Berlin Art Week 2019

When Berlin Art Week begins this Wednesday, September 11, the German capital will once again become a meeting point for collectors, gallerists, curators, and all those enthusiastic about contemporary art. For five days, from September 11–15, visitors from around the world can explore current issues in contemporary art and discover the cultural diversity of the German capital. Two art fairs with around 200 galleries from Germany and around the world, 17 museums and other exhibition venues, 15 private collections, 20 project spaces and a special collaboration at the heart of the city will be holding a joint programme featuring exhibitions, openings, performances, talks, award ceremonies, and interventions in public space. A special emphasis this year will be several exhibitions that engage with developments in the city since 1989 in the year marking the thirtieth anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall.

Wednesday, September 11, 2019
The start of Berlin Art Week 2019 on Wednesday will focus on the openings at museums and exhibition institutions across the city, including openings of Kirchner · Richter · Burgert at me Collectors Room, Tobias Dostal at Haus am Lützowplatz, and Iman Issa at daadgalerie. The exhibition Magic Media – Media Magic: Video Art since the 1970s from the Wulf Herzogenrath Archive at Akademie der Künste focuses on video art. At Schinkel Pavillon, Christopher Kulendran Thomas in collaboration with Annika Kuhlmann presents the video installation Ground Zero. In the mobile dome of Berliner Festspiele/Immersion, visitors can immerse themselves in the video Elektra by the artists’ collective Metahaven.

In the context of the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, various exhibitions deal with the social, political, and urban developments since 1989. The group show Walking through Walls at Gropius Bau shows artistic responses to the borders, walls, and barriers we create, while Neue Berliner Kunstverein (n.b.k.) with 1989—2019: Politics of Space in the New Berlin explores developments in architecture and urban policy since the fall of the Berlin Wall. Bettina Pousttchi will set Berlinische Galerie into contact with the neighbourhood surrounding it, including a work for the building’s façade over the entrance. For the collaboration project Statista at Haus der Statistik, various artist collectives develop prototypes for an urban society based on the commons.

Thursday, September 12, 2019
On Thursday, two art fairs at the former Tempelhof Airport will provide an overview of current developments in contemporary art. At the third art berlin, 110 galleries from Germany and around the world will participate, showing their artists in Hangars 5 and 6. The Special Projects section presents strong individual positions and curated booths, while Salon presents new platforms and project spaces. The sixth Positions Berlin Art Fair will present at Hangar 4 with 69 galleries from Germany and around the world with a focus on contemporary and modern art. With the curated exhibition Selected Positions, the fair also offers new collectors an entrée into the art market. At Hamburger Bahnhof, Preis der Nationalgalerie will be awarded to a young, relevant contemporary artist. The exhibition No Photos on the Dance Floor! Berlin 1989—Today at C/O Berlin spotlights Berlin club culture in several media and in the evening the exhibition space will offer a live experience of a club night.

Friday, September 13, 2019
On Friday, the comparative exhibitions The Making of Husbands: Christina Ramberg in Dialogue at KW Institute for Contemporary Art and Picasso x Scheibitz at Museum Berggruen both open. Sensually olfactory art can be experienced at the exhibition Hyperdrüse by Anna Virnich at the Schering Stiftung. That evening, numerous Berlin galleries participating in both art fairs will be holding openings across the city, with artists such as Carl Andre, Yael Bartana, Anne Collier, Bernhard Martin or Laure Prouvost. Also on Friday: the VBKI-Preis Berliner Galerien will be awarded for an especially successful exhibition presentation at an up and coming gallery. That evening, the Project Space Award will be given to 20 project spaces and initiatives that present their work during Berlin Art Week in exhibitions, performances, and talks.

Saturday/Sunday, September 14 —15, 2019
The weekend begins with the performative event programme Reading Bodies! Cruising Corpoliteracy in Art, Education, and Everyday Life at Haus der Kulturen der Welt. Also starting Saturday, Kindl—Centre for Contemporary Art presents Sugar, an exhibition by video artist Bjørn Melhus, who always embodies all the various, often bizarre figures in his films. Also on Saturday, the series Art in the Underground: Up in Arms at neue Gesellschaft für bildende Kunst (nGbK) begins, with artistic interventions against the armaments industry at various subway stations across the city. Over the weekend, the 15 private collections will also provide an attractive highlight. Many of them open their private spaces for visitors exclusively during Berlin Art Week, offering tours of their top-class collections. The 20 project spaces will also be open over the weekend, in addition the Netzwerk Berliner Projekträume und-initiativen is organizing free bike tours to the winners of the Project Space Awards on Sunday. In collaboration with niche Berlin, Berlin Art Week will be offering tours to various exhibition venues on Saturday. And in the night from Saturday to Sunday, the Berlin Art Prize will be awarded for the sixth time.
 

For further information, images, and the programme, please visit: 
berlinartweek.de
#berlinartweek
 

Press contact:
Matthias Philipp
Kulturprojekte Berlin GmbH
T +49 30247 49 849
m.philipp@kulturprojekte.berlin