Cultural Management & Funding on Marcela Villanueva

Bardo 2026 — Artistic Direction & Programme Development

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Artistic direction of Bardo Projektraum’s 2026 programme, developed within the space’s two-year Basisförderung 2026–2027 from the Berlin Senate. Marcela Villanueva shaped the overall programme, selected and accompanied curatorial proposals, coordinated artistic and institutional partnerships, and ensured coherence across exhibitions, residencies and public programmes developed by invited curators and artists. The year brought together projects including Dreams That Wake, Topographies of Memory, PINOCENO, Archivum Naturae, But Call Me Lolita, Unhousing: An Enclave for Queer Utopia, LAR, Miradas a Chile and Making Places Inbetween, addressing migration, memory, ecology, queer futures, belonging, displacement and diasporic experience. The programme positioned Bardo as a platform for migrant, feminist, queer and Global South artistic practices in Berlin.

ABC Kultur → ABC Incuba

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

A long-term professional development and cultural incubation programme created and directed by Marcela Villanueva through Sorora e.V. to support transnational FLINTA artists and cultural workers in Berlin. Initially developed as ABC Kultur, the programme provided practical orientation on cultural management, funding, self-employment, language and professional networks. It later evolved into ABC Incuba, a six-month incubation model that combines direct project funding, weekly mentoring, specialised workshops, peer exchange and public presentations, supporting participants from early concept development through production and implementation. Each selected project receives €2,000 and ongoing accompaniment, while many workshops remain open to the wider community. ABC has become a sustained access structure for migrant cultural practitioners navigating Berlin’s cultural ecosystem, helping them build projects, networks and greater professional autonomy.

Bardo Projektraum

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

An independent contemporary art space and cultural hub in Berlin-Friedrichshain, founded and artistically directed by Marcela Villanueva as the central physical platform of Karne Kunst’s curatorial ecosystem. Bardo supports Latin American, Caribbean and diasporic artistic practices in Berlin while creating sustained space for migrant, feminist, queer and historically underrepresented positions. Its programme combines exhibitions, curatorial residencies, artistic research, performances, screenings, workshops, talks, publications and public programmes, bringing artists, curators, researchers and local communities into close exchange. Beyond presenting finished work, Bardo functions as a site for experimentation, professional development and long-term project development, supporting both Marcela’s own curatorial practice and projects led by invited curators. Since 2026, the space has been supported through Berlin’s two-year Basisförderung für Präsentationsorte, consolidating its role within the city’s independent art ecosystem.

NEST — Maternar en Residencia / Resistencia

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

A long-term residency and artistic development programme created by Marcela Villanueva to rethink the conditions of cultural production for artists who mother. Since 2022, NEST has developed residential, exhibition and research formats in Coswig, Berlin and Colombia, integrating children, care, collective living and artistic practice rather than treating caregiving as an obstacle to professional development. Across its editions, the programme has brought together more than thirty artists and cultural practitioners and generated exhibitions including Parallel Maternal and Care and Revelations, as well as longer-term projects such as Gabriela Rivera Lucero’s Maternajes Transfronterizos. Developed through Karne Kunst with Sorora e.V. and a growing network of artists, curators and cultural partners, NEST positions care as both cultural infrastructure and a field of artistic research

Karne Kunst

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Karne Kunst is a Berlin-based cultural platform founded in 2017, working across curatorial practice, programme development and cultural infrastructure. Rooted in Latin American, Caribbean and diasporic communities, it develops exhibitions, residencies, festivals, public programmes, professional development initiatives and opportunities for artists and cultural workers. Through projects in Berlin and across Germany, as well as transnational collaborations, Karne Kunst creates spaces for migrant, feminist, FLINTA and historically underrepresented practices while building networks, resources and long-term structures that support cultural production and participation.

Resonance Residency

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

A two-month European music residency created and directed by Marcela Villanueva for FLINTA musicians with migrant backgrounds living across Europe. Funded through LiveMX and co-funded by the European Union, the programme was hosted at Projektraum Coswig and combined accommodation, travel support, mentoring, professional workshops, collaborative sessions, paid public performances in Coswig and Berlin, and professional studio recording. Designed to address structural barriers faced by underrepresented musicians, Resonance provided participants with time, space, resources and industry connections to develop new work, strengthen their professional practice and expand their visibility within the European music scene.

