Berlin Art Week Turns 15: A Conversation with Artistic Director Mona Stehle

Now drawing more than 140,000 visitors annually across over 120 partners, Berlin Art Week has blossomed into a decentralised, city-wide celebration of contemporary art. Ahead of its landmark 15th anniversary, New Wave caught up with artistic director Mona Stehle to gather her thoughts on the festival's evolution, its role in the city's cultural life, and where it might be headed next. From art installations tucked inside U-Bahn stations to open doors into private collections, Stehle gives us a guided tour on just what it takes to hold a festival this sprawling together, and reflects on what she hopes to see in its future editions.

Portrait of Artistic Director Mona Stehle. Image credit Christine Lipski.

This is the 15th edition of Berlin Art Week, when you think back to your first involvement with the festival, what drew you to it, and did you imagine it would still be running and growing a decade and a half later?

I joined the team in 2013 for the second edition of Berlin Art Week and returned in 2017 for its 6th edition. What drew me to Berlin Art Week back then is exactly what makes it so vital today: the extraordinary diversity and energy of Berlin's art scene. The festival brings so many different voices, institutions, and initiatives together, all in the city’s unique artistic ecosystem. To see Berlin Art Week grow into an event that now draws more than 140,000 visitors annually not just from across the city itself but internationally too, is truly phenomenal.

As artistic director, how would you describe your own curatorial philosophy, and how does that translate into shaping a festival that isn't a single exhibition but a whole city's worth of institutions and galleries?

Because Berlin Art Week is not a single exhibition but a decentralised festival unfolding across the entire city, my role is to act as a bridge and connector between more than 120 partners. For me, curating in this context is more about creating connections, rather than imposing a single narrative from above, and fostering a framework in which very different voices, artistic positions, and curatorial approaches can communicate and resonate with one another. I feel the real strength of the festival ultimately lies in making this diversity visible and amplifying it through this shared platform.

A milestone anniversary like this often invites reflection as much as celebration, does ‘15 years’ mean anything personally to you and has this anniversary shaped the tone of this year’s Berlin Art Week at all?

An anniversary like this is always an opportunity to look back and reflect on what has proven itself in its survival in the festival, and what needs to evolve. In previous years, we found ourselves accompanied by intense discussions around significant cuts to cultural funding, which is a complex issue with far-reaching consequences for the arts, yet in the face of these challenges we have maintained a palpable sense of resilience and optimism. In the 2026 iteration of Berlin Art Week, you can find these feelings expressed in places like the ‘Featured’ section of the festival, which is intended as both a recognition of and commitment to the city’s art community. By bringing together projects ranging from temporary artistic initiatives to long-established institutions, we really are aiming now to highlight the diversity of Berlin’s cultural landscape, support our long-term partners, and underscore the role that art plays in this city.

Berlin Art Week 2026, Neue Nationalgalerie, Maurizio Cattelan, Novecento, 1997. Image credit Paolo Pellioni di Persano.

Is there a piece of art, or an exhibition from the festival's history, that changed how you think about your role as artistic director, and does anything in this year's 15th anniversary programme feel like it is speaking to that same spirit?

Every edition of Berlin Art Week brings moments that remind me what art can achieve when it is given the right platform. I see that spirit reflected again in this year’s programme throughout all four of our programme sections (Institutions, Galleries, Private Collections, and Project Spaces). What has always fascinated me is the evolving creativity in the way art reaches its audiences, whether through accessible spaces, new collaborations, or interventions in everyday life. A great example this year is Carsten Höller’s Fly on Amanita, curated by Udo Kittelmann and presented directly inside the Hermannplatz U-Bahn station. Even a very small project like this can challenge conventional ideas of where art belongs and create opportunities for people to experience contemporary art as part of their daily routine.

Looking at the wider landscape of European art weeks and biennials, how do you think about Berlin Art Week's identity and distinctiveness, what does it offer that other cities' festivals don't?

Accessibility. We offer programmes which in other cities and art weeks would often be reserved for VIP audiences only. With Berlin Art Week, we make them free and open to everyone. If you stick to openings and special events, you can spend the whole week during Berlin Art Week exploring the city's art scene without paying a single entrance fee. In our ‘Private Collection’ section, initiatives such as ‘Discovering Collections’ also exemplify this approach where rather than focusing solely on institutional collections, we open the doors to private homes and introduce audiences to people who live with art as part of their everyday lives.

Berlin's art scene has changed enormously over the past decade and a half from factors like gentrification, funding cuts, and shifting international attention, yet Berlin Art Week seems to have only grown stronger. How has your own understanding of the city evolved alongside these changes, and what does this year's 15th edition say about the resilience and vitality of Berlin's art scene today?

The changing social and economic fabric of Berlin means that no single working model can guarantee the survival of project spaces, independent initiatives, galleries, and off-site venues. In response, with our ‘Featured’ section we have selected spaces representing diverse organisational structures and local contexts, reflecting the speed and scale of the city’s transformation. Several of the projects featured in this section, selected together with our jury, continue traditions of self-organisation that extend back more than a decade, others have only recently emerged, while some embrace only a temporary existence. This variety of practices is itself part of Berlin’s identity. The scene has definitely changed, and not all of that has been easy. But the fact that, despite these challenges, we can still bring together so many partners and such a vibrant programme speaks for itself.

