Julia Brodauf & Jan Gottschalk are artists and curators and the artistic directors responsible for the artspring festival, now in its fifth edition. ArtConnect got the chance to find out directly from them about the inspiration behind the festival and how it has changed and grown over the years into the month-long celebration of arts and culture it is today.

artspring 2021 presents exhibitions, concerts, readings, performances, a curated film and literature program, as well as various themed days in a hybrid format — both online and throughout Berlin’s Pankow, Prenzlauer Berg and Weißensee neighborhoods.

Beginning May 7, the entire district becomes an art gallery for an entire month. The centerpiece and finale of the festival is the open studio weekend on June 5 and 6, 2021 during which 320 artists will open the doors to their workspaces to the public, providing a glimpse into their current work right at the source of production.

artspring 2021 SIGNALE | Open Studio from Heike Gallmeier — *artspring* 2021 SIGNALE | Open Studio from **Heike Gallmeier**

Where did the idea for artspring come from?

The original idea was to do open studios – we wanted to create a public for art and artists. Again and again, studios get lost and are left to real estate speculation. If we manage to make the citizens, especially the neighborhood, aware of us and our concerns, then they will notice when studios and studio houses disappear. Therefore, we’ve established an important topic in the district.

Who is artspring for?

With the artspring festival we create many different points of contact between artists and the public, as well as among the district's art and culture professionals. For those interested in culture, artspring is an opportunity to get to know the contemporary art that is emerging in their neighborhood. For the artists, artspring is a platform to present themselves and their work autonomously

artspring is now in its fifth edition. How has the festival changed over the years?

artspring has grown a lot. This is thanks to both the activity of the participating artists and to the level of interest within Pankow – it just wasn’t possible to fit everything into one weekend. A broad network has now emerged around artspring. In 2018, we had a large joint exhibition at the Museum Pankow, which took place four weeks in advance of the Open Studios. In 2019, we were present throughout May in the Schönhauser Allee Arcaden with a pop-up store, in which different artists were present each day. There were also two longer-term exhibitions and many events. In 2020, artspring went digital, and this year we have reached a new level with the artspring artwalk, the literature series, and the podcast.

In addition, artspring has also grown organizationally. After three years of working with relatively limited district funding, we got funding from the EU and the Senate last year. Now, we can maintain a project office and prepare and work on the festival and other topics all year round.

Reading by Michel Ackermann and Uta Ackermann at Sommerbad Pankow, photo by Judith Kuhlmann — Reading by **Michel Ackermann** and Uta Ackermann at Sommerbad Pankow, photo by **Judith Kuhlmann**

In your opinion, what makes the Pankow area, including Prenzlauer Berg and Weißensee, attractive for artists?

We asked artists this exact question for the exhibition at Galerie Parterre. For some of them, the spirit of the 90s still lingers on one street or another. Others recognize a good infrastructure for the creative industries in the district. Traditionally, many artists live there: there is an art college and soon there will be three municipal galleries. But it is also a place with around 400,000 inhabitants – the most populous district in Berlin. Couldn't it be even more attractive for artists? Couldn’t it offer more spaces? Since we involve as many key figures from the district as possible – be it the tourist association, the club scene, or representatives of local politics – we also experience how diverse our district is. Pankow is also high income. But there are few actual outlets for art – there is definitely still potential to become even more attractive, economically, for artists.

What is this year’s festival theme about – SIGNALE!?

What do we hear and what do we see? What are we sending out? That is the central question. The cultural scene has been under pressure for a year now. There is no income, no funding, productions stand still, the subsistence level is set. Freedom is also disappearing in private: personal encounters are reduced, depression is increasing. So what does that do to art? Does the experience influence its content and form? What signals does it emit? If a work is not presented physically, will its signals be different? More political? More essential? Or does the work shift into the private sphere, into your own resonance chamber, or fall silent? We wanted to know. And the signal from artspring is, of course: We will do it anyway – taking into account all of the necessary protections against the pandemic.

It is your second year hosting the festival during the coronavirus pandemic. How did you adapt to the new conditions and what did you learn from it?

We have a new website since last week! It became clear that digital space would still be the only reliable one this spring. So we used the resources available for a larger server and a representative and functioning website. We won’t be meeting at the cinema this year, but on the website instead, where we will watch films, etc. We have already recorded the readings from the literature program and staged them in places that are currently silent.

Of course, the pandemic conditions primarily affect the exhibitions; both can no longer take place as planned. We have come up with hybrid formats for these – exhibitions are important for artists, so they should take place. Therefore, a cancellation setting is being staged in Galerie Parterre. At the Kulturkapellen, there is an outdoor installation, as well as an indoor exhibition that is being made accessible in a digital version – however, this can only be viewed on site with a smartphone.

