Marking the 15th anniversary: Perspectives on Berlin Art Week

»Berlin Art Week brings together the full spectrum of ways in which art becomes visible. For one week, museums, private collections, galleries, project spaces, and independent art spaces weave together into the rich fabric that makes Berlin’s art scene unique worldwide. Looking back at the programmes of recent years, it becomes clear how continuously the field has evolved: complexity has grown, exhibition models have begun to merge, and the boundaries between public and private are being explored in increasingly conceptual ways. Anyone who wants to understand contemporary art should experience it.«
—Juliet Kothe, Curator and author

»Berlin Art Week emerged in response to the loss of a major art fair in Berlin and brought together the different players in the art market. It is not easy, and it never will be, but the sense of solidarity is there, and everyone now understands just how important Berlin Art Week is for the art scene—and, above all, for Berlin as a centre of art and culture. This festival needs stability and security, and everyone has a role to play in providing that—not only the participants and sponsors, but also policymakers. Only then can it continue to grow and realise its full potential.«
—Sebastian Pflum, Managing Director & Director Stiftung Kunstforum Berliner Volksbank

»Berlin Art Week is the city’s cultural New Year celebration, in a way that only Berlin can pull off: the weeks of empty theatres, opera houses, and concert halls are over. Berlin Art Week sends a message out into the world: We’re back. The galleries pull out all the stops, the museums surprise us, and the art world celebrates itself and art—year after year … indispensable.«
—Peter Raue, Lawyer and supporter of the arts

»Berlin Art Week brings together art, performance, installation, a wide range of formats, and institutions in an exceptional constellation. During this week, the city itself becomes a stage where diverse artistic languages and perspectives enter into dialogue. This approach closely reflects Wentrup’s own: the gallery understands art as an open space for encounters, exchange, and crossing disciplinary boundaries—not least given Tina Wentrup’s own background in theatre and dance.«
—Tina and Jan Wentrup, Galerie Wentrup

»For decades, Berlin has ranked among the world’s leading art capitals. At the same time, it’s a city where far too many people are intent on cooking up their own little soup. With Berlin Art Week, there’s finally a moment each year when people bring their different ingredients together to create something collectively. Berlin is at its best when we think and act together and stand side by side.«
—Bonaventure Soh Bejeng Ndikung, Haus der Kulturen der Welt (HKW)

»Art has so many facets—for three lustres now, Berlin Art Week has revealed them in all their phases and from every angle: production in studios, presentation and trade in galleries, exhibitions in institutions, but also how art is handled in private collections. What happens to art after it has been bought, once it »disappears«? How does art live on »afterwards«? How do people live with art? Witnessing this with others, and allowing others to share in it, is usually a mutual pleasure; the communication, amazement and discussion are equally inspiring and enriching for visitors and hosts alike.«
—Ivo Wessel, Sammlung Ivo Wessel

»For fifteen years, Berlin Art Week has demonstrated the power that emerges when an entire city brings its cultural energies together. Exhibitions, openings, conversations, performances, and encounters come together in a programme whose impact extends far beyond the art world. Berlin Art Week not only mobilises institutions but also their audiences, reminding us that art truly comes alive when it brings people together. That the cultural administration chose to withdraw its financial support in this anniversary year of all years can only be described as short-sighted and scandalous.«
—Thomas Köhler, Berlinische Galerie

»Berlin Art Week is the most important art event of the year. Media coverage grows every year, more international colleagues come to the city, and visitor numbers continue to rise. For the Schering Stiftung exhibition space—and for the artists we present—it creates real added value. Jenna Sutela’s exhibition received outstanding press coverage, while Sarah Ancelle Schönfeld’s opening drew a packed house. What I treasure most, though, are the many little hearts and comments visitors leave in our guest book. They come from colleagues and art lovers who leave our exhibitions inspired and excited.
My hope is that Berlin Art Week will continue to thrive and be recognised as a flagship project of Berlin’s cultural landscape, with secure long-term support. Art Week brings together Berlin’s art scene, attracting people from around the world and demonstrating all the cultural richness the city has to offer.«
—Christina Landbrecht, Schering Stiftung

»Artists make Berlin what it is. Their decision to live and work here defines the city. Berlin Art Week brings that back into the spotlight. None of this would be possible without them.«
—Gerd Harry Lybke, Galerie Eigen+Art

https://kulturprojekte.berlin/projekte/berlin-art-week/»Like a phoenix rising from the ashes, Berlin Art Week was born fifteen years ago. Out of a moment of crisis, we launched something new, ambitious and, as it has proved, remarkably enduring. Berlin Art Week has given the players in Berlin’s art scene greater visibility, and together we have all gained more attention, not less. The many initiatives that have followed in other cities are further proof of how well this concept works—and of how much we can achieve when we pull together.«
—Kristian Jarmuschek and Heinrich Carstens, Positions Berlin

