Grand Opening Weekend for the URBAN NATION MUSEUM FOR URBAN CONTEMPORARY ART

The URBAN NATION MUSEUM FOR URBAN CONTEMPORARY ART opens its doors to the public on 16 September 2017. This center for exhibitions, research and exchange on urban art is unique in the world. The big inaugural exhibition presents works by 150 of the most important contemporary urban artists. On the opening weekend, Bülowstrasse will be transformed into an open-air art gallery with an extensive program featuring live painting and performances by renowned artists, workshops, show acts and much, much more.

On Saturday evening at 7 pm, a new, globally unique cultural institution officially opens: the URBAN NATION MUSEUM FOR URBAN CONTEMPORARY ART. The museum will follow the guiding principle of “Connect. Create. Care.” And it will be more than just an exhibition space. In addition to works by artists from the contemporary international and local urban art scenes, URBAN NATION also offers a novel platform for exchange, dialogue, research and educational projects relating to urban art. For the inaugural exhibition, a team of ten curators led by executive creative director Yasha Young selected some 150 leading artists to create exclusive artworks for URBAN NATION. They include outstanding international figures such as Shephard Fairy, Olek, Fintan Magee or Lora Zombie and important home-grown artists such as Mimi S, Herakut or deerBLN.

URBAN NATION MUSEUM FOR URBAN CONTEMPORARY ART
Bülowstrasse 7, 10783 Berlin-Schöneberg
Opening weekend:
16 September 2017, 7 pm to 10 pm
17 September, 10 am to 6 pm

Just before URBAN NATION opens its doors to everyone, a reception for selected guests will be held in the museum at 5 pm: in addition to the URBAN NATION directors Yasha Young and Dr. Christopher Vorwerk and representatives of the foundation Berliner Leben, speakers will include the Mayor of Berlin, Michael Müller, and the State Secretary for Cultural and Media Affairs, Professor Dr. Monika Grütters.

Open-Air Art Gallery and Neighborhood Festival
On Saturday, the opening celebrations start outside the museum at 7 pm. Between then and 10 pm on Saturday and from 10 am to 6 pm on Sunday, the stretch of Bülowstrasse between Nollendorfplatz and Frobenstrasse will be transformed into a spectacular open-air art gallery: beneath the suburban train viaduct, visitors can look forward to fascinating installations and diverse murals by various artists. Some of the artists will be creating their artworks live in front of the audience and those watching will also get a chance to try their hands themselves on the community wall. The neighborhood festival will also boast a skateboard ramp, open-air yoga, and performances by the breakdance group “Flying Steps”. It is being sponsored by the housing company Gewobag.

Program of events at a glance:
16 September
10 am Opening of the skateboard ramp (free to all-comers)
2 pm to 4 pm Skateboard workshop by the Berlin Skate Verein
7 pm to 10 pm Open-air art gallery in Bülowstrasse
7 pm Inauguration of the URBAN NATION MUSEUM FOR URBAN CONTEMPORARY ART
8 pm to 9 pm Skateboarding Exhibition

17 September
10 am to 6 pm Open-air art gallery
10 am to 11.30 am Open-air yoga course by Yoga Berlin
2 pm to 4 pm Skateboard workshop by the Berlin Skate Verein

The New Museum
After the opening weekend, the URBAN NATION MUSEUM FOR URBAN CONTEMPORARY ART will always be open from Tuesdays through Sundays, from 10 am to 6 pm. The current exhibition will be on show for about a year, after which a new exhibition will be launched. Executive creative director Yasha Young will make a point of finding and attracting interesting, up-and-coming curators and artists from the urban contemporary art scene. But it’s not just about the artworks: the architecture of the museum is worth seeing, too. The architects of the GRAFT bureau have given the building, constructed during the Wilhelminian period in Berlin, a complete make-over, transforming it into a modern exhibition space: its generous spatial concept provides plenty of room for large-scale artworks. The two-story exhibition space also features a highline; a cat-walk connecting the two floors and allowing visitors to admire the artworks from various perspectives.

Martha Cooper Library
Visitors can also look forward to another highlight: the book collection of photo-journalist Martha Cooper. The world-famous photographer was one of the first to document the emergence of urban art in the late 1970s and has been doing so ever since. She is donating a significant part of her collection to the museum. In that sense, the URBAN NATION museum can be regarded as a memory for temporary art.

Neighbors Welcome
As in the years gone by, URBAN NATION will continue to distribute invitations to exhibitions and workshops to people in the area and engage in dialogue with the neighborhood. Young people, especially, will be introduced to the techniques of urban art and the art world in general. URBAN NATION and the foundation Berliner Leben, of which the museum is part, aim to promote integration and participation through cultural activities. The idea is to make the part of Schöneberg around Bülowstrasse, an indeed other districts, more livable through more color and art.

Mobile Art in the City Space
In the coming weeks, museum visitors will get a taste of urban art even on the way to Bülowstrasse: the exteriors and interiors of underground trains and nine “Art Cars” belonging to short-term rental company DriveNow feature works by artists currently being exhibited at the URBAN NATION MUSEUM. This non-commercial cooperation between DriveNow and URBAN NATION makes urban art mobile in Berlin.