BB13 Curators Workshop
Curators Workshop for early-career curators, educators, and other practitioners on the occasion of the 13th Berlin Biennale for Contemporary Art.
With Doreen Mende, Somrak Sila, Valentina Viviani and more!
Application Deadline: 13.7.2025
Workshop Dates: 1.9.–7.9.2025
Date of Arrival: 31.8.2025
Date of Departure: 8.9.2025
The BB13 Curators Workshop Fugitive Acts: Art and Politics is organized in collaboration with the Goethe-Institut and the ifa – Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen, and is supported by Volkswagen Group as the Educational Partner of the 13th Berlin Biennale.
On the occasion of the 13th Berlin Biennale (13.berlinbiennale.de, 14.6.–14.9.2025), curator Zasha Colah and director Axel Wieder have invited a group of international curators and thinkers to prepare the program for the BB13 Curators Workshop.
Marking its 10th iteration since 2006, the BB13 Curators Workshop—drawing on Colah’s concept for the 13th Berlin Biennale and its thematic areas—addresses pressing questions about how to place artistic practice at the heart of what we do. Invited participants will have the opportunity to discuss these topics in close collaboration with curators, speakers, Berlin Biennale staff, and invited contributors.
In collaboration with the Goethe-Institut, ifa – Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen, and with the support of the 13th Berlin Biennale’s Educational Partner Volkswagen Group, the Berlin Biennale invites a group of fifteen early-career curators, educators, and other practitioners to participate in a seven-day workshop. Ten of the selected curators will be invited from an international call, and five will be based in Berlin—a structure designed to strengthen local-international connections and increase the project’s impact within the Berlin scene.
BB13 Curators Workshop
Fugitive Acts: Art and Politics
The BB13 Curators Workshop will engage directly with the 13th Berlin Biennale, curated by Zasha Colah, with participants contributing collectively to the program. Along with an expression of interest, applicants are asked to submit a document—a writing sample or documentation of previous curatorial work, images, artworks, etc.—that encapsulates their interpretation of what exhibitions can do.
The seven-day program in Berlin will include workshops, visits, and conversations with organizers, curators, and artists.
The BB13 Curators Workshop Fugitive Acts: Art and Politics considers the place of politics within contemporary exhibition making. Politics have always been part of exhibitions, from the early world and trade exhibitions and their role within the history of colonization, to fascist or Cold War propaganda shows.
With the Western historical avant-gardes, political engagement often became a driving force for artistic innovation, in which exhibitions emerged as a space for critical, subversive discussions. This approach is still crucial as an ambition, defining the value—or "relevance"—of an exhibition.
In contrast, with the theme Fugitive Acts: Art and Politics, the BB13 Curators Workshop seeks to explore how the format of the exhibition can be considered politically—how curatorial practice can address the exhibition format itself as a political form.
This includes the way it places itself within a discussion, its relation to the public, to infrastructure, and towards decisions that happen in advance of an exhibition, such as decisions of inclusion and exclusion.
Timeline
Applications must be sent by email no later than July 13, 2025. Fifteen participants will be selected by an international jury. Successful applicants will be informed by the end of July and provided travel and accommodation details as well as additional information about the program. The BB13 Curators Workshop will take place from September 1 to 7, 2025 in Berlin. (Dates subject to change.)
Selection Committee:
Axel Wieder (Director, Berlin Biennale for Contemporary Art)
Valentina Viviani (Assistant Curator, 13th Berlin Biennale for Contemporary Art)
Eva Schmitt (Head of Department of Visual Arts, Goethe-Institut)
Dr. Ellen Strittmatter (Head of Visual Arts Department, ifa – Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen)
Benita von Maltzahn (Head of Global Cultural Engagement, Volkswagen Group)
Eligibility
The workshop will be conducted in English.
The application is open to early-career curators, educators, and other practitioners of any age.
Some initial experience in presenting contemporary art (such as exhibition curation, art writing, organizing symposia) is expected.
Participants should be available to attend the workshop in person in Berlin from September 1 to 7.
If you are applying from a country where a visa is required to travel to Germany, kindly keep in mind that visa procedures can sometimes take longer than anticipated. The Berlin Biennale team will gladly provide all necessary documentation and do its best to support your application process. However, we cannot guarantee that a visa will be issued in time.
Application Guidelines
Application Deadline: 13.7.2025
Send applications to: cw@berlinbiennale.de
Please send your application as one PDF document (max. 5 MB) that includes the following (in English):
Expression of interest: a short text (max. 300 words) explaining why you would like to participate in the BB13 Curators Workshop and what your practice may contribute to the group.
A writing sample or documentation of previous curatorial work, images, artworks, etc. that encapsulates your interpretation of what exhibitions can do. This should fit on a single A4 sheet and be formatted as a PDF file. (For audiovisual samples, please include a link to view or download.)
CV: max. 1 page
Contact information: full name (with preferred gender pronouns), email, phone number, postal address, nationality, and any other relevant information about yourself you may wish to share
Provided by Berlin Biennale
Travel and accommodation expenses
Visa expenses
Per diem
Access to all workshop and exhibition venues
Contact
13th Berlin Biennale
Bengisu Caglayan
Email: bc@berlinbiennale.de