Press release
North Rhine-Westphalia awards administrative office for AI competence network ‘AI in Art and Culture’ to Dortmund
Dortmund, 27 February 2026 – The Ministry of Culture and Science of North Rhine-Westphalia has awarded the Theatre in Dortmund the contract to run the statewide ‘K3 KI.Kunst.Kultur - NRW Kompetenznetzwerk’ (K3 AI.Art.Culture - NRW Competence Network). The state is funding the establishment and operation of the office with around 2 million euros for the period from 1 March 2026 to initially 31 December 2028.
The NRW coordination and competence centre is being established in Dortmund to structure, qualify and network the use of artificial intelligence in the arts and culture sector in North Rhine-Westphalia. The aim is to make existing competencies visible, bring institutions together across the state and translate technological developments into artistic, social and cultural policy practice. Specifically, this will be achieved through a networked and wide-ranging range of further training courses for cultural professionals and graduates of all art forms. In-depth interdisciplinary application within the framework of an AI academy and residencies will translate theory into practical excellence. The artistic implementation takes place in a distributed structure with three residency locations: the Academy for Theatre and Digitality in Dortmund, the Centre for Literature at Burg Huelshoff and the Kulturforum Witten. Here, the AI fellowships are conceived, produced and publicly tested in close collaboration.
Three locations – one shared network
The initial impetus for the successful application came from the Academy for Theatre and Digitality at Theatre Dortmund. 23 institutions from the fields of culture, higher education and cultural policy in North Rhine-Westphalia have joined forces for the network project. Together, they form the basis for a state-wide, cross-disciplinary competence network.
‘Artificial intelligence is fundamentally changing artistic production methods, copyright issues, training logic and cultural publics. There are already numerous excellent initiatives and institutions in North Rhine-Westphalia – but until now, they have often existed side by side. The new office provides orientation, quality assurance and connectivity through knowledge transfer,’ according to the office's concept.
Dortmund as a location offers special conditions for this: a mature ecosystem of art institutions, universities and applied AI research – including the Academy for Theatre and Digitality, the Dortmunder U, TU Dortmund and Dortmund University of Applied Sciences and Arts. Institutions conducting international basic research on AI, such as the Lamarr Institute for Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence, and applied research on robotics, such as the Fraunhofer Institute for Material Flow and Logistics (IML), have been working together for years, expanding opportunities for exchange, transfer and cooperation. This infrastructure is complemented by the artistic production and presentation venues in Witten and the literary-reflective expertise at Burg Huelshoff, which anchor the network throughout the state.
The tasks of the office include:
- the development and coordination of further education and qualification programmes for artists and cultural professionals,
- the nationwide networking of existing actors and initiatives,
- the pooling and dissemination of knowledge on AI in art and culture,
- the organisation of transfer formats between art, science and cultural policy,
- the implementation of AI residencies as research and production-oriented formats of excellence in Dortmund, Witten and at Burg Huelshoff.
With its AI competence network, North Rhine-Westphalia is positioning itself as a nationwide reference point for AI in art and culture. The office works on behalf of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia on the basis of clearly defined work packages, budget responsibility and reporting obligations. An artistic-scientific advisory board provides strategic support for the work.
The funding period for the office is initially set to run until 2028. It operates with a lean structure of around four full-time equivalents on average.
Dr Philipp Bojahr will take over as managing director. He has many years of successful experience working at the interface of artistic practice, innovative technologies and cultural mediation, including for the Cologne Game Lab at the University of Applied Sciences Cologne and the Siegerland Museum in Siegen.
The cooperating network includes: Academy for Theatre and Digitality (Theatre Dortmund), Burg Huelshoff - Centre for Literature, Cologne Game Lab (University of Applied Science Cologne), DLR Project Management Agency, Dortmunder U (Digital Culture), Dortmund University of Applied Sciences and Arts, Folkwang University of the Arts, Detmold University of Music, Cologne University of Music and Dance, KI-Campus (Stifterverband), KISD (University of Applied Science Cologne), KoproduktionsLabor (Dortmunder U), Kulturforum Witten, Kulturpolitische Gesellschaft e.V., Kulturrat NRW e.V., Duesseldorf Art Academy, Muenster Art Academy, Cologne Academy of Media Arts, MiR.LAB, Robert Schumann University of Music Duesseldorf, storyLab kiU (Dortmund University of Applied Sciences), TU Dortmund, WittenLab at Witten/Herdecke University.
