The Gallery Weekend planned for the beginning of May has now been postponed to September. If you don't want to wait that long, you can already start your discovery tour now. Numerous Berlin galleries and cultural institutions are already open again and are looking forward to your visit. Please book a ticket with a time slot online in advance. To help you get a good start in Berlin's ever-changing art and culture scene, we present the best entry points here.
Additionally, you can get inspired by the virtual offers of Berlin's galleries. Against the background of the forced closures in times of Corona, many exciting and innovative approaches have been developed.
Tip 1: INDEX Berlin - Sunday Open
All important information about Berlin's art and cultural world can be found in the bimonthly INDEX, the Berlin calendar for contemporary art. With a minimalist design and a focus on the essentials, the index offers a comprehensive overview of galleries, openings, closures, artists and other projects. On the website you can create your own tour and get tips on other events and selected bars, cafés and restaurants in the vicinity.
On June 21, Berlin's galleries will once again be inviting you to the Sunday Open. The perfect opportunity to get a first insight into Berlin's art and culture scene.
Tip 2: Berlin Art Link
Initiated in 2010 by the two artists Monica Salazar and Anna Russ (MONA), Berlin Art Link aims to facilitate the exchange between creative people, art experts and critics. To this end, not only studios and exhibitions in Berlin will be visited and discussed. Correspondents also contribute contemporary perspectives from the art world of New York, London and Los Angeles. In addition to artist profiles, videos and interviews from the Capitals of Culture, you will also find event tips and open calls for entries as well as an overview of art spaces, studios and ateliers in Berlin.
Tip 3: Landesverband Berliner Galerien (Berlin Galleries Association)
The art calendar of the Berlin Galleries Association (Landesverbandes Berliner Galerien) offers you a good overview of current exhibitions of the large and smaller galleries in the German capital. You can also search for artists whose works are currently on display in Berlin or for different genres of art, such as painting, sculpture, photography, video, light or textile art. Have fun browsing.
Landesverband Berliner Galerien
Tip 4: bpigs
Made by artists for artists, this digital art guide offers a good insight into the city's independent scene. The aim is to establish a communication platform for the scene itself. Of course you will find all important openings and exhibitions but also one-night pop up actions and an overview of typical Berlin projects of the past years. Members can post their own culturally relevant listings. Interviews and guest contributions complete the offer.
Another good read we can recommend is ARTBerlin, featuring studio visits, interviews and great photgraphy.
Tip 5: 11. Berlin Biennale
exp. 3 of this year's Berlin Biennale has been extended until 25 July. Exactly how and when the epilogue - planned for June 13 to September 13, 2020 - will take place is still open. In exp. 3 Sinthujan Varatharajah and Osías Yanov examine the various traces of the body and the imprints of its collective geography. Check it out! From 28 May you can visit the temporary spaces on the ExRotaprint site. Please book a ticket with a time slot online in advance.
Where: Bornemannstraße 9, Wedding
When: Thursday to Saturday, 14 - 19 hrs
Tip 6: Berlin Views
In order to increase their own visibility, a number of Berlin galleries have joined forces. Currently, the joint platform, entitled Berlin Views, presents 25 different galleries, which are presented in short portraits. In addition, currently exhibited works - including a price tag - are shown online. Of course, there is also the option to buy your favourite works.
Tip 7: Neuer Berliner Kunstverein (n.b.k.)
Through the Artothek of the Neuer Berliner Kunstverein - which, by the way, was founded in 1970 and is the oldest Artothek in Germany - you can borrow a real work of art for 3 months at home for an insurance fee of 3 Euros. A total of 4000 works are available within the framework of this mediation project, which aims to make contemporary art accessible to a wider public. The holdings of the Video Forum can also be viewed again. Simply book an appointment with a time slot. Art mediation and discourse currently still take place online.
