28 February 2020

The institution as a place for aesthetic experience - Lecture by Marius Babias - Neuer Berliner Kunstverein, Berlin

The german curator and art historian Marius Babias is coming to Bulgaria for a working visit  at aninvitation of the Sariev Gallery, the Open Arts Foundation and the Goethe-Institut. During his visit, he will also give a public lecture on the example of the Neuer Berliner Kunstverein as a hybrid institution.

 

30 March 2020, Monday 6.30 pm
Goethe-Institut Bulgaria, 1 Budapest str., Sofia
Free admission
The lecture will be in German with translation 

Can an institution be not only a place to exhibit, but to experience art? And how can it be a space for dialogue and exchange between art and society, to be an intersection of theory, practice and art education? All of these questions will form the basis of the public lecture by German curator Marius Babias, who will present the image of a new hybrid art institution that is between the German kunstverein tradition and the challenges of modern times - all through the example of theinstitutionheis head of- Neuer Berliner Kunstverein.

Neuer Berliner Kunstverein (n.b.k.) is one of the significant contemporary art spaces in the German capital. It is defined as a place for aesthetic experience and dialogue between art and society, between artists and the public.

n.b.k. was founded as a kunstverein in 1969 in order to present contemporary fine arts, but also to provoke the general public to actively participate in cultural processes. Kunstvereinis a typical institutional model for Germany and is of mixed type betweena museum and a private gallery. These institutions do not have a collection and are intended to support contemporary art and authors, funded both by public money and through commercial activities and membership fees.

Totally in line with the kunstvereins, which originated in the late 18th century in Germany, n.b.k. occupies the point of intersection between theory, practice and art education, and continually seeks to pick up on issues of concern to a transcultural and globalized society, and defend fresh ideas. Neuer Berliner Kunstverein strives to help educate the citizensof future, and its programs for promoting the arts, are a central element of this mission.

In addition to the n.b.k. there is Artothek - a lending library with a collection of more than 4000 works of international art. The association also has a Video-forum with 1700 works - one of the oldest and largest collections of its kind in Germany and beyond.

This structure makes n.b.k. a unique hybrid art institution: like a museum, it can draw on extensive holdings, but its programming, produced in cooperation with a network of international partners, more closely resembles that of a public gallery of contemporary art.

More about Neuer Berliner Kunstverein: https://www.nbk.org/

Marius Babias (b. 11.11.1962) is a curator and art theorist living in Berlin. Since 2008 he has been a director of Neuer Berliner Kunstverein (n.b.k.). From 1997 to 2001, Babias has been a visiting professor in art theory and art education at the Städelschule Academy of Fine Arts, Frankfurt and the Kitakyushu Center for Contemporary Art, Japan. Between 2006 and 2008 Babias has been a visiting professor at the University of Künste in Berlin. In 2005 he has been a commissioner of the Romanian Pavilion at the 51st Venice Biennale. In the period 2001-2003, he has been an artistic co-director at the Kokerei Zollverein | Zeitgenössische Kunst und Kritik in Essen. In 1996 he won the Art Criticism Award
 

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