VIERI WOMEN: Maike Cruse
Dear Maike, would you first tell us how you ended up at Gallery Weekend and the abc?
Before this I worked at KW in Berlin and then went on to Art Basel, during which I still operated my project rooms in Berlin. Throughout all these activities I was in close contact with a lot of Berlin gallerists and artists. When I came back to Berlin with my first child, the people in charge of the abc and the Gallery Weekend asked me, if I wanted to continue their work and I immediately said yes.
What do both of the events mean to Berlin and how do you evaluate the development?
Both formats are aligned with the strengths of Berlin: Berlin is the city for artists and its their production place, Gallery Weekend and abc are artist centered formats. At the Gallery Weekend you will find solo exhibitions at galleries and the abc presents single pieces of work within one joint exhibition. This mix brings a lot of national and international visitors to the city, which is tremendously important for galleries and artists alike, especially since the art market is still young and has to be developed – even though there are more and more collectors moving to the city and young people started buying art.
What was the biggest learning during the development of both formats? Are there things that you would always do again?
The artists should always be the center of everything.
How do you deal with people, that don´t believe in what you do? Are there even people out there who don´t?
Both formats are successful, but there are always people that you have to convince. Convicing sponsors, that it is important to support events like ours, or politicians, that it is important to support galleries, because they are the key for artists to advance within the city. But also talking to gallerists that it is important to act as one, to show great works, even if it isn´t profitable – because the success of our events is living of the unity and the solidarity among the gallery owners. During all these talks I am trying to bring good arguments to the table – and I don´t give up.
Art and jewelry – what is your opinion?
I like that idea. I love Monica Bonvicinis artistic works and I tried on her collection – it is very exciting.
Do you have a favorite piece from our VIERI x MONICA BONVICINI collection?
I like the Single Chain rings the most, but I do find the bracelets really beautiful too.
What shouldn´t we miss during this years abc from September 15th to 18th?
There are a lot of art works especially created for the abc from artists like Henning Fehr and Philipp Rühr, Christopher Roth, Simone Gilges, Daniel Knorr, Saadane Afif und Laure Provoust, that I am really exited to see. There will be an exclusive special program with small happenings by artists, which will bring you to places that are important to their works. You can be part of traditional tea ceremonies, there will be surprise lunches, exclusive movie premieres and a whole lot more. There will also be the abc Gallery Night on Friday, during which Berlin galleries will open their doors and are basically inviting everyone to a walk through the city. On Saturday night we will have a backyard party together with the Berlin Biennale and we will end the week together.
Visit http://www.artberlincontemporary.com to find out everything you need to know and what to see at the 2017 abc!