Funding Fiesta

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Accessible, practice-based guide to navigating arts funding in Germany, created for artists and cultural workers who are often excluded from formal funding knowledge.

Art is Urgent — Emergency Residencies for Ukrainian Artists

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Art is Urgent was an emergency residency programme developed in 2022 in response to the displacement of artists and families following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The first residency was initiated and self-managed by Karne Kunst, rapidly transforming Projektraum Coswig into a safe living and working environment offering free accommodation, workspace and community support to Ukrainian artists and their families. A second residency was later developed with support from the Culture of Solidarity Fund – Ukraine Special Edition, expanding the model through basic living support, artistic production, mentoring and professional networking. Marcela Villanueva led the project management, programme development and fundraising. The residencies resulted in the exhibitions No Words for War and Ukrainian Glances, both curated by Villanueva, with No Words for War later expanding at CLB Berlin into a public programme around artistic mobility, cultural funding, displacement and arrival in Germany.The residency supported Ukrainian artists Elina Bilous, Iryna Daragan-Bogodist, Lidiia Moroz, Natalie Golubenko, Svitlana Galdetska and Vladyslava Kriuk, alongside artist-researcher Samantha Justine Domingo. Their work developed into No Words for War, curated by Marcela Villanueva and first presented at Projektraum Coswig before travelling to CLB Berlin. The Berlin presentation expanded the exhibition into a week-long programme addressing artistic mobility, access to cultural funding, crisis and displacement, and the experiences of newly arrived artists, in collaboration with organisations and cultural workers including Touring Artists, LAK Berlin and Berlin Artists Connected.

Projektraum Coswig

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

A rural centre for artistic creation and residencies in Coswig (Anhalt), Sachsen-Anhalt, created by Marcela Villanueva in collaboration with Lucas Dima as part of Karne Kunst’s cultural infrastructure. Located between Dessau and Wittenberg, the 330 m² live-work space provides accommodation, studios, shared working areas and outdoor space for national and international artists, curators and researchers. Conceived as a bridge between metropolitan and rural cultural contexts, Projektraum Coswig supports long-term artistic processes, experimentation and community exchange, with a particular focus on migrant, FLINTA, feminist and socially engaged practices. It has hosted and developed residency programmes including Art is Urgent, NEST, FlussLab and Resonance, combining artistic production with care, ecology, professional development and international exchange

Vierte Welle Film Festival

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

International feminist film festival launched in Berlin in 2019, combining screenings, workshops and discussions and adapting through in-person, online and hybrid editions.

Sorora e.V.

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

A feminist cultural organisation co-founded by Marcela Villanueva in Berlin to develop programmes, resources and professional opportunities for FLINTA artists and cultural workers, particularly those with migrant and transnational backgrounds. Through Sorora, Villanueva has worked on the conception, funding and implementation of long-term initiatives including Vierte Welle, ABC Kultur / ABC Incuba and Resonance Residency, combining programme design, mentoring, cultural management and community-building. Sorora represents a key strand of her practice focused on building organisational structures that enable underrepresented cultural practitioners to access networks, develop projects and sustain their work.

Archivo Madre

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Created by Marcela Villanueva as a long-term artistic development programme for Latin American migrant artists who mother, Archivo Madre was funded by the Fonds Darstellende Künste and developed in collaboration with Lola Arias Company and Karne Kunst. Under the artistic mentorship of Lola Arias, participants Jasmine Bakalarz, Laura Jiménez, Anna Mariscal, Nicol Rivera Aro, Laura Santos and Citlali Huezo developed personal archives around motherhood, migration and feminism into lecture-performances. The programme combined collective workshops, individual mentoring, an intensive development phase and childcare support, culminating in public presentations at Studio Я, Maxim Gorki Theater, within Gorki en Español. Belén Marinato led production for Karne Kunst, with dramaturgy and production by Laura Cecilia Nicolás / Lola Arias Company

Mujeres ilustradoras en pequeño formato / Latin American Illustrators in Small Formats

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

A two-edition collective exhibition bringing together Latin American and Ibero-American women illustrators working in A4 format. Conceived as a compact and easily transportable exhibition model, the project explored diverse representations of femininity while enabling the work to circulate internationally. The exhibition was presented twice in Berlin and later travelled to Russia, Latvia and Armenia, expanding the visibility of participating artists across different cultural contexts.