A Preview of the 2024 Project Space Festival

by Marley Heltai // May 24, 2024

For its 10th anniversary, Berlin’s Project Space Festival promises an immersive exploration of the city’s vibrant art scene throughout the month of June. With 30 days of events, the festival will showcase the ingenuity and resilience of self-organized art spaces throughout the city, presenting a diverse array of projects and exhibitions across Berlin. At its core, Project Space Festival embraces the ethos that the only legitimate institution is a community of spaces, challenging traditional notions of cultural institutions and fostering collaboration among a wide range of artistic visions and initiatives. Each participating project space is granted 24 hours to realize an event, resulting in a dynamic and constantly evolving program that reflects the diversity and creative nature of Berlin’s cultural scene.

Among the participating spaces are familiar names such as TROPEZ, alpha nova & galerie futura, die raum, SAP Space and Scherben, among others, each playing a vital role in shaping Berlin’s cultural identity. With over 30 project spaces and initiatives, there’s also bound to be new and exciting venues to be explored. These spaces serve as hubs for experimentation, community engagement and artistic innovation, offering platforms for emerging and established artists alike to explore new ideas and perspectives.

TROPEZ // Courtesy of Project Space Festival, photo by Ink Agop

Kicking off the festival on June 1st is the TROPEZ exhibition at the Humboldthain outdoor pool. Aptly titled ‘SWARM,’ this group exhibition delves into how the intelligence of the community influences our daily lives. Through various artworks and installations, including a magic ball with lifeguard statements and information flood sound booths, artists such as Khaled Barakeh, Mahube Diseko and Rashiyah Elanga explore the concept of swarm intelligence before it becomes digital. The exhibition invites visitors to experiment with acting as a collective in order to reflect on the distortions and discriminatory processes ingrained in everyday life. In addition to the exhibition, TROPEZ will host a series of events, including performances, talks, concerts and sporting activities, providing further opportunities for engagement and dialogue. The exhibition will remain open to the public until September 1st, offering ample time for visitors to explore the artworks and participate in the festival’s diverse program.

Sophia Ioannou Gjerding: ‘Broken Telephone’, 2023, die raum // Photo by Jan Windszus

Following the TROPEZ exhibition, the festival continues with a lineup of events at different project spaces throughout the city. On June 2nd, alpha nova & galerie futura will host Larisa Crunţeanu and Sonja Hornung‘s exhibition ‘to slip, to slide, to glitch,’ followed by SAP Space’s group show ‘A Question of Intervals and Scales’ on June 3rd, a concert by Vinyl-terror & -horror and Anne-Mette Schultz at die raum on June 4th, an exhibition and screening by Willem de Haan at the Gimp on June 5th and onward. Throughout the festival, attendees can expect a diverse range of exhibitions, performances, screenings and discussions. From Neun Kelche presenting Melanie Jame Wolf‘s solo exhibition ‘Outlaw Feelings’ to ACUD Gallery’s lecture and video-performance focusing on the colonial occupation of Siberia and the tensions between the state and the Sakha Republic, the program promises something for every art enthusiast.

Neun Kelche; Kleber und Falten; Julia Lübbecke; 2023 // Foto Copyright: Dorothea Dittrich, VG Bildkunst

As the festival unfolds from June 1st to June 30th, it not only celebrates a decade of fostering a community of spaces but also reflects on the evolving landscape of contemporary art in Berlin. Selected by a jury of artists and curators deeply rooted in the project space scene, the festival’s program embodies the spirit of collaboration, experimentation and self-organization that defines the city. With its commitment to promoting dialogue, diversity and artistic innovation, the Project Space Festival continues to play a vital role in shaping the cultural landscape of Berlin.