»Alongside Gallery Weekend, Berlin Art Week is the most important moment in Berlin’s art year for us. While Gallery Weekend takes place in spring and is organised by galleries for galleries, Berlin Art Week is more firmly rooted in the city’s institutions and museums—and in the extraordinary variety of spaces Berlin has to offer. 
One particularly positive development is that the entire city has now embraced the week. That wasn’t always the case. Today, Berlin Art Week marks the start of the autumn and winter season: institutions open their new exhibitions, while a packed programme of talks, performances, concerts, and many other formats unfolds across the city. 
For a few days, all of this brings into focus something that has always distinguished Berlin, and that we should never forget: the extraordinary diversity of its art landscape and the interplay between its many different players. For us, Berlin Art Week has become an essential date in the calendar—one we look forward to every year.«
—Esther Schipper, Galerie Esther Schipper

»After the summer, Germany is ready for art again—and nowhere is that appetite greater than at Berlin Art Week. Its place in the calendar is truly unique. People move through the city with synapses firing, and everywhere you look, there’s a smile. The spirit of collaboration among everyone involved creates the feeling of being part of one big art family.«
—Karen and Christian Boros, Boros Collection

»Berlin Art Week is unique in its electrifying diversity. The whole city comes alive! One of our favourite moments each year is the presentation of the Claus Michaletz Prize for Eastern European Art, accompanied by a solo exhibition at KVOST. It’s always an intense week filled with wonderful encounters with colleagues and artists—and a great opportunity to discover new places.«
—Stephan Koal, Kvost

»What would Berlin Art Week be without Berlin—and Berlin without Art Week? We wish Berlin Art Week all the very best—for at least another fifteen years—and look forward to September with all of Berlin: its museums, art spaces, galleries, Kunstvereine, collections, artists, and everyone who makes the city what it is. For us, Berlin Art Week is a week without limits. Year after year, the Berlin Art Week team succeeds in bringing together the many different players that make up Berlin’s art scene. Thank you for making it happen.«
—Tarik Kentouche and Lorenz Liebig, Scherben

»Berlin is a city of artists, a place of artistic production and a centre of creativity. Nowhere else in Europe can you feel this energy and curiosity for art quite so intensely. For the past fifteen years, Berlin Art Week has served both as a reflection of that spirit and a reminder of it. It demonstrates what Berlin is capable of, welcomes the world, and creates space for dialogue. At a time when the freedom of the cultural sector is increasingly being called into question, it also stands for something more: fewer words, but a vibrant expression of activity and visibility. Less talk—more action, more momentum!«
—Diandra Donecker, Griesebach

»For me, Berlin Art Week is both a festival and an ordeal, simply because there’s so much happening. But it also makes visible that art depends on open spaces, institutions, and collaboration. One moment that will stay with me is the Margarethe von Trotta retrospective at n.b.k., which brought cinema, art, and politics into conversation. Looking ahead, I hope Berlin Art Week not only celebrates Berlin’s success as an art city, but also helps secure the conditions that make it possible: open spaces, institutional diversity, and independent artistic practice.«
—Marius Babias, Neuer Berliner Kunstverein (n.b.k.)

»Fifteen years of Berlin Art Week reflect an art city that never stands still. For Julia Stoschek Foundation, those have been intense years at Leipziger Straße: packed galleries, long queues, and conversations stretching late into the night. Looking ahead, I hope Berlin Art Week continues to embrace the openness and plurality that define it.«
—Julia Stoschek, Julia Stoschek Foundation

»For the past ten years, the Landesverband Berliner Galerien (LVBG) has participated in Berlin Art Week by presenting the VBKI-Preis Berliner Galerien. Bringing together a wide range of art events each September, Berlin Art Week gives art lovers yet another reason to visit the city. Looking ahead, we would like to see more festival formats that bring Berlin’s private galleries more firmly into the public eye.«
—Landesverband Berliner Galerien (LVBG)

»Congratulations on fifteen years of Berlin Art Week! I have followed Berlin’s art scene for more than two decades, and it has been a pleasure to see the festival grow into such a strong voice for Berlin as a centre for the arts over the years. With the opening of Hasenheide 13 later this year, we, too, want to make a lasting commitment to this city and its exceptional art scene. I wish Berlin Art Week continued success in raising its profile and giving even greater visibility to the city’s artists, galleries, institutions, project spaces, and collections—all of which contribute to Berlin as an international capital of art and culture.«
—Heiner Wemhöner, Sammlung Wemhöner