And our latest project, the artspring artwalk, is also affected: We display art on shop windows in the district, wall surfaces in the Schönhauser Allee Arcaden, and plots in the allotment gardens, Bornholm I and II. All of this is accessible via an interactive Google map (the link is available on our website at www.artspring.berlin).

artspring artwalk 2021 - Zum starken August_illuva by Max Reinholz and Johanna Faсbender, photo by Ralph Bergel — *artspring artwalk 2021 - Zum starken August_illuva* by **Max Reinholz** and **Johanna Faсbender**, photo by **Ralph Bergel**

Tell us a little more about the new artspring artwalk format that will be launched this year? How did that come about?

In addition to all of the various events, the art festival ‘artspring spots’ focuses primarily on showing art. Right now the public can't get to the art, so we figured we'd bring the art to the public. This has been our slogan for years: “The borough becomes a gallery” … And this year it's very real. Walking has become the new popular sport and we’re enriching it with art. It's also about new beginnings and in-spite-of. The sleek outfit, the sophisticated design are just starting to crack. Shop windows and stores are empty again. If that's not a call for intervention!

The walk opened last weekend and will continue to grow throughout May. Walkers can experience art in many places along Schönhauser Allee. With QR codes you can not only call up information about the exhibiting artists, but also listen to audio contributions. The artwalk ends in the allotment gardens, Bornholm I and II. There, you will find very different artistic works and forms of presentation in the individual plots. With a bit of luck, you can toast to art and artists in the open air at the clubhouse at the end of the day.

How do your own artistic practices and experiences influence your approach to organizing a festival of this type?

Jan Gottschalk: Anyone who knows my work knows that it is difficult for me to stick to prescribed formats. Especially in drawing, which I treat like collage; I cut off, add, combine and let it grow. It's similar with artspring. Again and again, we have ideas for new projects and concepts. And we always try to achieve a divergent picture of art and culture and the protagonists involved. Mainstream alert: it can also be understood as “social sculpture” in the best sense.

It is clear that we are artists and not event managers. Therefore, we look at the process of organization quite artistically. And now, with the funding from the EU and the Senate, we are subject to certain funding guidelines. To always adhere to these, especially under the current conditions, is actually its own art form.

Julia Brodauf: Independent of my artistic work, my experience in the art world – as an artist, as well as a curator and art journalist – has demonstrated that it functions according to very rigid rules of conduct. A major one is: “You can't do that, you’ll burn yourself”. There is also a great deal of passively waiting for someone to find and sponsor you. And there is a class of financiers being appealed to who live in a completely different reality. In this field, everyone earns money, except the artists. I don't like that. It's a predetermined format that hampers an incredible number of artists in their profession. It also stands in stark contrast to the notion of “free art”. These experiences have led me to put energy into developing events that create new synergies and, above all, are designed by artists themselves.

artspring 2020 open studios at Atelierhaus TurtleLab with artwork by Yuki Jungesblut, photo by Kerstin Karge — *artspring 2020* open studios at Atelierhaus TurtleLab with artwork by **Yuki Jungesblut**, photo by **Kerstin Karge**

What is different about experiencing art in artist studios rather than viewing work in a gallery?

You already said it in the question: Experiencing art! The studio is not the white cube for optimal presentation, but the place of origin. Therefore, it is probably one of the most intimate spaces of all: full of anecdotes, inspiration, and artist sweat. Here, you can experience what is behind it all. All of the traces of work on the walls and floor, the smells and dust ... Cliché Warning! The half bottle of red wine, the ashtray – they tell stories. It’s quite possibly where you come closest to the artist and their work.

What are some of this year's festival highlights for each of you?

Jan Gottschalk: The exhibition at Galerie Parterre – which we have already rethought three times since the beginning of the year. We curated it together with gallery manager Kathleen Krenzlin. It will not only allow a glimpse of contemporary art production in Pankow, but, in its planned form, it will also be a unique witness: a picture of an exhibition in the pandemic. Also artspring audio: Our literature program with seven readings by eight authors. This year, it’s not only for the ears, but also a feast for the eyes.

And, of course, the Open Studios themselves – the heart of artspring berlin. We very much hope that the first weekend in June will allow visitors to come to the studios. That would be a really great highlight.

Julia Brodauf: One highlight is, of course, the artspring signals exhibition at Kulturkapellen in the old caretaker's house at the St. Marien / St. Nicolai cemetery. This is an enchanted place full of traces of the past, the likes of which can hardly be found in the highly refurbished district. We cannot invite visitors inside, but we are still presenting art on the scarred walls.

Another highlight is the artspringnale film program, which this year draws an almost historical arc from the district's past to visions of the future. Another highlight is the festival newspaper, which has now been published for the fifth time and, with pictures and texts, will be an annual directory of the studios in the district. And another highlight is our new podcast: With the question, “What’s that about?”, Alex Wittner approaches artists in an unbiased manner and lets them tell him what they have created and how it became what it is.

artspring festival 2021

May 7 - June 6, 2021

artspring.berlin