The Organizers of Berlin’s Most Important Art Fair Have Canceled All Future Editions Due to Financial Shortfalls

In a sudden but not entirely unexpected
decision, Koelnmesse, the Cologne-based parent company of the
Art Berlin art fair, has decided to call its quits on the city’s
main art-industry event.

Berlin’s most prominent art fair evolved out of its previous
iteration, Art Berlin Contemporary, and was held for the past three
years in the historic Tempelhof airport each September, showing
mostly contemporary art. But the fair’s owner which also runs Art
Cologne, has decided after months of discussions that the
conditions in Berlin are too unpredictable for its liking.

Gerald Böse, CEO of Koelnmesse says that “under the given
conditions, we do not currently see any possibility of realizing an
event in Berlin that meets our expectations.”

A perfect storm of problems sealed the fair’s fate. Earlier this
year, organizers were able to secure Tempelhof airport as a
venue only at the last minute, and the agreement did not extend
into 2020, which made planning future editions difficult. Nor did
the fair make as much money as Koelnmesse had hoped. “Our
focus, now more than ever, is the art fair in Cologne,” the company
said in a statement.

Koelnmesse acquired Art Berlin in
2017, and the fair was led for the past two years by Maike
Cruse, who also directs the robust Berlin Gallery Weekend. The two
events are complimentary but independent. Koelnmesse expressed its
gratitude to Cruse for her work “under the given conditions.” Cruse
declined to comment for this story.

Sources close to the situation say the city of Berlin shoulders
some of the blame for the fair’s demise.

Unlike many other European art fairs of its scale, such as
Vienna Contemporary or ARCO Madrid, Art Berlin received no support
from the state or city. Although the Berlin Senate created an
umbrella organization to oversee Berlin Art Week, which took
place at the same time as the fair and supported the city’s
institutions, no money was filtered to fair organizers. Yet
despite its commercial structure, art berlin was an
institution in the Berlin arts scene.

Berlin Art Week did not respond with a request for comment.

The post The Organizers of Berlin’s Most Important Art Fair
Have Canceled All Future Editions Due to Financial Shortfalls
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