{"id":4584,"date":"2025-04-25T16:29:08","date_gmt":"2025-04-25T16:29:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nationalgunowner.org\/index.php\/2025\/04\/25\/antonia-ruder-on-leading-gallery-weekend-berlin-in-a-changing-market\/"},"modified":"2025-04-25T16:29:13","modified_gmt":"2025-04-25T16:29:13","slug":"antonia-ruder-on-leading-gallery-weekend-berlin-in-a-changing-market","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nationalgunowner.org\/index.php\/2025\/04\/25\/antonia-ruder-on-leading-gallery-weekend-berlin-in-a-changing-market\/","title":{"rendered":"Antonia Ruder On Leading Gallery Weekend Berlin in a Changing Market"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Gallery Weekend Berlin returns on May 2 for its 21st edition, showcasing the quality and diversity of the city\u2019s art scene. Courtesy Galeria Plan B Cluj, Berlin Photo: Dacian Groza<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Since it launched in 2005, Gallery Weekend Berlin has become one of the most highly anticipated art events on the global calendar and is widely regarded as the best time to catch up with what\u2019s happening in the vibrant Berlin art scene. Returning this year from May 2-4, the city-wide festival will see fifty-two galleries staging some absolutely incredible shows featuring both established and emerging artists.<\/p>\n

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Ahead of this year\u2019s edition, Observer caught up with Antonia Ruder<\/a>, who joined Gallery Weekend Berlin in 2023 and is now preparing for the first edition fully under her direction. The weekend gallery festival was created by a group of twenty-one galleries as a private initiative aimed at bringing attention to and fostering the popularity of the Berlin art scene, which was at the time at its peak. \u201cThey joined forces to bring people to the city, with this idea of community and solidarity\u2014everyone pulled together the best shows of the year,\u201d Ruder told Observer.<\/p>\n

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SEE ALSO: How Some Art Galleries Are Collaborating in a Bid to Be More Competitive<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Gallery Weekend Berlin has grown significantly; last year, fifty-five galleries mounted shows for the 20th-anniversary edition. Even so, the festival is choosy when selecting participants, which is necessary to ensure visitors who come to the city for the event only see the best of the best. \u201cIt\u2019s important as a quantity proof that when one comes to the city, one will definitely see exciting and high profile shows,\u201d Ruder said.<\/p>\n

Since its founding, Gallery Weekend Berlin has served as a blueprint for similar festivals worldwide\u2014Beijing, Chicago, Los Angeles and other municipalities host similar events. What sets Berlin\u2019s version apart, however, is that in the absence of an international art fair in the city, the gallery weekend has become the premier platform for contemporary art in Germany, attracting international collectors and professionals alike. \u201cIt\u2019s a good alternative,\u201d according to Ruder, \u201cThis festival allows you to discover both the art and the urban landscape at the same time. I think this is what makes gallery weekend successful.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Antonia Ruder. Photo: Anne Morgenstern<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Gallery Weekend Berlin launched in the middle of a fortunate historical conjunction right after the fall of the wall<\/a>, which coincided with a moment of extraordinary cultural activity in Germany and Berlin in particular. That was the moment when German art started to move from Cologne and Dusseldorf to Berlin, which after 1989, rapidly emerged as an affordable, experimental and politically charged hub of artistic activity. In the early 2000s, international galleries like Esther Schipper and Neugerriemschneider set up shop in the city, and Berlin was at the time seen as free ground\u2014not only because it was far from the academy but also because space was cheap.<\/p>\n

Today, Ruder admitted, the situation is very different. Prices are rising in the city as it grows into a major tech and financial hub. Since before the pandemic, artists and galleries have been forced to decamp for other more affordable (or otherwise more attractive) European capitals like Paris, Milan or Vienna. Gallery Weekend Berlin exists, in part, to reestablish the city as somewhere welcoming to artists, dealers and art lovers. \u201cI believe we really need to put some effort into it because just a few years ago Berlin was considered as very cool and free, with something for everyone,\u201d Ruder said, \u201cI think we need to connect with institutions and Berlin\u2019s professionals to bring good shows to the city and to support affordable studios.\u201d<\/p>\n

