based in Berlin
Six Weeks of Exhibitions, Talks, Performances
8 June–24 July 2011
Open everyday from 12pm to 12am
Opening:
7 June 2011, 6pmAdmission free
Atelierhaus Monbijoupark
Oranienburgerstraße 77
10178 Berlin
Further exhibition locations
Berlinische Galerie – Landesmuseum für Moderne Kunst, Fotografie und Architektur
Alte Jakobstraße 124-128, 10969 Berlin
KW Institute for Contemporary Art
Auguststraße 69, 10117 Berlin
Nationalgalerie im Hamburger Bahnhof – Museum für Gegenwart – Berlin
Invalidenstraße 50-51, 10557 Berlin
Neuer Berliner Kunstverein n.b.k.
Chausseestraße 128-129, 10115 Berlin
Since the fall of the Berlin Wall, the German capital has developed into one of the world’s most important locations for contemporary art production. Berlin’s reputation as a creative, cosmopolitan and dynamic city continues to attract many artists from both Germany and abroad. The title based in Berlin refers to the fact that Berlin enjoys great recognition all over the world as an artistic workplace. Many artists have made a conscious decision to live and work here.
The five curators Angelique Campens, Fredi Fischli, Magdalena Magiera, Jakob Schillinger and Scott Cameron Weaver have visited hundreds of Berlin-based artists in their studios since November 2010. They became aware of these artists through both active research and submissions to an open call.
The decisive selection criteria were that the artists are primarily based in Berlin and are “emerging artists”, meaning they appeared on the scene no more than five years ago. Many of the participating artists are developing new works for based in Berlin in dialogue with the curators. Production budgets are available for these works. The exhibition will not only show works by artists, but also project spaces, which will present their own programmes in sections within the exhibition. A series of discursive events and workshops will tackle and pursue the many questions that have already been raised in intense discussions with artists, institutions, project spaces, critics and curators. These questions include the situation and role of Berlin art institutions and the production conditions of Berlin-based artists, among many others.
This overview of Berlin’s contemporary art scene is expressly targeted to a wider public. During their studio visits the curators became aware of the empty studio building at Monbijoupark in the Mitte district of Berlin, which is due for demolition, while they were visiting studios. The Mitte Council has provided the building at short notice for interim use until demolition. The studio building will become the central exhibition location. It is also available for use as a production space by the exhibiting artists until the opening.
The exhibition will extend into the Berlinische Galerie – Landesmuseum für Moderne Kunst, Fotografie und Architektur, KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Nationalgalerie im Hamburger Bahnhof – Museum für Gegenwart – Berlin und Neuer Berliner Kunstverein n.b.k.
The Governing Mayor of Berlin, Klaus Wowereit, gave the impetus for the exhibition within the context of the debate on the establishment of a permanent art gallery in Berlin. The exhibition’s advisors are international curators Klaus Biesenbach (New York), Christine Macel (Paris) and Hans Ulrich Obrist (London) who have selected the five young curators who are responsible for the exhibition concept and selection of the artists.
Press contacts:
Susanne Kumar-Sinner, s.kumar@kulturprojekte-berlin.de, Tel. +49 – (0)30 – 247 49 835
Sarah Lachmann, s.lachmann@kulturprojekte-berlin.de, Tel. +49 – (0)30 – 247 49 713
Kulturprojekte Berlin GmbH, Klosterstr. 68, 10179 Berlin, www.kulturprojekte-berlin.de
Image above:
© Photo by Heji Shin / based in Berlin 2011.
