National Gallery Prize 2017
Duration September 29, 2017 - January 14, 2018
Location Hamburger Bahnhof – National Gallery of the Present
The project is supported by Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft and made possible by the Friends of the National Gallery.
On the occasion of Berlin Art Week 2017, the second Festival of Future Nows will take place at Hamburger Bahnhof – Museum für Aktuell – Berlin. This year's cooperation between the Nationalgalerie - Staatliche Meeresmuseum zu Berlin, Olafur Eliasson and his Institute for Spatial Experiments eV brings together - like the first edition of the festival in 2014 - works by over 100 international artists.
From Thursday to Sunday (September 14th to 17th, 2017), a dense cloud formation of creative energy and informality will erupt over Hamburger Bahnhof, hover over the museum like a Berlin punk opera lightning bolt, and finally dissipate again. The festival program shows young and diverse positions in the historic hall and in the outdoor space of the Hamburger Bahnhof - an intensive examination of the incalculable potential of formats such as performance, happening, experiment and intervention as well as the play with movement and perception. Spontaneous choreographies, musical performances and open encounters invite participation and can spread at a flash mob pace. Individual projects unfold in parallel or overlap with one another. A targeted oversupply entices visitors to discover the festival circuit in a non-linear manner. 'Density and diversity' are consciously chosen principles. The Festival of Future Nows 2017 brings untested and inspiring artistic positions into interaction with a number of better-known voices, true to the motto: 'The challenge is in the moment, the time is always now' (James A. Baldwin).
The program and exhibition thrive on contrasts: obvious manifestations meet barely visible interventions. Spectacular actions contrast with subtle interventions. Loud sound installations contrast with works that use frequencies that cannot be heard but can only be experienced physically. Poetic and political performances alternate. The festival is expanded, supplemented and penetrated by a film program as well as artistic reactions in other parts of the collection and the outside area of the Hamburger Bahnhof.
The background: From 2009 to 2014, Olafur Eliasson, together with Eric Ellingsen and Christina Werner, headed the Institute for Spatial Experiments, which was affiliated with the Berlin University of the Arts. The internationally highly regarded project experimented with new approaches to artistic training and research. To mark the end of the model course, the Festival of Future Nows took place in the Neue Nationalgalerie in Berlin in autumn 2014, before the iconic building by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe was closed for basic repairs. The upcoming second edition of the festival continues the spontaneous spirit and is based on the wide network of artistic positions surrounding the Institute for Spatial Experiments.
The Festival of Future Nows 2017 is curated by Sven Beckstette, Natalie Keppler and Christina Werner. It opens on Thursday at 7 p.m. and takes place on Friday from 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. and on Saturday and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Entry to the festival is free on all days.