Collecting with Impact—Greater Visibility for Artists Through Private Initiatives

This event is taking place at Berlin Art Week Garten at Gemäldegalerie 

What role can private collectors play in increasing the visibility of women artists and strengthening their position in the art world over the long term?

Despite significant progress, major imbalances persist in museum collections, exhibition programmes, and the art market. This panel explores how private collectors can help change these structures through acquisitions, loans, donations, personal commitment, and their networks, contributing to greater visibility and recognition for women artists in the long term.

The conversation brings together three different perspectives: Dr Maike Steinkamp, curator, the Neue Nationalgalerie—Staatliche Museen zu Berlin; Mareike Dittmer, programme curator, Muzeum Susch; and Berlin-based collector Alexandra Hackelsberger, whose collection places a particular emphasis on women artists.

The conversation will be moderated by Julia Rust von Krosigk and Juliet Kothe, co-initiators of ›Discovering Collections!‹.

As part of Berlin Art Week, the participants discuss the responsibilities and potential of private collecting today—and how acquiring a work of art can become the starting point for sustained support of women artists.

Mareike Dittmer is a writer, curator, and editor and has worked as programme curator at Muzeum Susch in Switzerland since 2024. Founded by Polish collector and patron Grażyna Kulczyk, the museum focuses on supporting women artists and increasing their visibility. Among other projects, Dittmer curates the ›TEMPORARS SUSCH‹ writers’ residency programme. Since 2025, she has also served as artistic director of the ›REFLECTION‹ programme and the ›ALP‹ summer laboratory, supported by Kulturstiftung St. Moritz.

Alexandra Hackelsberger is an art collector based in Berlin. Her collection focuses on contemporary photography, with a particular emphasis on women artists. Bringing together conceptual and experimental practices, it connects photography with video, sculpture, and installation. Since 2024, she has made the collection publicly accessible in a dedicated cabinet in Berlin’s Mitte district. In 2024/25, she also opened her collection to the public as part of ›Discovering Collections!‹.

Dr Maike Steinkamp is an art historian and has worked as a curator at the Neue Nationalgalerie in Berlin since 2018. Her role includes helping to expand the collection with works by women artists. Her curatorial focus lies on art from the second half of the twentieth century and the Pietzsch Collection. She previously worked at Stiftung Arp and the University of Hamburg, among other institutions.

Juliet Kothe is a cultural studies scholar, curator, and writer based in Berlin. From 2017 to 2022, she headed the Boros Foundation; today, she is the founder and artistic director of HOUSE. Her work brings contemporary artistic practices into dialogue with positions from art history, developing curatorial concepts around historically significant sites. As part of ›Discovering Collections!‹, she contributes her curatorial perspective and extensive experience with private and institutional collections.

Julia Rust von Krosigk is a cultural manager and organisational consultant for art and culture based in Berlin. She headed me Collectors Room/Olbricht Foundation from 2009 to 2020, served as managing director of Haus am Waldsee and as deputy director of the Bundesstiftung Bauakademie. Today, she works at the Berlin Museum as project manager for the Stiftung Archiv der Sozialen Künstlerförderung Berlins. As co-initiator of ›Discovering Collections!‹, she contributes many years of experience working with private and institutional collections.