September is usually a busy month for the art world. Though a lot of planned exhibitions and events have been cancelled or postponed this year due to Covid-19, more and more art spaces and institutions are starting to reopen internationally, and things are happening again — both on and offline. Here’s our selection of international art events to check out in September — including openings, last chances, and one-offs.
Things may seem like they’re kicking off in full force, but remember to check and adhere to safety regulations of individual venues and events — wear a mask, keep a distance, sanitize hands, etc. Many also require pre-registration or booking a time slot in advance, so make sure to plan ahead.
Berlin/Germany
König Galerie, Messe in St. Agnes, Exhibition view, 2020.
Berlin Art Week
The ninth edition of Berlin Art Week will present a mix of new digital formats and open air events city-wide, once again bringing together many art institutions, galleries, private collections, and project spaces, as well as POSITIONS Berlin Art Fairs, König Galerie’s Messe in St. Agnes, The Project Space Award, the Berliner Festspiele/Immersion program The New Infinity, and more. Berlin Art Week will also be launching its Playlist, a live and on-demand audio and video platform, offering access to digital artist talks, performances, and more. Beginning Tuesday, September 1, online booking is open for BAW special events.
When: September 9 – 13, 2020
Where: Various venues — see the full program, and stay tuned for our upcoming guide to BAW highlights!
STUDIO BERLIN
An exhibition organized by the Boros Foundation in cooperation with Berghain, with the aim of reflecting on changes in the art sphere brought about by COVID-19, and providing a platform for artists in Berlin. The exhibition will present works from over 100 Berlin-based contemporary artists working in photography, sculpture, painting, video, sound, performance and installation.
When: Opens Wednesday, September 9, 2020
Where: Berghain, Am Wriezener Bahnhof, 10243 Berlin
POSITIONS Berlin Art Fair 2020
The POSITIONS Berlin Art Fair is taking place as scheduled, in partnership with Berlin Art Week and parallel to Gallery Weekend. This year, it also includes a supporting program featuring paper positions berlin, which was postponed from April, photo basel, Fashion POSITIONS, The Contemporary African Photography Prize and more special exhibitions and events.
Positions Berlin Art Fair. © Positions Berlin Art Fair
In addition to its on-site program, POSITIONS is also developing digital formats to provide virtual access to the fair to visitors internationally.
When: September 10 – 13, 2020
Where: Tempelhof Airport Hangar 3-4, Columbiadamm 10, 10965 Berlin
David Shrigley, Untitled (Opening Hours), 2015, Courtesy: BQ
Gallery Weekend Berlin
Now in its 16th iteration, Gallery Weekend is taking place in September this year instead of its usual spring slot. 48 Berlin galleries will open their exhibitions, featuring work by artists both young and established. Including exhibitions of Nina Canell, Isa Genzken, Alexander Kluge, Barbara Hammer, Andreas Greiner, Olafur Eliasson, and many more. The Gallery Weekend journal also features video portraits, interviews, and introductions to artists’ works.
When: September 11 – 13, 2020; Saturday, September 12, 12pm – 7pm / Sunday, September 13, 12 – 19 Uhr
Where: Various venues — see the full program, and also stay tuned for our upcoming guide to Gallery Weekend highlights!
11th Berlin Biennale for Contemporary Art
Curated by María Berríos, Renata Cervetto, Lisette Lagnado, and Agustín Pérez Rubio, the 11th Berlin Biennale began last September with a series of ‘lived experiences’ situated at ExRotaprint. Evolving as a process, the biennale culminates in an epilogue, The Crack Begins Within, which opens this week, described as an “acknowledgement of the cracks in the system, of those broken by it and their struggles”.
The epilogue unfolds across four venues — The Antichurch, Storefront for Dissident Bodies, The Inverted Museum, and The Living Archive.
When: Saturday September 5 – Sunday November 1, 2020
Where: Four venues throughout the city: 11th Berlin Biennale c/o ExRotaprint, daadgalerie, Gropius Bau, and KW Institute for Contemporary Art.
Rebounder – HER Open Studio Event
The unofficial pre-after party for Berlin Art Week – A number of artists-in-studio between the HER & BBK buildings will open their doors to visitors for the first time since COVID rocked our collective worlds. Exgirlfriend also makes its grand return with the exhibition, “Slender Axes” by Fiona Valentine Thomann, featuring works by Constance Tenvik & Melika Shafahi. Also featuring music, performances, vegan tacos, and a studio takeover with artists invited by ARTCONNECT. Make sure to RSVP!
When: September 13, 2020, 5pm – 10pm
Where: HER & BBK studio building Lankwitzerstrasse 14, 12107 Berlin
Down to Earth. Climate, Art and Discourse, Unplugged
Taking Bruno Latour’s eponymous essay as a starting point, the art, live work and discourse project “Down to Earth” examines a system in which our own actions are continually combined with the influences of many other agencies: “the Earth with its thousand folds”.
The two-week unplugged program “Down to Earth” brings together artists and experts in sustainability and the practices of grounding, working with visual art, live work, talks, workshops, music and spontaneous interventions on other forms of being – in the Latourian sense – worldly and grounded.
When: Runs until September 13, 2020
Where: Gropius Bau, Niederkirchnerstrasse 7, 10963 Berlin
Read our interview with Anne Duk Hee Jordan about her installation “Into the Wild” in the frame of “Down to Earth”.
