PRESS RELEASE | Berlin Art Week 2025: Starting Wednesday, contemporary art takes centre stage in the capital

On 10 SEP 2025, the 14th edition of Berlin Art Week opens, organised each year by Kulturprojekte Berlin. With more than 300 events and over 100 exhibition openings, the capital turns into a stage for contemporary art: more than 100 museums, collections, galleries, an art fair, project spaces and unusual venues—from hangars and churches to industrial halls—present the latest developments in contemporary practice.

The ›Berlin Art Week Garten‹ returns this year at Hamburger Bahnhof – Nationalgalerie der Gegenwart. Throughout the week, visitors can take part in a free, open-air programme that spans conversations on democracy, a food intervention, open-air cinema and daily DJ sets. A central highlight is the symposium ›Shaping the Future‹ on Friday, 12 SEP, which examines the contemporary museum as a social space. International curators and museum directors from institutions including Arken (Copenhagen), ARoS Aarhus Kunstmuseum (Aarhus), Tate Modern (London) and KANAL – Centre Pompidou (Brussels) will address today’s challenges and the expanding social connections of contemporary museums.

The Senator for Culture and Social Cohesion, Sarah Wedl-Wilson: »Berlin is a city whose cultural diversity is characterised by innovation, experimentation and constant renewal. This is also reflected in Berlin Art Week: it brings together institutions, artists and independent initiatives and highlights how diverse and resilient this scene is. I am thrilled that it is not only the big names that are represented here, but also unexpected places and new voices – Berlin Art Week brings them all together and gives them a stage that shines beyond Berlin.«

National and international artists highlight the diversity of Berlin’s art scene: Petrit Halilaj at Hamburger Bahnhof; Erik Schmidt, Cornelia Parker, Phoebe Collings-James and Cihad Caner at Kindl – Centre for Contemporary Art; Mark Leckey at the Julia Stoschek Foundation; Issy Wood at Schinkel Pavillon; Jordan Strafer at Fluentum; Charmaine Poh at PalaisPopulaire and Jiyoung Yoon at daadgalerie.

Group exhibitions take on the major issues of our time: home, belonging and forms of resistance. Savvy Contemporary turns its gaze to migrant everyday worlds and invites visitors to rethink the idea of home. Haus der Kulturen der Welt brings together works by around 50 artists addressing the resurgence of fascist ideologies. At its Hellersdorf location, nGbK focuses on questions of place and cultural border-crossings, while ifa-galerie Berlin asks: ›What does it mean for a place to be loved?‹.

The art market also comes into focus: Positions Berlin Art Fair brings together 75 local, national and international galleries in the hangar of the former Tempelhof Airport. Across the city, around 50 Berlin galleries take part in Gallery Night on Thursday evening. The VBKI-Preis Berliner Galerien honours the programmes of young Berlin galleries: nominees include Galerie Molitor with Jesse Darling, Mountains with Andrea Pichl and Eric Maier, and Robert Grunenberg with Meo Wulf. »Berlin Art Week is a highlight in the Berlin art market’s annual calendar. With formats such as the POSITIONS Berlin Art Fair, Gallery Night, and the presentation of the VBKI Prize for Berlin Galleries, it puts the diversity and dynamism of the scene in the spotlight. Once again, Berlin is the focus of the international art scene. At the same time, Art Week underscores the importance of the art market as an economic factor and a catalyst for artistic innovation« says Franziska Giffey, Mayor of Berlin and Senator for Economic Affairs, Energy and Public Enterprises.

Performance series created exclusively for the duration of the festival bring Joan Jonas, Issac Chong Wai, Yoko Ono and others to ›Perform!‹ at Neue Nationalgalerie, and Jefta van Dinther with HAU Hebbel am Ufer to St. Elisabeth Church. As part of ›Open Houses‹, renowned private collections open their doors with no need for advance registration. ›Discovering Collections!‹ also offers the chance to join guided tours through private spaces of Berlin collectors that have never before been accessible to the public.

The ›Featured‹ section presents 25 project spaces and special initiatives. It highlights alliances between nomadic, often smaller, artist-run formats and collectively used studios, as well as transdisciplinary curatorial approaches. A highlight is ›Featured Night‹ on Friday evening, with city-wide openings and performances lasting into the early hours. »Art creates connections and opens up spaces for dialogue – especially in times of social change,« says Carsten Jung, CEO of Berliner Volksbank. »The first three years of our sponsorship of Berlin Art Week have shown how welcome our support has been in Berlin’s art world. And also how necessary and fruitful the ongoing dialogue between artists, exhibitors, and Berliners interested in art is. By extending our cooperation, we are now sending a clear signal for cultural participation in the future and the promotion of new creative impulses in our city. Berlin Art Week is a flagship project for Berliner Volksbank, which we will continue to support with full conviction over the next three years – the festival week opens up perspectives, creates opportunities for the future, and strengthens social cohesion in our region.«

The full programme can be found at berlinartweek.de (see the Programme Calendar). The Berlin Art Week Newsletter delivers the day’s highlights to your inbox each morning during the festival week. Our interactive map makes it easy to find your way around and helps visitors keep track. You can use it to plan a personal route by district, venue type or level of accessibility.

Berlin Art Week is a project by Kulturprojekte Berlin. It is funded by the Senate Department for Culture and Social Cohesion, the Senate Department for Economic Affairs, Energy and Public Enterprises, and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). Its realisation is supported by Berliner Volksbank eG.