Quote from Ina Brandes (Minister for Culture and Science of North Rhine-Westphalia)
"Artificial intelligence represents a great opportunity for artists – and at the same time, it is also a huge challenge in some areas: Many artists are wondering what these developments mean for their profession and their work. We support our creative minds by better connecting, expanding and making more usable the great knowledge about AI in art and culture in our state. With the K3 network, we are pioneers nationwide. This benefits our cultural institutions and their offerings, which are more diverse in North Rhine-Westphalia than anywhere else in Europe."
Quote from Alexander Kalouti (Mayor of Dortmund):
"By establishing this state-wide initiative in Dortmund, we are emphasising our city's role as a key driving force for the future of AI in art and culture in North Rhine-Westphalia and beyond. We are thus underlining the close networking of our cultural institutions with universities and leading research institutions, which offers a unique environment for training, exchange and innovation. AI is culturally reflected and artistically used here, not technically exaggerated."
Quote from Marcus Lobbes (Director of the Academy for Theatre and Digitality):
"The competence network and the office in Dortmund are creating the first coordinating structure for cultural professionals and graduates that sees the encounter between art and AI not as a short-term trend, but as a long-term cultural policy task. NRW is thus sending a strong signal: AI is not being promoted in isolation, but is understood as part of our cultural identity, as something that fundamentally renegotiates our artistic processes, our institutions and our understanding of the public sphere."
Quote from Dr Philipp Bojahr (designated Managing Director of K3 KI.Kunst.Kultur)
"The transfer of knowledge between the participating universities and cultural institutions is particularly important for our concept. The office sees itself as a translator and enabler: it translates the latest scientific findings from AI research into application-oriented formats, trains cultural professionals in the use of AI and, at the same time, feeds back ideas from artistic practice into research and teaching. This creates a cycle of knowledge, experimentation and reflection that sustainably promotes innovation at the intersection of AI, art and culture."
Quote from Martin Wegner (Head of Society, Innovation and Technology at DLR Project Management Agency)
"The office is exactly the right initiative that the cultural scene needs right now. As the DLR Project Management Agency, we contribute our many years of expertise, including in the design of AI innovations. With PINK, the platform for innovative networks in culture, we have an established structure that enables strong partnerships in culture and thus also strengthens the transfer of forward-looking AI projects. Where culture meets AI, the future is created – and we are delighted to be shaping this process together with our network partners right from the start."
Jasmin Vogel (Chairwoman of Kulturforum Witten AöR)
"The AI fellowships create a space where artistic practice and technological development truly come together. Kulturforum Witten contributes its strength as a venue for exhibitions, performances and education: here, new forms of artistic production with AI are not only tested, but also made accessible to a wide audience. Integration into the network is crucial – because what is created in Witten and beyond should have a lasting impact on cultural practice in North Rhine-Westphalia."
Lorenz Deutsch (Chairman of the Cultural Council of North Rhine-Westphalia)
‘For artists, artificial intelligence presents both opportunities and challenges in equal measure. It's great that we are systematically addressing these issues with the competence network.’
Catalina Rojas-Hauser (Chief Executive Officer, Kulturpolitische Gesellschaft e.V.)
“As a network partner, we see our role as a nationwide association primarily in transferring process developments and results beyond the borders of North Rhine-Westphalia. It is high time that a platform was created that brings together artistic, scientific and technological perspectives and takes a concerted approach to further developing the epoch-defining topic of artificial intelligence. We are certain that the entire consortium will do everything in its power to ensure that cultural creators throughout Germany benefit from this unique project.”
Prof. Nina Gerlach (Principal of the Academy of Fine Arts Muenster)
‘The competence network takes artists seriously as sources of knowledge about the latest technologies. Depending on their own level of development with regard to AI, students at art and music colleges in North Rhine-Westphalia are thus offered ideal conditions for their aesthetic and experimental reflections.’
Press contact:
Stina Wirth (she/her)
Communications & Content
stina.wirth@theater.digital
+49 231 22614337
Academy for Theatre and Digitality
Theatre Dortmund
Speicherstraße 17
44147 Dortmund
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