Berlin Art Week will celebrate its 15th anniversary this September, marking a milestone for one of Europe’s largest and most influential contemporary art festivals.
Returning from 9–13 September 2026, the anniversary edition will bring together more than 100 partners across the German capital for over 300 events, exhibitions, performances, screenings, talks and special projects. Since its launch in 2012, Berlin Art Week has grown alongside Berlin’s emergence as one of the world’s leading centres for contemporary art, becoming a key fixture on the international art calendar.
Under the artistic direction of Mona Stehle, this year’s edition will use the anniversary as an opportunity to reflect on the city’s past, present and future, while celebrating the network of institutions, galleries, project spaces, artists and collectors that have helped shape Berlin’s distinctive cultural landscape.
“Berlin Art Week has evolved hand-in-hand with Berlin’s transformation into an international capital for contemporary art,”
organisers said, highlighting the festival’s ongoing commitment to supporting both established institutions and independent artistic initiatives.
The five-day programme will once again activate the entire city. Major museums and kunsthalles will launch significant exhibitions, galleries will participate in the annual Gallery Night programme, and Positions Berlin Art Fair will return to the historic hangars of Tempelhof Airport with more than 100 national and international galleries.
Among the first highlights announced is the first major German retrospective dedicated to the late composer, artist and cultural pioneer Ryuichi Sakamoto at Hamburger Bahnhof. Bringing together installations, sound works and moving-image projects, the exhibition will position Sakamoto’s multidisciplinary practice within Berlin’s rich history of experimental music and electronic culture.
At Neue Nationalgalerie, Maurizio Cattelan will present his largest exhibition in Germany to date, while Turner Prize nominee Kira Freije will stage her first institutional exhibition in Berlin at KINDL – Centre for Contemporary Art.
Questions of identity, history and geopolitics will be explored in Projections onto the East, a collaborative project between Neuer Berliner Kunstverein and Schinkel Pavillon. Bringing together more than twenty artists from Ukraine, Moldova, Romania, Germany and beyond, the exhibitions examine how perceptions of Eastern Europe continue to be shaped by historical narratives and cultural stereotypes.
Elsewhere, C/O Berlin will present exhibitions by Carrie Mae Weems alongside the After Nature Prize exhibition featuring Stelios Kallinikou and Susanne Kriemann, while the Guerrilla Girls will be the subject of a presentation at n.b.k. Berlin.
A defining feature of Berlin Art Week remains its ability to connect the city’s institutional and independent scenes. Through the Open Houses programme, some of Berlin’s most renowned private collections—including Boros Collection, Fluentum, Haubrok Foundation, Kienzle Art Foundation and Kunsthaus Berlin Achim Freyer Stiftung—will open their doors to the public.
The 2026 edition will also mark the final chapter of the Julia Stoschek Foundation’s Berlin presence, with a programme of screenings, performances and DJ sets closing its activities in the city.
Featured Projects will once again spotlight artist-run initiatives and independent spaces, activating churches, warehouses, industrial buildings and other unexpected locations across Berlin. Meanwhile, a dedicated festival hub will host a free public programme of talks, symposia, performances and DJ sets, with its location still to be announced.
Fifteen years after its founding, Berlin Art Week continues to demonstrate why Berlin remains one of Europe’s most important cities for contemporary art—bringing together major international exhibitions, grassroots initiatives and experimental practices under a single citywide platform.
Berlin Art Week 2026, 9th—13th September 2026 @berlinartweek
The full programme for Berlin Art Week 2026 will be announced later this summer.
Berlin Art Week is a project of Kulturprojekte Berlin GmbH. Supported by: Senate Department for Culture and Community, Senate Department for Economics and Energy and Public Enterprises, European Regional Development Fund (EFRE). It is realised with funding from Berliner Volksbank