Hito Steyerl, How Not to Be Seen: A Fucking Didactic Educational .MOV File, 2013; HD video, single screen in architectural environment; 15 minutes, 52 seconds; Image CC 4.0 Hito Steyerl; Image courtesy of the Artist, Andrew Kreps Gallery, New York and Esther Schipper, Berlin
Hito Steyerl. I Will Survive
The first comprehensive exhibition dedicated to the filmmaker, moving image artist, writer, and innovator of the documentary, Hito Steyerl — known for her reflections on the current social role of art and institutions, as well as the impact of advanced technologies, like artificial intelligence, on society. Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, Düsseldorf and Centre Pompidou, Musée National d’Art Moderne, Paris organized this retrospective of the Berlin-based artist.
When: September 26, 2020 – January 10, 2021
Where: Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, K21, Ständehausstraße 1, 40217 Düsseldorf
International
Manifesta 13 Marseille
Manifesta 13 has gradually begun to open this past weekend, and this edition of the European nomadic biennial is the first ever to be held in France. Its program is divided into three parts: Traits d’union.s, the central biennial program, Le Tiers Programme, an initiative of Manifesta’s Education and Mediation department, and Les Parallèles du Sud, collateral projects and events. Its venues are being opened in four stages, and entrance to each opening moment is free (limited capacity).
When: Next opening moments are taking place on September 11 & 25, and October 9. All venues will be open through November 29, 2020, Tuesday to Sunday, 9am to 6pm.
Where: Various venues throughout Marseille — check out the full program for details.
Hassan Hajjaj: A Taste of Things to Come
A Taste of Things to Come, a solo exhibition of Moroccan-born, UK-based artist Hassan Hajjaj, features portrait photographs, as well as the video work My Rockstars Experimental II, sculptures and installations — combining vibrant colors and rhythmic patterns of North Africa, references to popular culture and commercial objects found in Morocco. Hajjaj’s diverse practice is frequently associated with Pop Art and is influenced by his North African heritage and Black alternative cultures in the UK, drawing on themes of multicultural identity and hybridity.
When: Runs until Sunday, September 27, 2020, open by appointment
Where: Barakat Contemporary, 58-4, Samcheong-ro, Jongno-gu, Seoul, South Korea
curated by 2020
Curated by gallery festival in Vienna is presenting its 12th iteration this month, titled “Hybrids”. This year’s festival features 24 galleries across Vienna, with exhibitions by an international roster of curators, including Bonaventure Soh Bejeng Ndikung, Hans Ulrich Obrist, Sarah Lucas and Kris Lemsalu, and more. Guided tours are organized every Friday and Saturday for the duration of the festival and are free to join.
When: Opening September 5 – 6, 2020 Sat 11am – 7pm / Sun 12pm – 5pm; Runs from September 8 – 26, 2020, Tue. – Sat., 12pm – 6pm
Where: Various galleries in Vienna, Austria — check out the full program for details.
22nd Biennale of Sydney
The extended Sydney Biennale is gradually drawing to a close this month, offering a last chance to check out its 2020 iteration, titled NIRIN – a Wiradjuri word meaning “edge” – curated by the Indigenous artist Brook Andrew. Working to challenge the Eurocentric art world, NIRIN is described by Andrew as “a platform where diverse and often marginalized voices of the world converge and discuss issues that resonate today.” It’s also possible to explore the artworks, take virtual tours of venues and listen to the NIRIN podcast online.
When: Runs until September 6, 2020 at Cockatoo Island and the Museum of Contemporary Art; until September 26, at Carriageworks; until September 27 at Art Gallery of New South Wales and Artspace; and until October 11 at Campbelltown Arts Centre.
Where: Six venues in Sydney, Australia — check the full program for details.
Cao Fei: Blueprints
This solo exhibition of Beijing-based multi-media artist and filmmaker Cao Fei features new and existing works, brought together in an immersive, site-specific installation, exploring themes such as automation, virtuality, and urban transformation. The exhibition is curated by Hans Ulrich Obrist and Joseph Constable.
Cao Fei, Nova, 2019, Video, 109’. Courtesy the artist, Vitamin Creative Space and Sprüth Magers
Originally meant to close in May, the exhibition has reopened and is extended. It has also been adapted in response to Covid-19 safety regulations: an augmented reality version has been developed for the work The Eternal Wave, which can be downloaded and experienced through visitors’ smartphones.
When: Through September 13, 2020, Tuesday – Sunday 10am – 6pm
Where: Serpentine Gallery, Kensington Gardens, London W2 3XA, United Kingdom
The Disquieted Muses. When La Biennale Meets History
This exhibition by the Historical Archives of Contemporary Arts – ASAC just opened over weekend in the Central Pavilion of the Giardini della Biennale. Curated by the artistic directors of the Biennale’s six departments (Art, Architecture, Cinema, Dance, Music, and Theatre), the exhibition is an archival group show marking the 125th anniversary of the Venice Biennale. Drawing on the local and international archives, the exhibition looks at intersections between the Biennale and major historical events of the 20th century.
When: Runs until December 8, 2020
Where: Central Pavilion of the Giardini della Biennale, Sestiere Castello, 30122 Venice, Italy
Marking Time: Art in the Age of Mass Incarceration
MoMA PS1 reopens its doors this month, with the exhibition “Marking Time: Art in the Age of Mass Incarceration” organized by guest curator Dr. Nicole R. Fleetwood, following the release of her new book of the same title. The exhibition features the work of more than 35 artists, including art made by people in prisons and work by non-incarcerated artists concerned with state repression, erasure, and imprisonment.
Tameca Cole, Locked in a Dark Calm, 2016. Collage and graphite on paper. 8 1/2 x 11 inches. Collection Ellen Driscoll.
Reflecting on the ongoing Covid-19 crisis in US prisons, updates have also been made to include new works made in response to the current emergency. Timed tickets will be available from September 10.
When: September 17, 2020 – April 4, 2021
Where: MoMA PS1, 22-25 Jackson Avenue, Queens, NY, US
