Zentrum für Kunst und Urbanistik

Zentrum für Kunst und Urbanistik

ZK/U Berlin is an art residency, a research and production space for societal ideas, questions and challenges in the urban sphere, as well asa platform for projects, exhibitions, conferences, workshops and other formats. Founded by the artist collective KUNSTrePUBLIK, ZK/Uopened in 2012 and is located in one of Berlin’s former railway depots, a landmark building with an overall footprint of 2000 sqm,surrounded by the municipal park Stadtgarten Moabit.

What makes the organisation unique?

ZK/U residencies are meant to be a space for artistic creation and urban experimentation. A space to live together and learn from eachother, a space for collaborative practices and collective caring and sharing: Instead of rigid guidelines and a residency oriented towardslarge-scale productions, the focus is on process and a continually redefining program between local practices and international discourses.ZK/U is surrounded by a municipal park with community gardens. This unique location situates international artists right in the middle of apublic space used by local communities of Moabit and beyond. With its own extended understanding of the concept of art, ZK/U works onsupporting the artists’ outreach into the diverse neighborhood. Within 10 years, ZK/U established itself as an independent space at theintersection of art, urban research and neighborhood practices. Through national and international collaborations with institutions andorganizations of various sizes, ZK/U is able to invite artists from different contexts to live and work in Berlin for a period of time. The artisticwork is multidisciplinary, relates to themes of city and urban development, and brings international discourses to Moabit, Berlin.