PARTICIPATION
Participation in Berlin Art Week
Berlin Art Week is a festival week and the largest collaboration between important institutions in the Berlin art world. Participants include museums and art institutions, art fairs and galleries, as well as private collections and project spaces. Once a year in September, Berlin Art Week and its diverse partner group invite the public to a five-day exhibition and event programme.
Berlin Art Week was founded in 2012 by eleven partners of the contemporary art scene. Today, it counts more than 100 partners across the city. In addition to the established group of regular participants, the circle of partners is developed each year to include new participants and special formats chosen by a selection committee. Thus, a diverse and evolving group of participants is brought together each year. More information on the requirements to participate in Berlin Art Week can be found below.
In addition to the existing partner group of museums, galleries and collections, the section ›Featured‹ complements the festival programme. The ›Featured‹ open call for entries enables a selection of special projects a one-off participation in Berlin Art Week. 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 are not eligible to participate. Berlin Art Week does not have its own exhibition spaces and cannot provide spaces for potential participants.
The open call to participate in ›Featured‹ starts on 5th March and ends on 31st May 2025 at midnight.
Further information on the open call, the application process, and conditions of participation for ›Featured‹ can be found from 5th March on here.
Around 20 Berlin museums and arts institutions of contemporary art—exhibition venues funded by the city or state, art associations, and other art institutions—open their exhibitions and special programmes during Berlin Art Week. The condition for participation is either a contemporary art programme which starts during the festival week with a free opening, or a special programme developed to be on view during the week.
Berlin Art Week includes various cooperation partners from the art market:
Local, national, and international galleries
Galleries—from Berlin, Germany, and around the world—can apply to participate in Positions Berlin Art Fair. For further information about the fair and the application process, send an email to: [email protected]
Berlin galleries
Selected galleries from the Gallery Weekend Berlin network aare taking part in Berlin Art Week with citywide openings and special programmes. For the festival week, the selected galleries come together for a Gallery Night on Friday evening. The condition for participation is an opening as part of the Gallery Night. Further information can be found here.
Emerging Berlin galleries I Open Call
The ›VBKI-Preis Berliner Galerien‹ awards a 10.000 Euro prize to an upcoming Berlin gallery, with the aim to support Berlin as an international art centre. Emerging galleries can apply with an exhibition project that will be realised during Berlin Art Week. An expert jury selects three galleries for the shortlist. The exhibitions and award ceremony take place as part of Berlin Art Week. The prize is awarded by the ›Verein Berliner Kaufleute und Industrieller‹ (VBKI) together with the ›Landesverband Berliner Galerien‹ (lvbg), supported by the Senate Department for Economics, Energy and Enterprises. More information can be found here.
Joint exhibition of Berlin galleries
As a private initiative, Wilhelm Hallen brings together various artists for Berlin Art Week, mounting an exhibition in the revitalised Arsenal space in Berlin Reinickendorf. Supported by 15-20 Berlin galleries, exhibitions and special programmes are presented during Berlin Art Week. Participation takes place upon invitation by the initiators. Further information can be found here.
Select Berlin private collections give insights into their collection highlights during Berlin Art Week. Through the format of open houses, special presentations or events, private collections are made accessible to the public. Through the Discovering Collections format, an annually changing selection of Berlin private collections invite visitors into their private homes and provide an insight into the history of their individual collections. Participating collections are chosen by Berlin Art Week’s artistic director together with a curatorial team. For more information and participation requests, send an email to: [email protected]