When: Artothek: Tuesday and Thursday 2 pm - 8 pm, Wednesday and Friday 2 pm - 6 pm Video-Forum: Tuesday and Thursday 2 pm - 8 pm, Wednesday 2 pm - 6 pm
Where: Chausseestrasse 128/129, Mitte
Tip 8: Berlin galleries and their digital offers
Julia Stoschek Collection
The Julia Stoschek Collection has put a very extensive part of the program online. Video works and exhibition tours from the galeries in Berlin and Düsseldorf are collected in the media library. In addition, art is streamed several times a day through the social media channels. Let yourself be inspired!
CFA: Comtemporary Fine Arts
Before you visit the CFA Galerie Berlin check out their website to gain some insights. You can find videos and podcasts, interviews, portraits or virtual tours and of course selected works of all artists as well as current and past exhibitions and work shows.
CFA Comtemporary Fine Arts Berlin
Sprüth Magers
The Sprüth Magers Gallery in Berlin is open again. Tickets with time slots are available online. And if you're already on the Internet, you can also take a look behind the scenes during a virtual studio visit. The best thing to do is to follow Sprüth Magers on Instagram. The website communicates current information.
C/O Berlin
With a focus on photography and video art, C/O Berlin has now also made a name for itself internationally. C/O not only shows renowned artists, but also promotes young talent. As a non-profit foundation, C/O Berlin also focuses on art education. You will find numerous videos, documentaries, and recorded panel discussions.
Since May 21, C/O Berlin is open for you again.
Galerie König
Over 40 international artists are currently represented by Galerie König. In order to guarantee them visibility even during the forced closures during the Corona crisis, the website has been greatly expanded and extended. You can now not only see a complete overview of the works, but also 3D views of the rooms and detailed individual views. Additionally you can participate in expert talks and interactive art actions via Instragram.
KW Institute for Contemporary Art
KW Institute for Contemporary Art's website is currently a colorful collage of videos, exhibition tours, visual materials, and links to video and social media channels, as well as press material on the artists and works currently on display. It includes video exhibition tours guided by the curators through the exhibitions of:
- Hassan Sharif: I Am The Single Work Artist
- Kris Lemsalu Malone & Kyp Malone Lemsalu: Love Song Sing-Along
- Mophradat's Consortium Commissions: Jasmina Metwaly & Yazah Khalili
- Reopening is on 30 May
KW Institute for Contemporary Art
Tip 9: Kunst kennt keine Ausgangssperre (Art knows no curfew)
Under the motto "Kunst kennt keine Ausgangssperre" ("Art knows no curfew") the artist duo kunstopfer has created a platform on which currently 50 artists present current works of art in digital space. Photos of works of art are published here in a loose sequence, whereby five artists* each, predominantly resident in Berlin, create a virtual tour with the photographs of their works. Paintings, sculptures, objects, photography and digital material are on display. All works are for sale.
Kunst kennt keine Ausgangssperre
Tip 10: Monopol: Covid 19 and the Arts
If you feel like more art, then take a look at the online presence of the Berlin art magazine Monopol. The current special is about "How the corona virus influences the art world" - including a few memes on the corona crisis: laughing is healthy. You can also find out how well the internet experiment at Art Basel worked. The Hong Kong edition of the mega art fair also had to be cancelled. Tip: Exciting topics from the magazine are also discussed in the Monopol-Podcast.
Monopol: Covid 19 and the Arts
Tip 11: YAIR: your art is reality
For the Berlin-based art start-up YAIR, digital art has been an issue for quite some time. Their goal is, among other things, to digitize artworks and make them accessible to a broad public via a token system on the Blockchain. Currently you can see various video installations of the represented artists plus recordings of exhibitions of digital artworks. The clip on Insta was filmed at Kraftwerk Berlin during the preview of "Refik Anadol: Latent Being".
Before you dive into the Berlin art scene, please remember...
- reserve a ticket online with a time slot.
- wear a face mask if necessary.
- to observe the hygiene measures and regulations of the individual providers.
And for a quick overview of what else is already open in Berlin, just take a look at visitBerlin.de
