Freie Berliner Kunstausstellung

The unrest of this period had inspired many social groups, and artists as well were “woken up”, as Zeidler reported in his review in 1983.

In addition to these early historical roots, the Non-Juried Art Exhibition featured a direct predecessor in 1965, as mentioned in the archives of the Association of Female Artists of Berlin.

It has long embodied a piece of Zeitgeist, changeable, full of surprises, appreciated or criticized, always alive.

The 13th Freie Berliner Kunstausstellung will also spark discussions, raise questions and leave them unanswered, letting what is transitory and what is permanent come into contact.

I hope that it will generate the same lively interest which a receptive audience full of dedication and contradiction also devoted to its predecessors.For the first time in 1990, after what was called Die Wende – after the fall of the Berlin Wall but before German reunification – Walter Momper, mayor of Berlin at that time, congratulated the FBK, hoping for “satisfied artists and many interested visitors from East and West”.

[14] For Nicole Bröhan, the “always controversial mixture of professional and amateur artists […] created its special appeal”.

The management of the exhibitions was led by the respective chairperson of the association, while the organizational aspects were handled by a group of seven members.

[16] At the 20th anniversary of the exhibition, the chairman expressed satisfaction that the Free Division and the groups were now “finally equal” in the allocation of space.

[17] Among the celebrities of the exhibitors were Louise Rösler, Walter Stöhrer, Fred Thieler and Jürgen Draeger.

[18] While for almost 20 years male artists were overrepresented, the gender distribution was balanced for the first time in 1990 – “without any quotation”, as Walter Momper acknowledged in his greeting.

[12] For four weeks each year, between April and June, the FBK organizers opened the doors of the exhibition halls at the Funkturm Berlin and invited the public.

“Drawings, pictures, spatial as well as sound and video installations, sculptures, collages, photography” were presented.

[15] In addition to depressive performances,[19] there were also humorous inventions, such as a potency automat (1986)[20] or an art licensing machine(1989).

While the program changed at times, there were special readings by women, or “music played on historical instruments”.

In 1989 “the visitors of the 19th FBK were greeted at the entrance to the exhibition halls by 70 colourful flags [...], which had never been shown before”.

[23] In 1991, as in previous years, a “graphic competition for students of the Berlin University of the Arts” was organized.

[13] In 1992, the project began with picture panels, 30 large-format paintings on the outside of the exhibition halls, designed to “catch the eye”.

In 1983 – twelve years after the FBK's opening – Leonhardt still expressed hope “that the media would finally provide stronger support to this exhibition”.

During the jubilee exhibition in 1995 the organizers assumed that – while budget cuts had to be made – the FBK could still take place every second year, in a “2-year rhythm”,[27] as the former cultural director Ulrich Roloff-Momin had stated.

With the exception of the first two years, the number of art works that were sold increased consistently and grew steadily to a 6-figure sum, just under half a million in 1992.

Yet, Leonhardt regrets: “Not more than about 5 % of the visual artists can support themselves through their work.”[31] There were discussions about the often modest purchases of art works by the Senate of Berlin which were in the single-digit percentage range of the budget for art purchases.“Ridiculous, the disillusioned say, that of a 670,000 DM budget less than 5 % was purchased at the FBK, even though the Senator himself considers this exhibition to be the most important of the year in Berlin.”[31]