The group show Realities Left Vacant at n.b.k., the Berlin Art Society, includes artists Nadja Abt, Tekla Aslanishvili, Marianna Christofides, Silvina Der Meguerditchian, Christian Diaz Orejarena, Sofia Duchovny, Ahu Dural, Cornelia Herfurtner, Göksu Kunak, Isaiah Lopaz, & Alina Schmuch. Curated by Layla Burger-Lichtenstein, and Arkadij Koscheew, the show presents the work of 11 artists who were awarded the 2022 visual arts work stipend – a stipend from the city of Berlin based on written project proposals. Berlin Senat has a collaboration with n.b.k. to exhibit those who are awarded the stipend. The artworks address themes of origin, belonging, and the relational tensions between personal memory and social infrastructure.
We attended the vernissage on 10 March and asked the audience, what’s your hot take?
HOT TAKE 1: I was one of the recipients. We were told that there might be a possibility that we would exhibit works, but there was no pressure for us to make anything, the stipend was really to support ourselves as artists. So that was a period of nine months. Without the pressure of an exhibition, we worked harder this year than we ever worked before. I felt like this was an incredible opportunity to take classes that I wanted to take, that might not result in anything – whatever that means.
I took for example – one of my grandmothers has indigenous heritage – so I took an indigenous language course, I took a course learning how to work with plants and trees, and I took singing lessons. These are things that I maybe would have wanted to do, what I wouldn’t have had as resources at my disposal, or perhaps had to put towards things that I use in my work.
I just feel like I wouldn’t have done the things I did without the stipend.
HOT TAKE 2: I have a feeling that there’s a lot…I would say in some shows there is this red line between things that has to do with an over-thematic. Like there’s a topic, and here I can see there is more this line is more about the things that they put effort, time, and space into. You feel it in the room and the things they put on the wall, the things that matter to the different artists.
HOT TAKE 3: It’s interesting not to have to think about the product, like the show being this pinnacle, and after the show it’s over or something. It’s more about the process, which is never over. So this stipend is valuing the process over the show – even though the show happens anyways.
HOT TAKE 4: There is a sense that something is produced at the end, but it doesn’t necessarily have to be a ‘work’. There is a sense that because of the amount of money and prestige, a lot of artists do it anyway. There is no requirement to do it, but people always do it. It is kind of the vibe I get, that it’s kind of a social obligation that comes along with the idea of a stipend. Also, you’ve done work with the money, so it’s nice to show off the work that you’ve done.
HOT TAKE 5: I like the idea of this kind of thing. They kind of have this freedom that they wouldn’t have had otherwise. I like the concept in general. I think it takes the production mentality that exists in the art world kind of away. Even though they feel socially that they still have to produce something, in concept it makes sense. In practice because the art market exists the way that it does, people still feel pressured to produce. That’s just the way that the art market is currently. Hopefully that changes with a new wave of artists coming in. This kind of stipend is a nice first step, but I don’t think it’s a solution. Just a showing of priorities. More artists need to value a less production-oriented mindset and restructure how they engage with the economy.
HOT TAKE 6: I think it’s interesting because this stipend in particular is kind of more about who can write the best about their art. You don’t present a specific idea, you just generally write about your art. I don’t exhibit my work in galleries, I just exhibit in my apartment because I don’t want to engage with this kind of system of having to prove a certain element and have it connected to a market. It’s a dynamic I don’t love. My engagement is like, I make money working for institutions and I use that money to make my art. It’s a good balance.
HOT TAKE 7: What’s great here is that they don’t have a really intense tight schedule. The switching time in between exhibitions can be like, 2 months. They give their workers a lot of time and a lot of space. It’s partially state-funded but it’s also an association people pay into. So there’s a bunch of money and resources behind it.
Realities Left Vacant is on view through 7 May at Neuer Berliner Kunstverein e.V.
Chauseestrasse 128/129
10115 Berlin
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