Amid the city-wide demonstrations and jubilation of 1 Might Labour Day, Gallery Weekend Berlin (GWB) opened its twenty first version (till 4 Might). The German capital’s main business artwork occasion this yr consists of 52 galleries, with shows by Anne Imhof at Buchholz, Phung-Tien Phan at Schiefe Zähne, Cyprien Gaillard at Sprüth Magers and Marianna Simnett at Societe.
Since November 2023, the occasion has been directed by Antonia Ruder. However whereas the final version of GWB nonetheless bore the mark of her predecessor, Maike Cruse (now director of Artwork Basel), this yr extra clearly displays Ruder’s imaginative and prescient.
On this position, Ruder faces the long-standing challenges related to organising a city-wide occasion for greater than 50 strong-willed contributors and 1000’s of holiday makers. She additionally faces new points which have emerged inside Berlin’s quickly shifting cultural panorama, which has been bruised by finances cuts—the town’s senator for tradition, Joe Chialo, yesterday resigned from workplace, citing the cuts as a key purpose. In the meantime state censorship on topics associated to the Israel-Palestine battle continues to imperil Berlin’s popularity as an open-minded and tolerant inventive hub.
Beneath, Ruder discusses her imaginative and prescient for GWB and the way it’s navigating this tough terrain.
The Artwork Newspaper: How have you ever put your stamp on this yr’s GWB?
Antonia Ruder: “Gallery Weekend Berlin is a profitable format and that is largely because of the taking part galleries, their excellent exhibitions, and the help of all of the artists. I needed to broaden the format by including new components that supply deeper insights—alternatives to satisfy the artists, to grasp their methods of pondering and dealing, and to discover why accumulating artwork can enrich one’s life. This yr, we launched a sequence of talks in cooperation with the Neue Nationalgalerie, began a podcast that gives a glance inside artists’ studios, and organised public excursions.”
To some you may appear an unconventional alternative as GWB director. Your current skilled background, working for the famend Berlin theatre Schaubühne, noticed you concentrate on bridging artwork and theatre, moderately than embedded within the business artwork world. How has your expertise knowledgeable your management of GWB?
“My background in bridging artwork and theatre, mixed with my information of Berlin, has taught me create significant dialogue between disciplines, creatives, and audiences. Whereas I used to be already aware of the artwork market, I’ve at all times approached it as one thing that additionally wants context, dialog, and connection.”
In a blow to the town, Berlin’s cultural funding was just lately reduce by €130m, with an extra €15m deliberate subsequent yr. With establishments struggling to make up the shortfall, is the business sector stepping in to assist? Might an occasion like GWB goal to handle this situation and enhance cultural establishments?
“It’s true that the current cuts to cultural funding have hit Berlin arduous—particularly smaller establishments and unbiased areas. Whereas the business sector alone can’t fill that hole, it does have a job to play. The galleries have at all times aimed to help the broader creative ecosystem of the town. By partnerships — like this yr’s collaboration with the Neue Nationalgalerie—we attempt to construct bridges between non-public initiatives and public establishments. We see GWB as a platform that brings visibility, dialogue, and help to Berlin’s numerous artwork scene. In occasions like these, that mission turns into much more necessary.”
GWB held its first version in 2005, when the artwork truthful mannequin was ascendant and comparatively unchallenged. At this time, many galleries are looking for alternate options. Do you assume the gallery weekend mannequin can present a extra enticing substitute for artwork festivals at a time of rising prices and environmental issues?
“Gallery Weekend affords an necessary and compelling various format that operates alongside the standard fair-driven artwork market. What makes it distinctive is the concentrate on the gallery house itself — on experiencing artwork the place it was meant to be seen, in direct dialogue with the artists, curators, and the town. At a time when rising prices and environmental issues are making the artwork world rethink sure constructions, codecs like GWB can provide a slower, extra sustainable, and context-rich manner of partaking with artwork.”
Berlin’s popularity as a free-spirited metropolis has been challenged attributable to rising censorship from the German state across the topic of Israel-Palestine. As {a partially} state-funded occasion (GWB has acquired funding from the the Senate Division of Financial Affairs, Power and Public Enterprises since 2020), does this sponsorship restrict what you’ll be able to say about sure points, particularly round Palestine, Israel and anti-semitism?
“No, there have been no directives or limitations positioned on us by public funding our bodies. The taking part galleries are totally unbiased in curating their programmes and selecting which artists to current. Gallery Weekend Berlin is dedicated to creative freedom and open dialogue. As a decentralised format, it thrives on the variety of voices and views, and curatorial selections that mirror the complexity and richness of Berlin’s cultural scene. That independence is prime to the id of the galleries programme.”
Gallery Weekend was established as a manner to attract internationals in to the town. Some teams at the moment are calling for a Strike Germany, through which tradition employees boycott Germany over its stance on the Israel-Palestine battle. What does GWB seem like on this context?
“Gallery Weekend Berlin’s mission to attract the worldwide artwork scene to Berlin has stayed true and profitable for over twenty years. Its position is much more related and wanted now, in its local weather of utmost division.”
