Against the Tide: Introducing KW Institute for Contemporary Art’s New Director
Berlin-based curator Emma Enderby on her inaugural programme, budget cuts and tarot card readings
Berlin-based curator Emma Enderby on her inaugural programme, budget cuts and tarot card readings
Previously chief curator at Haus der Kunst, Munich, Emma Enderby was appointed director of Berlin’s KW Institute for Contemporary Art in May 2024. It’s been a difficult seven months for the British-born curator, who has had to contend with massive cuts to Germany’s cultural sector. This week, she announced her inaugural programme, launching in February, which will focus on interdisciplinary solo exhibitions dedicated to young artists and, if the budget allows it, a civic-minded mediation plan.
Chloe Stead You’ve been director of KW Institute for Contemporary Art since last May. How are you finding Berlin?
Emma Enderby I love Berlin! I sometimes feel like the person who always swims against the tide. Everyone’s saying, ‘Berlin is over!’ But I’m like, ‘I love it here!’ There are so many amazing artists here: it’s a capital for art production, which I want to make central to KW’s programme.
At the same time, it’s been a crazy few months with everything that’s happened in the cultural sector. In particular, the announcement of the budget cuts in December was really challenging. But, other than that, people have embraced me with open arms – which is not what I was told in Munich. Everyone said, ‘They’re going to be so mean to you there!’ [laughs]. But I’ve had the opposite experience.
CS What else has surprised you so far?
EE People warned me it was a political job, but I didn’t really understand the full extent until I started. It’s been huge learning curve for me because, especially with these cuts, it’s become clear that institutions with long-term relationships with politicians are able to circumvent certain problems.
One nice realization was finding out how much this institution means to people and how happy artists are to show here. It’s been incredibly validating to see that our audiences are so engaged, that they will take the risk to come to one of our events if they don’t know the artist’s name.
CS You just announced your programme for 2025 but, due to the aforementioned cuts, you couldn’t confirm everything you had planned. How has the revised budget affected your programming and the running of the institution?
EE We were affected in three ways. We lost the funding for Museum Sunday Berlin [when all museums in Berlin open to the public for free on the first Sunday of the month]. We lost a staff position – essentially a digital coordinator – which was funded by the senate. Finally, our annual budget was cut by approximately 10–12 percent, but we are still waiting for a confirmation of the final numbers.
We have certain fixed costs, such as the running of the building and staff contracts, that we have to meet so, inevitably, the money has to come from the programme. We already had to cut aspects of our mediation programme at the end of the last year and cancel a number of partnerships.
CS What kind of conversations are you having behind the scenes with the senate and other institutions in Berlin?
EE One of the positive aspects of the situation is that many other institutions have been incredibly supportive, whether their budgets are being cut or not. I have had conversations with a number of people to discuss different tactics, including Anna Gritz from Haus am Waldsee, Annette Maechtel from nGbK, Kathleen Reinhardt from the Georg Kolbe Museum and Antje Weitzel, who used to work at the Berlin Biennale for Contemporary Art and is now director at Künstlerhaus Bethanien. Jenny Schlenzka, director of Gropius Bau, and Sam Bardaouil and Till Fellrath, co-directors of Hamburger Bahnhof, have also been very helpful – even though their institutions are not directly affected.
I’ve also been in direct contact with [Berlin’s culture minister] Joe Chialo and his administration, which led me to realize that there were indeed misunderstandings around KW’s budget. So, my role for this year is to really advocate for this institution because it is pivotal for the city. We support so many artists.
CS How do you see KW within the wider cultural landscape in Berlin?
EE KW is unique in as much as we’re not small but we’re not big either. We don’t have a collection and our exhibitions are pretty short in duration – lasting around three months – meaning we have the possibility to take risks and show young artists, which is reflected in my upcoming programme. In February, we’ll open with the first institutional exhibitions of Miloš Trakilović and Matt Copson, for instance. When my predecessor Krist Gruijthuijsen was director of KW, there was a need for the types of great shows he did: big historical exhibitions with lots of loaned works. Now, with new directors at many of the museums in the city fulfilling that role, I really want to focus on collaborating with artists to produce new work on site, rather than shipping in lots of objects. This is not only better from a sustainability perspective, but it also means that our budget is going directly back into the city.
That’s not to say we won’t do historical exhibitions – towards the end of the year, we’re staging a survey show of Japanese artist Kazuko Miyamoto, an important figure of the 1970s and ’80s – but her historical string constructions are singular objects that one ‘borrows’ but are composed on site. They can only be exhibited at one place in the world at a time, and, when the show is over, you cut them down with scissors.
CS What other changes did you have to make to your programme for 2025 due to the budget cuts?
EE I had hoped that, alongside a classic mediation programme, we could also play more of a civic engagement role within the community. Specifically, I wanted the institution to be a place where different communities within Berlin could use our space for activities that are not necessarily connected to our exhibitions or to the arts. When I worked at The Shed, in New York, for instance, we gave space over for voting, or for people to get the COVID-19 vaccine during the pandemic. That was my original vision for KW, but it’s on the backburner now until we can find funding.
CS What are you most looking forward to in the coming year?
EE It’s certainly going to be an interesting year ahead politically – both in Berlin and on a global scale. I’m excited, if a little anxious, to launch the new programme. Jenny Schlenzka [director of Gropius Bau] did a tarot card reading for me recently and I drew the strength card. I took it as a good sign because I know that’s what I’ll need for 2025!
Main image: KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin, 2023. Courtesy: KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin; photograph: David von Becker