»We are working at high pressure on ambitious and energetic exhibitions,« is how Katharina Wendler, the curator of the university gallery, describes the project. »We not only want to show the artistic works that are created at the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar, but also to involve renowned artists from whom the students can learn a lot in terms of exhibition practice. In this way, the exhibition space in Erfurt will become a place of exchange and collaboration, also a place of experimentation and networking.«

»I am delighted that the Faculty of Art and Design will be exhibiting in Kunsthaus Erfurt in 2022, thus expanding the gallery concept of Bauhaus-Universität Weimar and giving it new impetus,« emphasises Prof. Jutta Emes, Elected Interim President of Bauhaus-Universität Weimar. The university management has made a budget available for this project and is also funding a curatorial position initially for three years, which is charged with developing the programme and managing the gallery.

In the beginning, the project will run under the already established label of »NOVA art space«, which Katharina Wendler founded in 2019 as part of her teaching together with students at Bauhaus-Universität Weimar. NOVA is a platform for contemporary art and current questions of artistic practice and its (re)presentation. In the past three years, diverse projects have been realised within the NOVA art space. Now the initiative is to develop into a university gallery. The exhibition spaces in the Kunsthaus Erfurt provide the experimental field for this. Over the next two semesters, the students will work together on teaching projects to develop an individual identity for the gallery and find an exhibition venue in Weimar.

With »Space, Activate!«, the first project of the NOVA art space @ Kunsthaus Erfurt will open on 27 April 2022. The exhibition features collaborative and performative artistic practices and also includes a series of performances and events to which all visitors are warmly invited. The programme for the coming months includes four exhibitions; it brings together Bauhaus-Universität Weimar students with alumni and external artists. The programme has been approved by a specially appointed exhibition commission in which teachers and students are involved.

For further information on the university gallery and previous projects of the »NOVA art space«, please visit: www.uni-weimar.de/university-gallery and www.nova-space.org.

About Katharina Wendler:
Katharina Wendler studied Applied Cultural Studies and Psychology (B.A.) at Leuphana University Lüneburg and Art and Image History (M.A.) at Humboldt University Berlin and the University of Iceland, Reykjavik. After assistant positions at Konrad Fischer Galerie, Berlin, i8 Gallery, Reykjavik, and Contemporary Arts Museum Tampa, Florida, she was co-director of Galerie Daniel Marzona, Berlin, and directed the exhibition space SAFN Berlin (2014-2017) and Karin Sander's studio (2016-2018). In early 2018, she initiated the dialogue-based exhibition series __in conversation with__ and became part of the curatorial collective FLURR in 2019. Currently, she is curator and research assistant at the Faculty of Art and Design at Bauhaus-Universität Weimar, responsible for the exhibition programme of the university gallery. As a freelance curator and author, she has realised numerous exhibitions and publications with emerging and established artists and institutions.

If you have any questions, please contact Katharina Wendler by e-mail at katharina.wendler[at]uni-weimar.de.