome to provide additional references. If you are unable to meet the submission deadline due to a disability or a chronic illness, please send us a brief notification of interest. In these cases, it may be possible for the application to be submitted later and/or sent as an audio file (max. 2 minutes) or as a video file (max. 2 minutes) via WeTransfer. 
After the end of the application process, the program coordinators and Director of the Performing Arts Program will make an initial selection. The mentors themselves are responsible for the subsequent ultimate selections of the members of the Group.

After the kick-off event in February 2026, the seminar at the beginning of April, a networking meeting in the middle of June and a final meeting in September will follow as additional events in the program. The exact dates will be announced at the beginning of the program.

All applicants should note the following dates:

• Application deadline for the 2026 Mentoring Program Newcomers: January 4, 2026
• Final selection of the mentees: by February 13, 2026
• Official start of the program and kick-off event of the Mentoring Program with mentees, mentors and the coordinators of the program: February 19, 2026

Applications must be submitted exclusively in the form of an email with attached application form (including resume) and possible additional references or as an audio or video file (only if this has already been arranged in advance) and sent to: mentoringprogramm2026 [at] pap-berlin.de (subject: Mentoringprogram%202026) (mentoringprogramm2026[at]pap-berlin[dot]de).