Berlin’s KW Institute for Contemporary Art welcomed three new members to its Board this week: German art collector Julia Stoschek, Danish-Icelandic artist OLAFUR ELIASSON, and German lawyer and consultant Martin Heller. They follow Eike Becker, Eberhard Mayntz, and Kate Merkle who had announced their farewell after 15 years.OLAFUR ELIASSON and Julia Stoschek are also both members of KW’s Board of Trustees, Martin Heller has been associated with the Berlin institution as a legal advisor for many years. Founded in the early 1990s by Klaus Biesenbach and a group of art students and enthusiasts, KW is considered one of Berlin’s most innovative institutions for contemporary art and regularly hosts international exhibitions and events. The former margarine factory in Berlin’s central Mitte district also serves as the main location for the Berlin Biennale for Contemporary Art which is funded by the German Federal Cultural Foundation.KW furthermore announced a statuary reform to “strengthen [the institution’s] position as a central institution for contemporary art in Berlin in the future” and to “extend its international influence.”Despite being financially supported by the Berlin senate, the institution additionally depends on private sponsorship, which according to a statement issued this week is to be intensified in the future: “KW will only be able to maintain its role as a powerhouse of contemporary art through a constant coverage of the institution by public funding and a continuous increase in private sponsorship, ” the statement reads. “The new Board has set itself the goal of facilitating this freedom and to support new curatorial and artistic visions.”
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