Featured | Open Call

The section ›Featured‹ complements the festival programme of Berlin Art Week in addition to the existing partner group of museums, galleries and private collections. The ›Featured‹ open call for entries enables a selection of special projects a one-off participation in the festival. The projects are selected by an appointed jury. The aim of the open call is to further underline the quality and diversity of artistic production in the city and to give various institutions, themes, and perspectives a platform during Berlin Art Week.

All project organisers of the Berlin contemporary art scene are invited to submit an entry. Independent project groups, project spaces and initiatives, small and large art institutions and other actors in contemporary art are eligible to participate. Individual artists with exhibition spaces are not eligible to participate. Berlin Art Week does not have its own exhibition spaces and cannot provide spaces for potential participants.

The prerequisite for participation is a contemporary art programme contribution. There are no thematic requirements and no limitation to specific media of contemporary art production. The programme contributions should begin during Berlin Art Week (10—14 SEP 2025) or represent a free special programme within the festival week. Openings within the festival week should be free of charge. Programmes with durations that start before the festival week as well as purely commercial formats are excluded from participation.

Independent project groups, project spaces and initiatives, small and large art institutions and other actors in contemporary art are eligible to participate. Individual artists are only eligible to apply provided that they have a suitable exhibition space. There is no entitlement to participation.

Berlin Art Week does not fund projects. There are no participation fees.

Repeat applications are possible after previous participation in Berlin Art Week.

The open call for participation in Featured 2025 is expected to start on 4 March 2025 and ends on 31 May 2025 at midnight.

The following information is required for submission:

  • Name and short text about the institution / exhibition venue
  • Information on the exhibition / special programme: title, opening, duration, brief concept
  • Contact person (name, e-mail, telephone number)
  • Authorised signatory (name, position)
  • Images: The online form must be submitted together with 5-8 images, which also serve as information for the jury. Please take care to select meaningful images that comprehensively convey your project to the jury. This should also include images of the premises in which the project takes place (format: JPG. Minimum image size: landscape format 1,000 px wide / portrait format 700 px wide). The images are not uploaded in the form, but sent separately as a WeTransfer-link to [email protected].

You can always return to the fields you have already completed within the form. If you close the online form before submitting it, the data entered will not be retained. A copy of your details will be sent to the email address you entered in the form once you have submitted your application.

Your data is not intended for publication and will be used exclusively for processing by the Berlin Art Week team and for the jury’s selection procedure.

An annually appointed jury decides on inclusion in the festival programme.

The jury for the open call of Featured 2024 were: Emma Enderby (Director, KW Institute for Contemporary Art), Nele Heinevetter (Founder, Tropez), Christian Kaspar Schwarm (Board Member Curatories at Freunde der Nationalgalerie, Freunde der Nationalgalerie), Mona Stehle (Artistic Director, Berlin Art Week).

The jury 2023 consisted of: Krist Gruijthuijsen (Director, KW Institute for Contemporary Art), Catherine Nichols (Curator, Hamburger Bahnhof – Nationalgalerie der Gegenwart), Mona Stehle (Artistic Director, Berlin Art Week), María Inés Plaza Lazo (Founder, Arts of the Working Class).

Applicants will be notified by email of their decision to be included in the festival programme without individual justification.

The selected project sponsors are one-time partners; the cooperation relates to the Berlin Art Week programme contribution stated in the application. If the project is accepted, a cooperation agreement will be concluded with Kulturprojekte Berlin GmbH. The project will be included in the festival week programme as an official partner and integrated into the festival week’s communication measures via all Berlin Art Week channels.

If you have any questions, please contact: [email protected] 

 

 

FAQS

All project organisers from Berlin’s contemporary art scene are invited to submit an application. Independent project groups, project spaces and initiatives, small and large art institutions and other actors in contemporary art are eligible to participate. Individual artists are only eligible to apply provided that they have a suitable exhibition space. Purely commercial formats are excluded from participation.

Yes, provided they have a suitable exhibition space. Persons without an exhibition space are not eligible to participate.

It is not possible to participate in Berlin Art Week without your own premises. Berlin Art Week does not have its own exhibition spaces and cannot arrange rooms for potential participants.

Yes, but the submission should convey the project idea as concretely as possible and artists should already have agreed to collaborate.

The open call for participation in BAW Featured 2025 is expected to start in February 2025 and end on 31 May 2025 at midnight.

You can find the online application form here during the application phase.

The following information is required for submission:

  • Name and short text about the institution / exhibition venue
  • Information on the exhibition / special programme: title, opening, duration, brief concept
  • Contact person (name, e-mail, telephone number)
  • Authorised signatory (name, position)
  • Images: The online form must be submitted together with 5-8 images, which also serve as information for the jury. Please take care to select meaningful images that comprehensively convey your project to the jury. This should also include images of the premises in which the project takes place (format: JPG. Minimum image size: landscape format 1,000 px wide / portrait format 700 px wide). The images are not uploaded in the form, but sent separately as a WeTransfer-link to [email protected].

An annually appointed jury decides on inclusion in the festival programme.

The jury for the Open Call of BAW Featured 2024 were: Emma Enderby (Director, KW Institute for Contemporary Art), Nele Heinevetter (Founder, Tropez), Christian Kaspar Schwarm (Board Member Curatories at Freunde der Nationalgalerie, Freunde der Nationalgalerie), Mona Stehle (Artistic Director, Berlin Art Week).

The jury 2023 consisted of: Krist Gruijthuijsen (Director, KW Institute for Contemporary Art), Catherine Nichols (Curator, Hamburger Bahnhof – Nationalgalerie der Gegenwart), Mona Stehle (Artistic Director, Berlin Art Week), María Inés Plaza Lazo (Founder, Arts of the Working Class).

Notification of acceptance or rejection for participation is planned for the beginning of July 2025. Applicants will be informed of the decision by email without individual reasons.

The Berlin Art Week team will contact you to obtain further information about your project. The information you provide will be used for comprehensive communication and promotion of the festival programme (website, social media, etc.). In addition, a cooperation agreement will be drawn up for participation in the festival.

No. Berlin Art Week does not charge any participation fees from its programme partners in the Featured section.

No. Berlin Art Week does not contribute to the costs of realising your project.

The following projects and project spaces were part of the festival programme in 2024 as part of BAW Featured:

FEATURED PROJECTS
Between Bridges—CCA Berlin – Center for Contemporary Arts—Ephra—Fotografiska Berlin—Fluss Bad Berlin at Bauakadamie—Reethaus—Kunst Raum Mitte—KVOST | Kunstverein Ost—MaHalla—Spore Initiative—Trauma—ZK/U–Zentrum für Kunst und Urbanistik

FEATURED PROJECT SPACES
Die Möglichkeit einer Insel—Holon—Neun Kelche—Sinema Transtopia—singuhr – projekte—SOMA Art Berlin—Spoiler at CANK—The Moment

Jury statements and further information on selected projects from 2023—2024 can be viewed here.