What we do.
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Our Program and the Way We Work
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A Center for Services
Künstlerhaus Bethanien is a service enterprise whose goal is to further
contemporary art and contemporary artists. It is responsible for the lodging
and assistance of international guests; for offering advice in general questions
concerning art and its practical issues; for the running of the workshops;
for the planning and realization of its residents' events; and the development
and organization of artistic and cultural projects both in and outside of
Berlin. The Künstlerhaus is a project workshop and a location for events,
and its structure is comprised of many layers.
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Artists' Residency
With its 25 studios, Künstlerhaus Bethanien represents one of the largest
establishments among international residency programs. The selection of artists
- predominantly in the area of visual arts - is carried out according to the
standards of originality and creative quality. Individual applications are
not accepted by the Künstlerhaus, which owes its international renown
as one of the most prestigious institutes for the support of contemporary
art to the stringency of its selection criteria.
Project Workshop
Künstlerhaus Bethanien is constantly at work on the development and
realization of a large number of artistic and cultural projects, resulting
in numerous public events. 20 to 30 events come about each year out of the
studio program alone: exhibitions, work presentations, performances, and much
more.
A Location for Events
Künstlerhaus Bethanien, however, is also a place of presentation that
is used in a number of ways, where exhibitions and events are produced by
the curatorial staff or by guest curators parallel to the international studio
program. Beyond this, the renting of individual rooms has become standard
practice.
Advice
Among Bethanien's most important services are its counseling activities.
Artists are advised in respect to their projects, and suitable partners, organizations,
and sponsors are recommended and introduced; the Künstlerhaus also provides
recommendations and expertise in the application process for project financing,
artists' residencies, and grants. In addition, advice is offered on initiatives
for the establishment, restructuring, and optimization of artists' and studio
programs, especially regarding questions of finance, tax, and administration
(i.e. starting a company). In this context, cultural contacts to Eastern
Europe (Poland, Hungary, The Czech Republic, Lithuania, Slovenia, Ukraine,
and Russia) play a large role, with a focus on the development of stable
partner relationships as well as the organization of exhibition projects.
In view of the economic separation that continues to divide Eastern and Western
Europe, this type of bridge-building activity will continue to remain one
of Bethanien's most important tasks for years to come.
International Cultural Work
Künstlerhaus Bethanien was and continues to be a partner institution
in numerous bilateral cultural programs in Berlin, such as the city partnership
program, the program of cultural capitals of Europe, the "grenzenlos" projects
(without borders), and many more.
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Publications
An extensive publishing activity counts among Bethanien's services. Over
the 25 years since the institute's founding, approximately 190 works have
been published: books and catalogues on projects of every discipline, catalogues
of resident artists, and magazines.
Since 1994, the Künstlerhaus has been publishing its ambitious "Be
Magazine," which is produced in German and English, as are the majority of
Bethanien's catalogues, making its current exhibitions and topics of discussion
well-known on the international art scene. "Be Magazine" constitutes the
core of Bethanien's theoretical work and reflects phenomena of the current
art scene from the perspectives of international critics, theoreticians,
and writers. At the same time, it supports young Berlin authors in their
assessment of the city's art production. Bethanien doesn't limit itself to
a mere publishing role, but provides high-quality professional editorial
accompaniment, copy-editing, and translation from its own means, not only
building a solid reputation for its series of publications in the process,
but lending a more enduring form to the projects and works of its young artists.
Media Arts Lab
Since 1997, the Künstlerhaus has become increasingly committed to the
area of new electronic art forms with its own Media Arts Lab. This laboratory
is dedicated to internet-based art and promotes those conceptual artists and
projects that understand the computer not as an object of technological fascination,
but as an object for aesthetic investigation. Since 1998, the Media Arts
Lab has been inviting net specialists to take part in special "net conferences."
Bethanien was one of the first institutions that integrated the young phenomenon
of "net.art" into its current work, at the same time plugging into an emerging
media art scene in the Eastern European states.
Training Center for Curatorial Practice
Due to its status as artists' residency program, Künstlerhaus Bethanien
is a location of curatorial practice where the curatorial staff, together
with guest curators and curatorial assistants, work in close dialogue with
invited artists, enjoying their appreciation as contact persons, researchers,
and partners in contention and working together on the realization of artistic
concepts. Parallel to these artistic projects, performances, colloquia, symposia,
and publications, the curators reflect upon their practice in "Be Magazine"
as well as in various other special issues published by the Künstlerhaus.
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