Berlin promotes international art

In the middle of the light-flooded exhibition space at the Haus am Lützowplatz in Berlin stands a large, dark sculpture covered in goat- and calfskin. It calls to mind an igloo or small hut. The artist Sati Zech created it to symbolise the longing for a shelter. On the wall opposite, a series of photographs entitled ”Les Fleurs de Damas” by the French artist Paola Yacoub is displayed. Her photographs depict rose vendors in the streets of Beirut who are suspected of being members of the Syrian intelligence service. A total of 27 works are being showcased here at Lützowplatz and at Neuer Berliner Kunstverein (n.b.k.). The works on show in the exhibition “A Home for Something Unknown” have just one thing in common: all the artists were awarded visual arts work stipends by the Berlin Senate. 

The City of Berlin promotes the active art scene 

“Among the international scholarship holders are both young artists who are right at the beginning of their careers and experienced artists who have already been known in the art scene for several years,” explains Ines Borchart, one of the exhibition’s four curators. For the first time, 27 applicants were selected for this year’s stipend - in previous years only half as many were chosen.  

The City of Berlin wants to promote the active art scene. Doubling the number of artists funded and making the selection more international shows what an important role the visual arts play in Berlin’s cultural life. What is more, n.b.k. curator Layla Burger-Lichtenstein sees the stipends as an expression of the active efforts undertaken to promote the cosmopolitan nature of the German capital. The stipends amount to 24,000 euros for a period of twelve months, enabling the holders to spend a year concentrating on their artistic work.