As part of an open call, students and teaching staff of UdK Berlin are invited to artistically explore the relationship between the university and the city of Berlin. One possible starting point is the banner and slogan from the current “Berlin” image campaign, developed by Berlin Partner for city marketing (wir.berlin: BERLIN.). The slogan on the banner selected by Berlin Partner for this initiative reads:

“Vier der besten Unis in Deutschland. Fünf, wenn man die Straße mitzählt."
(Four of the best universities in Germany. Five, if you count the street.)

The open call is addressed to all teaching staff and students of the university. The aim is to bring together individual students or project groups from as many faculties as possible to engage with the city of Berlin and its connection to the university, and to translate this into their own artistic language – whether installation-based, performative, media-based or conceptual. The focus is on individual perspectives and cross-disciplinary interpretations that highlight the diversity of UdK Berlin. The physical banner, its typography and/or colours may serve as creative impulses and design elements for the works.

The resulting works will be presented in a curated exhibition from 23–26 February 2026 at Masumi Space on Kurfürstendamm.

Alongside the exhibition, accompanying communication will take place through a press release, the production of video content, a social media campaign on the Instagram channels wirBerlin and UdK Berlin, as well as outdoor advertising in the urban space around Kurfürstendamm.

To take part, please send the following documents by December 8 2025 to marketing_ @udk-berlin.de with the subject line “Open Call – UdK x Berlin”:

• Short description of the idea (max. 1 A4 pages)
• Sketches, visualisations or mood boards
• Technical requirements (materials*, set-up)
• Participating artists

*Material costs of up to 400 euros may be reimbursed upon prior agreement and submission of receipts.

• Deadline for submission of project/object ideas: November 28, 2025
• Project selection decision: Early December 2025
• Joint project kick-off: Early December 2025
• Production phase: December 2025 – February 21, 2026
• Opening (Vernissage): February 23, 2026
• Exhibition period: February 23–26, 2026

If you have any questions, please contact Insa Ruckdeschel from the Strategic Marketing team:
insa.ruckdeschel_ @intra.udk-berlin.de
030 3185 1459

The Open Call invites participants to explore the urban fabric as a space of collective negotiation, artistic practice, scholarly research, and aesthetic resonance and, as the Berlin University of the Arts, to continually re-examine it anew.
Within the cooperation project with Berlin Partner, a dialogue emerges between the university and the city, in which art, design, and related disciplines become tangible as forms of public reflection and exchange. The aim is an open process that seeks resonance rather than representation.
The Berlin University of the Arts understands itself as a place of artistic and academic inquiry that does not depict Berlin, but contributes impulses for new perspectives and forms of collaboration within society.
The support of our long-standing cooperation partner, Berlin Partner, makes it possible to realize this project and to strengthen and make visible the exchange between the university, the urban community, and artistic practice.