OPEN SPACE 2006

DEVIATIONS OF NOW. The second staging of OPEN SPACE, which will take place at the 40th ART COLOGNE 2006, is a pilot project that attempts to present the public with a new, urban kind of art fair. On an expanded space of 2,500 square metres, 38 galleries from around the world will be presenting different standpoints from the world of contemporary art. Some of these installations and spatial works have either been specifically developed for OPEN SPACE or will be shown here for the first time. OPEN SPACE aims to meet the expectations of a well-informed, networked international public as well as reflecting the contemporary contexts of artistic creation and professional mediation and marketing.

For the first time, OPEN SPACE 2006 will offer a platform for other art-related projects in order to open up a discussion of the urban contexts and networking structures of contemporary art. For example, “a-musik” and “Heimat” will represent the positions of experimental music and the young fashion avant garde. “Schnittraum” and the “European Kunsthalle” operate as alternative projects that participate in the general discussion of contemporary art. All of this year’s guests from areas that share an interface with art originated in Cologne. This principle of selection was deliberate, as the aim was to present important reference points of Cologne’s art scene to an international public. The restaurant, bar and lounge areas have also been expanded and consolidated in a central square that will serve as a stage and a showcase for a daily programme of events. The design of the restaurant and bar has been another art project, which was carried out by Georg Herold and Josef Z ehrer.