Valuable tips, criticism and exchange: four curators from four different art and cultural institutions in Germany, Belgium and Denmark visited a total of 27 artists from Bremen in November and December 2022 in their studios as part of the Visiting Curators program. The curators and artists exchanged views on their respective artistic or curatorial positions, programs and projects. But current circumstances, obstacles and challenges, such as the after-effects of the pandemic on their work and points of view, were also topics. The informal studio discussions gave the artists new impulses, valuable tips and the opportunity to take a fresh look at their own work: “The view from outside is enriching. Being able to assume mutual interest without persuasion, offers the chance to enter quickly into an intensive exchange,” says participating artist Gertrud Schleising.

The guest curators in 2022: Stef Van Bellingen (curator at WARP, platform for contemporary art in Sint-Niklaas, Belgium), Lisa Britzger (curator at the municipal art space Lothringer 13 Halle in Munich), Anne Hagen Kielgast (curator at Kunstforeningen GL STRAND in Copenhagen, Denmark) and Susanne Weiß (freelance curator, most recently interim director of ifa-Galerie Berlin in 2021/2022 together with Inka Gressel, Berlin).

The Visiting Curators program organized by the Künstlerhaus Bremen enabled artists from Bremen to meet and exchange with foreign curators for the fifth time in 2022. The program aims to connect Bremen artists with curators and provide them with professional feedback on their artistic work through one-on-one meetings in their studios. The aim is to introduce artists to established curators outside the Bremen art scene and to gain new perspectives on their own work. For this purpose, the artists showed their original works or sketches during the visits, discussed ideas or looked at their portfolios together with the curators and considered how their visibility could be improved: “I think the Visiting Curators program is a great way to introduce artists to curators and their thinking. The assessments, tips, comments and criticism from these extremely respectable people are invaluable,” says the artist Klaas Wurtmann after his visit by Anne Hagen Kielgast.

The curators - some of whom are internationally active - were invited by their respective colleagues from the Gerhard-Marcks-Haus, the GAK Gesellschaft für aktuelle Kunst, the Städtische Galerie Bremen and the Künstlerhaus Bremen. At a get-together in the Weserburg library with curators and directors of Bremen art institutions, the guests gained additional insight into the local art scene and could network with their colleagues.

Their visits to artists in Bremen gave them a glimpse behind studio doors that were previously unknown to them, confronted them with artistic positions that provoked new ideas, and in some cases led to concrete invitations. For example, the Bremen-based artist Paula Hurtado Otero will be shown in Lisa Britzger’s group exhibition PART TIME COMMITMENT SERIES - Prologue: What does work mean at the end of the day? at Lothringer 13 Halle in Munich at the end of March.

Visiting Curators is a joint project of the Bremen Artists’ Association BBK, the Bremen Artists’ Association, GEDOK, the Künstlerhaus Bremen and the Städtische Galerie Bremen. The Visiting Curators program will enter its next round in autumn 2023. The call for applications will be published in September. Applications are open to all professional artists working in Bremen who have completed their studies at an art academy or can prove that they are working professionally as an artist.