Berlin Art Week 2025
East Side Gallery, Photo by Hannes Kocholl.
Since before the fall of the Wall, Berlin has attracted those who rebelled against the status quo. Pacifists and punks, like artists, were drawn by cheap or free rent via the ability to squat, and others who had already sought alternative lifestyles within the crumbling architecture that defied the war.
Artists intermingled with musicians and performers to create iconic moments which served as catalysts for creative movements as captured in B-Movie: Lust & Sound in West-Berlin 1979-1989, which documents the city's artistic underground in the lead up to reunification. The stories live on throughout the city, where new layers are constantly added to the existing complexity.
While gentrification has pushed the fringes of the capital as far West as Wilmersdorf and as far East as Köpernick, the diversity of art spaces emanate from around Auguststrasse in Mitte – German for middle. Museum Insel could be seen as the center of the cacophony, however KW is the contemporary counterpart, serving as a meeting point for locals and visitors alike.
Situated around a leafy inner courtyard, Kunst-Werke aka KW Institute for Contemporary Art, or simply KW (pronounced kah–vee), is an expansive public exhibition space across multiple floors in Berlin-Mitte. The streets surrounding KW are home to numerous commercial galleries, with many of the more revered somewhat hidden above street level or within hofs, as well as the easily found Fotografiska, a new photography museum inhabiting a former squat, which hosts multiple exhibitions simultaneously as well as events throughout the building.
Co-founded by the curator and museum director Klaus Biesenbach, who has a moviestar aura for his contribution to the arts in Germany and abroad, KW is also home of Berlin Biennale. 2025 marks the 13th Berlin Biennale, which encompasses several sites across the city and opens in July and ends to coincide with the city’s Art Week.
Berlin Art Week presents an extensive collaboration of over 100 venues, including renowned museums and innovative galleries, providing a comprehensive overview of the city's current artistic discourse. Offering an opportunity to deepen your understanding of contemporary art in one of the world’s most interesting and diverse cultural capitals.
During Art Guides World’s guided tour of Berlin we will explore three distinct districts of the city: East, Mitte and West, including a range of institutions, private galleries, studios and special events during the confluence of the key events: Art Week and the Biennale.
