Three women awarded scholarships for 'doing nothing' in Germany

Three women have been awarded 1,600-euro (1,900-dollar) scholarships for “doing nothing,” according to the University of Fine Arts Hamburg (HFBK).

Hilistina Banze, Mia Hofner and Kimberley Vehoff were selected by a jury, which considered applications from 2,864 applicants from 70 countries.

Banze’s application said that she would take off her headscarf for a week to reveal her buzz cut in an effort to counter stereotypes about women.

Hofner, a student from Cologne, said she would not generate any usable personal data about herself online for a period of two weeks.

Vehoff, a food technology specialist, said she would stop working because her social relationships were suffering as a result of the timing of her shifts.

The award is part of “School of No Consequences: Exercises for a New Life,” an artistic and discursive project by Friedrich von Borries at the Museum for Art and Trade (MKG) in Hamburg.