KVOST

We, Kunstverein Ost, stand in solidarity with Ukraine and displaced people from Ukraine and around the world, regardless of the causes of their displacement, such as war violence or natural disasters.

Kunstverein Ost—KVOST for short—was founded in 2018 and is dedicated to supporting artists who come from Central and Eastern Europe or whose lives and work have been shaped by the experience of the former Eastern Bloc.

The Kunstverein’s rooms in Berlin-Mitte form an important point of reference as part of the major urban development project Leipziger Straße, once conceived as a socialist utopia. Their special location at the geographic center of Berlin, in direct proximity to the former border strip, makes them a place where history and present, East and West, meet directly.

With an artist-in-residence program, KVOST invites selected artists to explore the complex web of meanings of the place and its surroundings or to engage with other aspects of the East, presenting the resulting works in solo exhibitions.

Group exhibitions, cultural trips and discussion events open up further discursive spaces of encounter with aesthetic, political and private narratives that outline the cultural complex of the East beyond clichés and external attributions. Especially against the background of nationalist movements in many European states, Kunstverein Ost sees cultural exchange as an opportunity to build bridges.

With its program, KVOST fills an important gap in Berlin’s cultural landscape by understanding the East not as something preserved in a museum, but as a highly relevant resonant space for contemporary art production.

Director: Stephan Koal.

Opening hours: Wed-Sun 14–18. Closed on public holidays. Telephone during opening hours.