This website provides archived content of previous editions of the Berlin Biennale for Contemporary Art. Texts, images, and event descriptions have not been updated since the time of the given Berlin Biennale.

The 13th Berlin Biennale takes place from June 14 to September 14, 2025 and is curated by Zasha Colah.

Since its founding in 1996, the Berlin Biennale for Contemporary Art has become one of the most important international forums for contemporary art. Each edition brings together the most influential current positions of artists, theorists, and practitioners from a variety of fields in one of the most culturally progressive cities in Europe.

The Berlin Biennale takes place every two years at varying locations in Berlin and is defined by the differing concepts of its renowned curators. It promotes experimental formats and provides its appointed curators the space and freedom to present the latest relevant and challenging positions independent of the art market and collection interests. Participation in the exhibition has contributed to numerous young artists achieving international status.

The first Berlin Biennale was founded on the initiative of Eberhard Mayntz and Klaus Biesenbach, founding director of the Kunst-Werke Berlin. The Berlin Biennale is organized by KUNST-WERKE BERLIN e. V.

Since 2004, it has been funded by the Kulturstiftung des Bundes (German Federal Cultural Foundation) as one of its “cultural institutions of excellence,” recognizing its nation-wide importance, its international reputation, and thus awarding it a top-quality designation in the field of public funding. The support of the German Federal Cultural Foundation gives the Berlin Biennale a high degree of autonomy, and thus great potential for development.

The Berlin Biennale has viewed itself as a “glocal” event since its first edition. The artistic and curatorial positions articulate cultural issues and trends that are prominent and significant internationally at the respective point in time. How these tendencies and developments impact Berlin serves as an important focus of the investigations. Accordingly, the Berlin Biennale appeals to Berliners and international audiences alike, providing the city a cultural highlight every two years.

History of the Berlin Biennale

The berlin biennale für zeitgenössische kunst e. V. was founded on March 26, 1996 by Klaus Biesenbach, founding director of KW Institute for Contemporary Art, and a group of collectors and patrons of the arts, such as Eberhard Mayntz.

The idea of establishing a biennale in Germany was inspired by the Venice Biennale in 1995. Following the demise of aperto – the forum for young contemporary art founded in 1981 – there was much discussion about the need to heighten the profile of contemporary art in Berlin, a fact which undoubtedly accelerated the project’s progress.

The aim of the association is to organize a representative, international exhibition of contemporary art in Berlin every two years in order to be able to show previously less established positions by artists of the younger generation as part of the Berlin Biennale.

From 2002 to 2016, Gabriele Horn was director of both the Berlin Biennale and KW Institute for Contemporary Art. Parallel to the 20th anniversary of the Berlin Biennale, the Berlin Biennale restructured and repositioned itself: Since July 2016, KW Institute for Contemporary Art and the Berlin Biennale have been operating as separate business units under the joint umbrella of KUNST-WERKE BERLIN e. V. From 2016 until July 2024, Gabriele Horn henceforth worked exclusively as director of the Berlin Biennale. Axel Wieder is taking over this position on August 1, 2024.

In 1998, Klaus Biesenbach took the artistic helm of the 1st Berlin Biennale in cooperation with Nancy Spector and Hans Ulrich Obrist. For the 2nd Berlin Biennale in 2001, the baton was passed to Saskia Bos, who was in turn followed by Ute Meta Bauer for the third exhibition in 2004. The 4th Berlin Biennale in 2006 was curated by Maurizio Cattelan, Massimiliano Gioni and Ali Subotnick. Adam Szymczyk was chosen for the 5th Berlin Biennale in 2008 who then appointed Elena Filipovic as co-curator. Kathrin Rhomberg curated the 6th Berlin Biennale in 2010. The 7th Berlin Biennale was curated by Artur Zmijewski together with associate curators Voina and Joanna Warsza in 2012. Juan A. Gaitán curated the 8th Berlin Biennale in 2014 and invited Tarek Atoui, Natasha Ginwala, Catalina Lozano, Mariana Munguía, Olaf Nicolai, and Danh Vo to collaborate with him as core members and advisors in his artistic team. DIS (Lauren Boyle, Solomon Chase, Marco Roso, and David Toro) curated the 9th Berlin Biennale in 2016. The 10th Berlin Biennale took place in 2018. It was curated by Gabi Ngcobo, who invited Nomaduma Rosa Masilela, Serubiri Moses, Yvette Mutumba, and Thiago de Paula Souza to collaborate with her as the curatorial team. The 11th Berlin Biennale started about a year prior to the opening. The last part was postponed from summer to fall 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic. It was curated by María Berríos, Renata Cervetto, Lisette Lagnado, and Agustín Pérez Rubio. The 12th Berlin Biennale took place in 2022 and was curated by Kader Attia. His artistic team included Ana Teixeira Pinto, Đỗ Tường Linh, Marie Helene Pereira, Noam Segal, and Rasha Salti.

The Berlin Biennale has established itself as an open space that experiments, identifies, and critically examines the latest trends in the art world. The innovative character of this art lab, which tries and tests the greenest shoots in the art world is to be expanded, with the particular aim of giving young artists the opportunity to introduce themselves to broad sections of the public.

Although the exhibition has an essentially public character, it also has an inner forum in which event organizers, artists, curators, selected critics, cooperation partners, sponsors and promotors committed to the advancement of this association work at shaping the exhibition and its seismographic interpretation of current cultural and social developments.

Since 2008, the Berlin Biennale has been part of the International Biennial Association, while since 2018, it takes part in the project The Perennial Biennial.