"Designers in Residence" is an international scholarship programme of the City of Pforzheim for young designers from the fields of jewellery, fashion, accessories, industrial and communication design, as well as other design disciplines, which is advertised annually in cooperation with Pforzheim University of Applied Sciences and the Design Center Baden-Württemberg. A total of three scholarships are awarded by the jury. The scholarship holders worked on their projects from April to June 2021 and faced a number of challenges this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic: Naama Levit was unfortunately unable to travel to Pforzheim and therefore completed her fellowship in her adopted home of New York. Marina Aleksashina was only able to come to Pforzheim a month late due to entry restrictions and delays in the visa process, and Caio Mahin was able to arrive at short notice after the entry ban from Portugal was lifted at the beginning of April. Quarantine times, zoom conversations, WhatsApp groups with food pictures, lockdowns and a high degree of flexibility were therefore part of the fellows' everyday work.

Despite all the difficulties and the spatial separation, the result is a joint exhibition by the three scholarship holders. Each room opens up a world in which visitors can trace their experiences as a queer child, the search for their own identity in the midst of prejudices and role expectations or discover a place created from decontextualised materials and forms from New York streets.

Scholarship holders
Marina Aleksashina, Russia
Naama Levit, Israel/USA
Caio Mahin, Brazil/Portugal

Jury
Sam Tho Duong
Amelie Gaydoul
Stefan Lippert