Artspring Returns for its 2022 Edition

May 3, 2022

Under the motto ‘the myth is gone,’ artspring berlin is returning to the district of Pankow for a whole month of art actions, concerts, performances, readings, exhibitions, screenings, workshops and open studios. The festival will take place across numerous sites and culminate with open studios in Prenzlauer Berg, Weißensee and Pankow during the second weekend of June. Each year since its launch in 2017, artspring has been expanding further to include new venues, more arists and new initiatives to foster cooperation and collaborative synergy.

artspring 2020: Atelier Werner Kernebeck // Copyright Ralph Bergel

Opening the festival on May 6th will be the exhibition ‘Curatorial Part de Deux – Artists of the working arts’—a show aiming to forefront the work of artists working for other artists. Linking to the workforce in the studios of artists such as Alicja Kwade, Katharina Grosse, Olafur Eliasson and Thomás Saraceno, the exhibition will showcase and bring to life the behind-the-scenes diversity and networks that currently lie dormant.

The main festival exhibition ‘artspring – the myth is gone’ will take place at Galerie Pankow and run until June 18th. Showcasing works by artists participating in artspring and produced in cooperation with Galerie Pankow, the exhibition will display around 80 works tracing the theme of the festival.

Located on the first floor of the Schönhauser Allee Arcade, artspring’s Pop-Up Store will function as a multipurpose artistic space and feature projects by Wolfgang Krause / T.H.W. Greifenberg, Esme und Samuel Wiesemann, Mayya Surikatti, Roman Ekimov, Tash Arsalan, Theresa Winkler, Rita Krioukov, Dima Dobrovolskij, Larisa Cataño, Charlotte Dorn and Fredie Beckmans. The windows of the store will offer a view of the artworks and invite visitors to participate in events, work shows, concerts and open workshops that will take place regularly within the framework of the individual projects.

image of man observing pictures on a wall

artspring 2021: installation view // Copyright Ralph Bergel

Taking place at the exhibition floor of the City Hall Pankow will be the ‘artspring signals’—an exhibition of photographs by artists from the district of Pankow. The photographs were taken in the caretaker‘s house at the St. Marien/ St. Nicolai Cemetery and will be available to view during the city hall’s regular opening hours.

During both May and June, Schönhauser Allee will become an open-air gallery for artspring’s Art Walk. Artworks and interventions will be visible and displayed in a variety of shop windows along the Schönhauser Allee, as well as on foot in neighbouring districts and outdoor areas such as the Colosseum, the Schönhauser Allee Arcase and the Bornholm I and II allotment gardens. The art walk will be possible to experience alone or as a guided tour, with QR codes providing relevant information at each location.

Since March and continuing on until June, the Kunstraum FUGE has been showing a four-part exhibition series under the curatorial direction of Vanessa Cardui entitled ‘Bewegte Bilder.’ The window display becomes a cinema, a hub and a picture carousel of the city of Berlin, with moving images that set us in motion.

image of art in the schönhauser allee arcade in prenzlauer berg

Each year the ‘artspringale,’ the festival’s accompanying film programme, presents different artistic positions of the district’s film and video makers and opens them up for discussion. With a total of four screenings beginning on May 13th, this year’s selected works will paint a picture of our fragmented, delicate and fragile present. Screenings will take place every Friday and be followed by live talks with the filmmakers.

artspring berlin is additionally holding a benefit auction in aid of Ukraine. Currently in process, artworks are being collected and auctioned online for the benefit of the aid organisation ‘Aktion Deutschland hilft,’ with the Schönhauser Allee Arcade supporting each sale with an additional 10%. A live auction will also take place on May 7th at the Pop-Up Store.