EXBERLINER Issue 163, September 2017

WHAT’S ON — Art
BERLIN ART
WEEK
SEP 13-17
Editor’s Choice
Inside the art whirlwind
The fairs, the films, the festivals... this year’s Art Week is the
most expansive yet. Here are our highlights. By Sarrita Hunn
Oana Popa
FAIR FACTS
Art Berlin
Sep 14-17, Station
Berlin, Kreuzberg
Positions
Sep 14-17, Arena,
Alt-Treptow
Berliner Liste
Sep 14-17, Postbahnhof,
Friedrichshain
ART NEWS
Berlin in Istanbul
For its 15th edition
on Sep 16, Istanbul’s
Bienniale is looking
our way. Curated
by the Berlin-based
Nordic duo Elmgreen
& Dragset under
the theme “A Good
Neighbour”, it features
no less than 11
Berlin-based artists,
including Monica
Bonvicini (see
next page).
There was Venice, Kassel, now
Berlin: there’s no better way
to wrap up this summer’s
European grand art tour than with a
jam-packed long weekend of exhibition
openings, fairs, festivals and
more. Coordinated since 2012 by
the state-owned non-profit Kulturprojekte
Berlin, Art Week offers a
programme that is internationally
unparalleled in breadth and depth:
fewer commercial events, more of
the good stuff. Two major art fairs
(three including the off-programme
Berliner Liste), 200 galleries, 15
Positions Art Fair
institutions and theatres, 14 private
collections and 20 independent and
temporary art spaces prove to the
world that the strength of Berlin’s
art scene lies not in a base of rich
collectors, but in the wealth of
artists who live and work here, the
cutting-edge institutions and the
public partners who support them.
Fair play
This year, the big shake-up everyone’s
talking about is the transformation of
top-hitter ABC (Art Berlin Contemporary)
to Art Berlin, now in collaboration
with Art Cologne – an attempt,
some say, to spur ailing sales and reel
in more moneyed collectors. Under
the leadership of longtime ABC director
Maike Cruse and Art Cologne’s
Daniel Hug, Art Berlin presents an
increased number of international
and national galleries (110, up from 63
last year) a broadening of its focus to
“contemporary and modern art” and
higher entrance prices (€16/day, from
€14). Local artists get the spotlight in
an events programme that includes
talks, studio visits and walks around
the exhibition grounds and beyond.
Let’s just see if the transition can live
up to the hype.
You won’t see as many big names
at the fourth edition of Positions,
but you might find some pleasant
surprises. Berlin’s youngest art fair
gives centre stage to fresh perspectives
– this year, the main event
at Arena will be complemented
by a special exhibition featuring
30 young German art students at
Bikini Berlin (Sep 12-23). Entrance
is €12, but cheapskates can still take
a walk along the Spree on Thursday
(Sep 14, 7pm) to catch Berlin-based
artist Stephan Brenn’s large-scale
projections on the Arena façade.
For a more democratic and uncurated
take on art, Berliner Liste will
return to Postbahnhof. Entrance is
€13 but free during the Sep 14 open-
38 EXBERLINER 163