The history of Project M/
- PROJECT M
- January 4, 2019
In the beginning still in the unfinished shell of the current museum, later in the production office of URBAN NATION, and always on the street as well, on facades, and display windows along Bülowstrasse, every PROJECT M/ was and is a temporary gallery in the public space – as fleeting as urban art. With each new edition, the exhibition series creates new, worldwide connections among undiscovered talents, established artists and young curators, who learn lasting lessons about how to organise an exhibition from A to Z.
At the same time, Project M/ stimulates curiosity in the neighbourhood, attracts Berliners and tourists, and give many people their first encounters with the wide-ranging forms of urban contemporary art. In the 13 versions of PROJECT M/ held so far, more than 120 artists have come together, and more than 130 works have been created. All curators has been selected by Yasha Young.
The history of Project M/ – the beginning
On the first of August 2013 the time had come! Today’s museum only existed as a concept, but a group of local and international artists met under the direction of Yasha Young and laid the foundation for the Project M series with their artworks. More info
After the positive feedback and the international response to Project M/1, it was clear that the series would be continued. On November 11, 2013, the next ten artists painted, glued, and sprayed their artworks curated by Yasha Young onto house walls and facades in the neighborhood of Bülowstrasse. Today’s URBAN NATION MUSEUM FOR URBAN CONTEMPORARY ART was decorated for the first time with a gigantic mural by the artist “Rone“. More info
Just in time for the beginning of spring on March 20, 2014, ten renowned artists once again made the city with their creative ideas a little more colorful. For the first time, the artworks were not curated by Yasha Young alone. The organizers behind the internationally renowned street and urban art festival “NUART” from Norway were also responsible for the selection of the artists and artworks. More info
For this fourth edition of the Project M series at the beginning of May 2014 Yasha Young worked together with co-curator Andrew Hosner of the L.A. gallery Thinkspace. This bridge from Berlin to L.A. also explains the title of the accompanying exhibition “LAX/TXL”. Under Hosner’s co-curation, a total of 65 artists sent an individual work to Berlin for a pop-up exhibition. More info
The success of the first Project M’s had meanwhile spread and more and more artists wanted to leave their footprints with their works in the streets of Berlin. Therefore, the year 2014 can rightly be called the year of Project M, because a total of seven Project M’s were realized with artworks by over 100 artists and various curators. Project M/5 was curated by Roland Henry and VNA Magazine together with Yasha Young in mid-August 2014. Ben Eine was the third artist to design the huge facade of today’s museum. More info
The sixth edition was curated by none other than Jonathan LeVine together with Yasha Young. The American-born artist is an established expert in the street and urban art scene and promotes young artists from all over the world every year with his Delusional Competition. The highlight of Project M/ was the impressive facade design by Dutch artist Handiedan, who attracted a lot of attention with her highly visible “Guardian Angel for Schöneberg”. More info
After a six-month creative break, the Project M series was continued in March 2015 under the curatorial direction of Jaime Rojo & Steven P. Harrington. The duo behind the world-famous New York label Brooklyn Street Art (BSA) has invited 11 artists to Berlin to portray a well-known German personality under the motto “Persons of Interest”. More info
Among the highlights of the PM/8 curated by the Stolenspace Gallery in June 2015 were the artwork of Berlin artist duo Herakut and the picture designed by street art icon Shephard Fairey. More info
The exhibition curated by JUSTKIDS, STREETARTNEWS and Yasha Young at the end of May 2016 was a true blaze of color. Under the motto “Colors” the 12 invited artists created numerous colourful ONE WALLS, graffiti and further artworks. More info
URBAN NATION celebrated its anniversary in July 2016. On the occasion of the tenth Project M, 10 renowned street artists enriched Berlin with numerous artworks under the motto “We are all connected”. Under the curatorial direction of Marina & Marcelo, INSTAGRAFITE, Yasha Young and her team received a very personal present. More info
The exhibition, curated in early 2017 by Boris Niehaus (JUST), Christian Hundertmark (C100) and Rudolf David Klöckner (URBANSHIT), had the motto “Radius” and was dedicated to the urban art scene in Germany. The works of 16 different artists gave an insight into the complexity of the urban art scene as well as an overview of the far-reaching field of influence of different urban art genres in Germany. More info
In May 2017, abstract works met figurative motifs, political murals met pop-cultural aesthetics. The exhibition “WHAT IN THE WORLD: THE JUXTAPOZ EDITION” curated by Evan Pricco, editor-in-chief of the world’s leading magazine for urban art “Juxtapoz”, was deliberately an exhibition of contrasts. The different styles of the seven artists reflected the current spectrum of contemporary art. More info
Yasha Young and co-curator Katie Johnson invited children between the ages of five and 12 to paint scary, funny and sweet monsters for “The Monster Project”. More than 50 of these works were subsequently interpreted by artists in their very own style. At the opening of the exhibition the time had finally come – the truly fascinating works of art by the children and artists were unveiled. More info