Berlin Art Week 2026, Hebel am Ufer, Sophia Süßmilch in HAU. Image credit Lee Everett Thieler.

Was there a moment or lesson from earlier editions that changed how you shape the festival, and how has that helped make Berlin Art Week the unmissable, city-wide celebration it is for this anniversary?

Berlin Art Week has evolved continuously, and with every edition, we reassess what works, what needs to change, and where new opportunities emerge. One of the festival’s strengths is that we are not afraid to evolve. Over 15 years, you learn to combine long-term planning with a high degree of flexibility and a readiness to respond to last-minute developments. Berlin is constantly changing, and the festival must move with it.

One of the key lessons has been understanding just how vast and diverse Berlin’s art scene is. Its richness is one of its greatest strengths, but it can also feel overwhelming to an audience. That is why we increasingly focus on creating points of orientation and entry. Our guided tours, for example, bring together four or five different venues in a single route, offering visitors a curated journey through the city’s artistic landscape. Another important addition is the Berlin Art Week Garten this year hosted at the Kulturforum, which serves as a central meeting point where people can gather, exchange ideas, discover the programme, and connect with the wider festival. Making this extraordinary artistic offering accessible and navigable has been essential to shaping Berlin Art Week into the city-wide celebration it is today.

You work across an enormous ecosystem of partners with very different scales and needs, from Neue Nationalgalerie to small artist-run project spaces. How do you personally navigate that balance of power and visibility so smaller voices aren't drowned out?

Visibility is never distributed evenly by default, which is why we consciously create formats that ensure smaller voices are seen alongside established institutions. A key example is our ‘Featured’ section: through an open call and an independent expert jury, we select around 30 outstanding projects from independent initiatives, project spaces, and artist-run collaborations, giving them a dedicated platform within the festival. The ‘Featured Night’, with extended opening hours and special events across the city, further amplifies their visibility.

More broadly, we try to embed this balance throughout the festival. In our art market section, we support emerging galleries through the Gallery Award (VBKI Prize for Berlin galleries). In our communications, press work, and online Journal, we present artists who are new to the scene alongside internationally established names, and our talks, features, and editorial formats bring different generations and perspectives into conversation with one another. The same principle guides our tours, which combine major museums, galleries, and independent project spaces within a single route. For us, Berlin Art Week is about presenting the full breadth of the city’s art ecosystem. The strength of Berlin’s art scene lies in its diversity, and our role is to create a framework in which different scales, voices, and practices can stand alongside one another.

Berlin Art Week 2026, Tropez, TROPEZ in Sommerbad Huboldthain. Image credit Ink Agop.

Berlin Art Week 2026, Gropius Bau, Kadir AMIGO Memiş beim Battle of the Year 1995 - Internationale Break Dance Meisterschaft, © Kadir AMIGO Memiş.

Beyond the week itself, what is your relationship to Berlin as a city, and what is it about Berlin's art scene that you think makes this festival, and this city, such an exciting place for visitors to discover art in September? 

Berlin is a city with many centres, our decentralised festival is shaped by that urban geography. Berlin remains one of the most important places for artistic production, with an extraordinary number of artists from around the world living and working here, alongside a curious and highly engaged audience. Even as economic pressures and rising costs make working and living here more challenging for many artists, the artistic communities continue to generate new initiatives.

Berlin is also my hometown. For me, the months leading up to September are always the most exciting time of the year. Berlin in September has a unique energy as the city becomes a vast platform for contemporary art. What makes it so exciting for visitors is the sheer range of experiences on offer. During the festival week, you can start your day with historically grounded exhibitions such as Gropius Bau's Kreuzberg: Art and Migration since 1960, then go see world class gallery openings alongside an art fair at the disused Tempelhof Airport, and end at a queer late-night performance, or explore art in a public outdoor pool like Tropez. Everything is rolled out and culminated across the city in a unique way.

If you imagine Berlin Art Week ten years from now, at its 25th edition, what do you hope has changed, and what do you hope has stayed exactly the same?

I hope that the collaborative, unpretentious spirit of Berlin remains, along with the core idea that art should be accessible to everyone. What I hope changes are the conditions for artists and cultural producers. I hope Berlin remains a place where artists can afford to live and work, where independent initiatives thrive alongside established institutions and market-driven actors, and where artistic experimentation continues to flourish.

We are already seeing performances and cross-disciplinary formats gain importance, from Perform! at the Neue Nationalgalerie to Ersan Mondtag’s Alternde Meister at the Gemäldegalerie. In ten years, I hope new formats will bring even more diverse audiences into conversation with contemporary art. Above all, I hope Berlin Art Week continues to be a platform and catalyst for the city’s art scene, making its remarkable diversity visible and accessible.