OPEN CALL: The Berliner Festspiele seek director for Gropius Bau

The Berliner Festspiele are seeking a director for their exhibition hall Gropius Bau. The director will be responsible for the exhibition programme and coordinate the human and financial resources necessary for its implementation and mediation. As a partner of the artistic director of Berliner Festspiele and an interface between their different programme sectors, the Gropius Bau director also actively shapes the further development of the overall vision of the Berliner Festspiele in a constant exchange.

The Berliner Festspiele are an interdisciplinary cultural institution that programmes and organises year round exhibitions, performances, concerts and festivals. It runs two buildings: the Haus der Berliner Festspiele which is used for festivals, music, performing arts and discourse, and the Gropius Bau. Without a collection and internationally well networked, the Gropius Bau is one of the most renowned exhibition venues for contemporary art in Europe. Together with the Internationale Filmfestspiele Berlin and the Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Berliner Festspiele with Gropius Bau form the KBB – Kulturveranstaltungen des Bundes in Berlin GmbH.

The Berliner Festspiele are a contemporary platform for artistic engagement with central socio-political challenges of the 21st century. A dynamic programmatic interplay of the two venues with their different functional conditions enables artistic positions and practices as well as current issues to be shared and negotiated together. Parallel to art exhibitions, the exhibition practice of the Gropius Bau also provides space for contemporary socio-political issues and their contexts. Together with contemporary art, timely historical and cultural studies-based exhibitions fulfill the Gropius Bau’s interdisciplinary claim, enabling wider audience experience. Special performance, discourse or festival formats at the Haus der Berliner Festspiele complement the exhibitions. The interlocking of the content and structure of the Berliner Festspiele’s overall programme and the conception of cross-venue themes and exhibitions is based on cooperation between all working areas, in the spirit of partnership.

The position is available at the earliest possible start date. The contract will be limited to 5 years and is renewable.

Tasks include managerial and administrative duties, cross-departmental responsibilities such as communication, exhibition production and supervision and technical support, acquisition and administration of third-party funding, active promotion of the national and international network on behalf of the Gropius Bau and its continued opening to local, neighbourhood communities. The new director shall also contribute to the contentual and strategic preparation of the long term planned renovation of the Gropius Bau.

For the position, either a university degree is required, preferably in the field of art history or a comparable humanities or cultural science degree with a focus on modern and contemporary art, or extensive curatorial and practical exhibition experience in the field of modern and contemporary art or in historical, social or cultural science fields. In addition to leadership or management experience in a cultural institution (preferably an exhibition space) and relevant strategic professional experience in exhibition and outreach work, a high level of social competence and the ability to lead staff are expected.

You have leadership skills, experience in managing organisational departments and appreciate working in a team. You have a high level of expertise in the acquisition of third-party funding. We are interested in how actively you take part in current contemporary art discourse and its adjacent socio-political debates; how aware you are of the special concerns of artists as well as non-profit cultural institutions; and how engaged you are in shaping concepts and measures to increase institutional diversity, inclusivity and accessibility, and help combat discrimination.

National and international networks including artists, galleries, respective art scenes, museums and art institutions are advantageous. Sufficient knowledge of German and English, according to level C1 of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR), as well as knowledge of other languages is preferable.

More information about the online application process at www.kbb.eu.

Application deadline: November 28, 2022