Auszeichnung
künstlerischer Projekträume
und -initiativen

SCHAU FENSTER

2010
Lobeckstraße
30–35
Berlin
10969

Offbeat, 2018, Foto: Anna Wasilewski

Offbeat, 2018, Foto: Anna Wasilewski

It always feels quite special when an institution catches the zeitgeist of a moment. Project spaces have a lot more freedom in this sense, and they can truly, sincerely, reflect a moment or a movement as it is happening. They are essential to a critically active arts scene. Perhaps the orientation of project ­spaces has been forced to shift towards something more self-sustain­able – but that might not be a bad thing.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.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.