Workshops
English / Deutsch

2.–10.4.2008

Eyes Wide Open

2nd Curators’ Workshop on occasion of the 5th Berlin Biennale for Contemporary Art

The first Curators’ Workshop in 2006 met with a very positive response, and soKW Institute for Contemporary Art, with the support of the Goethe-Institut e. V., Allianz Cultural Foundation, and BMW, was again organizing a workshop for young curators from all over the world to coincide with the opening of the 5th berlin biennial for contemporary art. The title was Eyes Wide Open.

The jury members were the curators of the 5th Berlin Biennale, Adam Szymczyk and Elena Filipovic, KW Director Gabriele Horn, Barbara Honrath, Head of the Fine Arts department at the Goethe-Institut e. V., and Michael Thoss, Head of the Allianz Cultural Foundation. From 43 applications they selected the following participants:

Participating Curators

  • Dessislava Dimova (Bulgaria)
  • Övül Durmusoglu (Turkey)
  • Kim Einarsson (Sweden)
  • Bassam El-Baroni (Egypt)
  • Ola Khalidi (Jordan)
  • Kirsten Lloyd (Scotland)
  • Esther Lu (Taiwan)
  • Camila Marambio Bunster (Chile and USA)
  • Hannah Mathews (Australia)
  • Gabi Ngcobo (South Africa)
  • Karolina Nowak (Poland)
  • Blandine Roselle (France)
  • Enin Supriyanto (Indonesia)
  • Yuneikys Villalonga Hernández (Cuba)

The program for the workshop was devised by Natasa Petresin-Bachelez and Ana Janevski in consultation with the curators of the 5th Berlin Biennale, Adam Szymczyk and Elena Filipovic.

The discussion sessions, moderated by Ana Janevski, Paz Aburto Guevara and Natasa Petresin-Bachelez, began on April 4, 2008. The participants met internationally renowned curators, cultural producers, and artists. Numerous guest speakers, including the artists’ group WHW, Ute Meta Bauer, Iara Boubnova, Charles Esche were available as discussion partners in the various sessions. The workshop focused on practical issues and the opportunity to reflect on one’s own position.

Conversations with artists represented at the 5th Berlin Biennale were moderated by the participants themselves during the first few days of the exhibition. This opportunity for active participation was supplemented by visits to private collections and other exhibitions in Berlin.

The aim of the program was to analyze conceptual and organizational processes at a large exhibition like the 5th Berlin Biennale and to gain insight into the complex work of curatorship and curatorial practice.