On the occasion of its 5th anniversary, the BERLINER LISTE 2008 - fair for contemporary art, photography and art since 1960 - is taking place in an exciting new location: the historical premises of the former hotel Haus Cumberland on Kurfürstendamm in Berlin-Charlottenburg.

Since its establishment in 2004 the LISTE has positioned itself as a "fair of discovery" in two ways. On the one hand art collectors and curators from around the world can seek out new talents here. An example is Mera and Don Rubell from Miami who discovered the young painter Andrea Lehmann from Düsseldorf for their large international collection and bought up the whole exhibition stand at once. The fair offers young galleries and those that are not yet well established particularly favourable terms. The exciting concept of changing locations for the fair also gives the BERLINER LISTE a particular flair every year. Venues for the LISTE in previous years have included the former transformer station Umspannwerk in Kopenhagener Straße in the Prenzlauer Berg district (formerly the Vitra Design Museum) and the former post office station Postbahnhof at the rail triangle.

 

 

 
Neo Rauch, Notte
Öl, Schellack Karton 74, 8 x 99, 5 cm
1993
Courtesy Galerie Burkhard Eikelmann

Growingsuccess

Wolfram Völcker, head of the young fair says "Initially started as an experiment, the BERLINER LISTE has become successfully established in the art landscape". Together with other Berlin gallery owners Völcker had the idea of creating an alternative fair parallel to the ART FORUM BERLIN especially for young and aspiring galleries and contemporary young art to whom a classic art fair is not suited in his opinion. "Every year we create a special ambience and framework conditions which make our fair a very special and successful event for international exhibitors and visitors alike."

The BERLINER LISTE is a suitable platform for experimenting without risk and making discoveries - an addition previously missing in the Berlin fair landscape. 30 galleries and 4,000 visitors attended the first fair in 2004 and since then it has grown continuously with more than 70 exhibiting galleries and an expected 10,000 visitors at this year's fair. The 2007 fair attracted approximately 9,000 international curators, collectors, journalists, and art lovers.

 

 

New sections: Photography & art since 1960

For the first time at the BERLINER LISTE visitors will be able to enjoy three different sections on the four floors of Haus Cumberland. In addition to the contemporary art section, the 2008 fair has been expanded to include the categories of photography and art since 1960.

As well as paintings, drawings, sculptures and video art, for the first time the following 7 galleries are presenting photography only: ROBERT MORAT GALERIE (Hamburg), ARTantide.com (Verona), Galeri Paqui Delgado (S. Sadurni d'Anoia), Galerie en passant (Berlin), ego gallery (Barcelona), Gallery Lumiere (Seoul), McBride Fine Art (Antwerp). Works by highly regarded photographers such as Thomas Höpker and Araki Nobuyoshi are being exhibited among others. Wolfram Völcker says "The development of photography in the past few years has shown that it is not only prices that are increasing; above all there is growing public interest. The fifth BERLINER LISTE takes this into account. " The gallery Helga K. Schiffler from Bad Soden and Galerie Oben GbR from Chemnitz are exhibiting art since 1960.

The majority of the predominantly young galleries at the fair come from Germany. A high percentage of the foreign galleries come from Italy and Spain, but the USA, South Korea, Belgium, Latvia, Finland, Poland and Romania are also represented.

The 73 exhibiting galleries from 11 countries include Galleria Uustitalo from Helsinki, C5 colección from Santiago de Compostela, Matthias Jahn at Fred Jahn from Munich, ROBERT MORAT GALERIE from Hamburg, WILDE GALLERY and Galerie oko - Japanese Contemporary Art from Berlin, Alma Gallery from Riga, Anaid Art Gallery from Bucharest and Merry Karnowsky Gallery from Los Angeles/Berlin.

 

 

Haus Cumberland

In 2008 the fair will once again be held in an exciting new exhibition venue: the vacant former 5-star luxury hotel Haus Cumberland. The building was erected in 1911/12 and was designed by Robert Leibnitz who also designed Hotel Adlon. After multiple uses the building most recently housed the Berlin regional finance office (1966-1993).
Contemporary art and a glamorous historic ambience create an exciting combination for the BERLINER LISTE: In many rooms in which the young art is taking up residence the elegant interior has been preserved with highly ornate stuccoed ceilings, ceiling paintings and fine wooden panelling. These former hotel rooms and suites with a total area of 3,500 m2 offer the galleries perfectly illuminated "white cubes" for the presentation of the works of around 350 artists at the LISTE.

 

The building that is 60 metres wide and 180 metres deep was designed as a "boarding house" with numerous suites for rent with domestic staff. However, this business idea failed even before the final opening and the owners went bankrupt. In 1914 the building accommodated the imperial weapons and munitions procurement office for a while. The same year it was converted to a grand hotel with 700 beds.
After the First World War the imperial ministry of economics and the head office for postal services occupied the building, and from 1966 until 1993 it housed the Berlin regional finance office. The property group ORCO Germany acquired Haus Cumberland in August 2006. The group plans to invest 150 - 170 million euros in turning the historical building into a "lifestyle centre" with luxury boutiques, fine restaurants and offices. The reopening is planned for the fourth quarter of 2011.

On account of the prestigious architecture of the building, its huge size of 10,200 m², five courtyards stretching between Kurfürstendamm and Lietzenburger Straßeand the warm atmosphere radiated by the building both inside and out, in the past Haus Cumberland was used for large events and also as a photo and film set. For example the building served as a backdrop for scenes of the films "Lola rennt", "Der rote Kakadu" and "The Bourne Conspiracy".

ORCO Germany S.A. is a property group with headquarters in Luxembourg. The ORCO Germany Group, which trades uniformly under the registered trademark ORCO Germany, has operated in Germany since 2004 and concentrates on residential and commercial property, asset management and project development. ORCO Germany currently has approximately 210 employees in Germany.

 

 

 

 

 

Managing Director

Dr. Wolfram Völcker