Those institutions have recently been grappling with budget cuts, but Ruder believes that Berlin is still a city where artists can live. \u201cWhat makes Berlin and the galleries here so successful is that distribution and production are very close. We need to keep this special environment and also be in conversation with the culture senate and other key persons in the art field to secure this.\u201d To bring more attention to Berlin\u2019s unique art scene in 2025, Gallery Weekend Berlin will offer a series of studio visits as part of its VIP program. To attract a new, dynamic collector base coming from Asia<\/a>, representatives in South Korea and China recently joined the festival\u2019s team.<\/p>\n

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Installation view of \u201cThe Faker\u201d by Cosima von Bonin at Galerie Neu. Photo: Stefan Korte<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

New galleries are still opening in Berlin, and Ruder pointed out that plenty of dealers are still choosing the city over other European capitals when launching new galleries or opening outposts. This year\u2019s Gallery Weekend Berlin program will feature four new galleries, and according to Ruder, the number of collectors in the city is also growing, with many new young professionals, particularly in tech, finding their way to the art scene. To court them, the festival has planned a series of walkthroughs and talks at the Neue Nationalgalerie with artists and art professionals\u2014the goal being to make art more accessible and engaging for a local audience with a lot of potential.<\/p>\n

Highlights of this year\u2019s edition include a major new solo show by artist Monica Bonvicini<\/a> at Capitain Petzel, a show of work by Tony Cragg<\/a> at Buchmann Galerie and an exhibition of the genius of Wim Wenders<\/a> at Galerie BASTIAN. Meanwhile, ChertL\u00fcdde will present a solo show of work by \u00c1lvaro Urbano, following his recent standout site-specific and immersive exhibition at SculptureCenter in New York. Anne Imhof<\/a> will present a series of new works at Galerie Buchholz, including a sound piece tied to her recent performance at Park Avenue Armory<\/a> in New York.<\/p>\n

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Paloma Varga Weisz at Konrad Fischer Galerie. Photo: Stefan Korte<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Other heavy hitters not to miss include a group show with Thomas Bayrle<\/a> and Olafur Eliasson<\/a> at Neugerriemschneider, a show of Martha Rosler<\/a> at Nagel Draxler, the Austrian artist Arnulf Rainer<\/a> at Galerie Michael Haas and the three solo shows by Leilah Babirye<\/a>, Sergey Kononov<\/a> and celebrated German photographer Thomas Struth<\/a> at Galerie Max Hetzler. Among the new participants, KLEMM\u2019S will present the work of Hong Kong-based artist Leelee Chan<\/a>, while Galerie Molitor will present the work of American painter Diane Severin Nguyen<\/a>, and Soy Capit\u00e1n will feature a solo show of New York-based artist Melissa Joseph<\/a>. Additional highlights include a show by Jimmie Durham<\/a> at Barbara Wien, Cyprien Gaillard<\/a> and Michail Pirgelis<\/a> at Spr\u00fcth Magers, and Michael Werner<\/a> presenting a solo dedicated to Frank Auerbach<\/a>, who recently passed.<\/p>\n

The 2025 edition of Gallery Weekend Berlin will also mark the official opening of Pace Gallery\u2019s Berlin space in collaboration with Galerie Judin. Die Tankstelle, a new art space housed in a converted 1950s gas station, will open with \u201cReverse Alchemy\u201d (through June 14), Pace\u2019s inaugural show that brings together works on paper by Jean Dubuffet<\/a>, Jean-Michel Basquiat<\/a>, and Robert Nava<\/a> and Galerie Judin will present an exhibition dedicated to Tom of Finland<\/a>.<\/p>\n

While Berlin is still arguably a global art capital, gentrification and rising costs challenge its status as a truly accessible one. Gallery Weekend Berlin\u2014along with the Berlin Biennial\u2014is something of a referendum on whether Berlin can still be a generative ground for experimentation, dialogue and discovery. Obstacles persist, but as Ruder emphasized, so do possibilities.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\"Antonia<\/p><\/div>\n