The VR KUNSTPREIS of the DKB in cooperation with CAA Berlin 2023 with the theme “virtual utopias” is dedicated to female artists who use virtual reality (VR) and large-scale installations to create visions for social change. All female artists living in Germany who work with the medium of virtual reality and use the technology in their artistic work are eligible to apply.
Image above: Courtesy DKB
Promoting the potential of digital arts
Rapid digitisation is creating new virtual spaces of the arts experience. With virtual reality technology, alternative future scenarios, wishful images and utopian moments can be imagined in a virtual space. This opens up new spaces of possibility to develop alternatives for our society. Through the increased use of VR and the departure into the metaverse, the digital extension of our physical reality, virtual worlds are becoming part of our present. How will the wishful images of virtual reality come together with physical reality? How can artistic perspectives change our view of current crises and problems and provide impulses for a future worth living?
For the second time, Deutsche Kreditbank AG (DKB), in cooperation with the Contemporary Arts Alliance Berlin (CAA Berlin), is offering an art prize for virtual reality in the field of visual arts. The prize includes five working scholarships leading to an institutional exhibition from 9 September to 5 November 2023 at the Haus am Lützowplatz (HaL) Berlin. For the second edition, the exhibition will again be curated by the artistic director of the VR KUNSTPREIS of the DKB in cooperation with CAA Berlin, Tina Sauerländer. As part of the exhibition, three of the five projects presented will be awarded a sponsorship prize. The prizes are endowed with a total of 12,000 euros.
The following experts were recruited for the high-calibre jury of experts selecting the VR KUNSTPREIS scholarships: Emma Enderby (Head of Programme and Research, Chief Curator, Haus der Kunst, Munich), Sabiha Keyif (Curator & Project Manager, Head of Touring Exhibitions, ifa – Institute for Foreign Cultural Relations), Ulrich Schrauth (Artistic Director, VRHAM! Virtual Reality & Arts Festival, Hamburg, and Curator of XR & Immersive Art, British Film Institute (BFI) and London Film Festival), Nadim Samman (Curator of Digital, KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin) and Dr. Alexandra von Stosch (Co-founder & Board Member of CAA Berlin gGmbH, and Managing Director of Artprojekt Entwicklungen GmbH).
Communicating digital arts to different target groups
For the second edition of the VR KUNSTPREIS of the DKB in cooperation with CAA Berlin, an extensive accompanying programme to the exhibition at the Haus am Lützowplatz (09.09. – 05.11. 2023) is being created with guided tours, talks and workshops. The highlight will be Coding Art Labs for artists, students and school pupils, who can explore programming and the use of VR technologies both practically and theoretically.
With their commitment, the organisers DKB and CAA Berlin want to initiate a broad discussion about the genre and its potential for all areas of life.
About DKB and CAA Berlin
DKB has been living digitalisation since the turn of the millennium and has dealt with the potential of new technologies from the very beginning: In 2001, it founded the 1st internet bank without branches and made cashless payment popular. Since its foundation in 1990, it has placed particular emphasis on the sustainable orientation of its financial business. Among other things, it supports the construction of wind turbines, solar roofs, daycare centres, nursing homes, hospitals and affordable housing. With the VR KUNSTPREIS of DKB in cooperation with CAA Berlin, Deutsche Kreditbank AG is aligning its commitment in the field of art with a focus on social added value: The aim is to promote artistic engagement with a digitising society and the changes that go hand in hand with it.
CAA Berlin strengthens the forward-looking dialogue between art, society and business.
Founded in 2007, the platform uses private commitment to promote young talent in the fields of dance, theatre, music and visual arts by awarding scholarships and project funding. With the VR KUNSTPREIS of the DKB in cooperation with CAA Berlin, the platform supports a young, international art scene in Germany.
“Artistic ideas can stimulate the development of new perspectives on an uncertain future. They carry the power for change and draw speculative counter-designs to the ‘here and now’. More than ever, the critical and utopian power of digital art is in demand.
Tina Sauerländer, Artistic Director
The top-class jury of experts for the selection of the VR KUNSTPREIS scholarships:
- Emma Enderby (Head of Programme and Research, Chief Curator, Haus der Kunst, Munich)
- Sabiha Keyif (Curator & Project Manager, Head of Touring Exhibitions, ifa – Institute for Foreign Cultural Relations)
- Ulrich Schrauth (Artistic Director, VRHAM! Virtual Reality & Arts Festival, Hamburg, and Curator of XR & Immersive Art, British Film Institute (BFI) and London Film Festival)
- Nadim Samman (Curator for the Digital Domain, KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin)
- Dr. Alexandra von Stosch (Co-founder & Board Member of CAA Berlin gGmbH, and Managing Director of Artprojekt Entwicklungen GmbH
PROCEDERE
Who can apply?
Activity as a visual artist
Centre of life in Germany
Submission of a current VR artwork
and submission of a sketch for an associated AR work
Draft sketch for associated room installation (ground plan: HaL Große Galerie)
Dead line: 15.11.2022 (Teilnahmebedingungen)
This is how you apply:
- Download the Bewerbungsformular, fill it in and sign it.
- Download the Teilnahmebedingungen, read them and sign the consent form in the appendix.
- Please send both signed documents as PDF to vrkunst@dkb.ag by 15.11.2022 (24:00 CET) at the latest.
If you have any questions, please contact vrkunst@dkb.ag.
LEARN MORE
www.vrkunst.dkb.de/vr-kunstpreis/
