Auszeichnung
künstlerischer Projekträume
und -initiativen

Ashley Berlin

2013
Oranienstraße
37
Berlin
10999

Adam Shui-Yang Shaw, Clerks’ Quarters can there be forgiveness?, 2018, Foto: Frank Sperling

Nigin Beck, Yeki Bud, Yeki Nabud, 2019

Art should first and foremost raise questions that are important for present and future societies. In the last decade, art has moved closer to science, technology, and society. It has become less commercialized and more diverse. We would like art to become not only illustrative and speculative, but also functional, embedding even more science and technologies within itself. This would encourage the audience to be even closer to art, perhaps more critical, diverse, ­tolerant, and creative.Funding and access to funding is a key element in sustaining project spaces. There are many funding tools that project spaces can use to cover the costs of labor, materials, and rent. But the options are competitive and usually involve a lot of effort and paperwork. In our opinion, there needs to be a change in the funding system that includes simplifying the application process and shortening the waiting time between submission and announcement of the result. Only like this can the project space keep the momentum and focus on artistic and curatorial projects.The Project Space Prize has not only saved many spaces and kept them alive for a longer period but basically generated a unique experimental and diverse art scene in Berlin. The Prize has also very much encouraged the founding of new spaces, fueled by the hope of receiving funding at some point. More than anything, it is an example of how much a certain public funding strategy can completely shape a local art scene.