From 16th June 2010 to 30th April 2011, Thermostat presented around thirty exhibitions in Germany and France, co-produced by 24 Kunstvereine and art centres.
Initiated in 2010 by DCA and the Institut français d’Allemagne, Thermostat is based on a sharing of experiences between the directors and curators of the Kunstvereine and art centres involved. They met to reflect on curatorial practices and the international challenges of contemporary creation in the decentralised and diversified regional contexts that define their institutions.
Thermostat offers an enriching dialogue between the partner institutions and their audiences, based on the sharing of diverse curatorial approaches. Dedicated, like the art centres, to the production of works and exhibitions, the Kunstvereine’s vocation is to support contemporary creation and to highlight unique or innovative artistic approaches, with no intention of building up collections. They often offer emerging artists their first institutional platform for experimentation and make innovative artistic stances accessible.
The title Thermostat embodies the energy of the German and French art scenes that the Kunstvereine and art centres capture, transform and redistribute. The project thus aims to reveal and highlight, in their diversity and complementarity, a wide range of French and German institutions and the artists they support.
The participating structures, associated by curatorial affinity in duos or trios, presented exhibitions produced for the event with more than 70 artists, including Julien Bismuth, Shannon Bool, Matti Braun, François Curle, Thea Djordjadze, Latifa Echakhch, Yona Friedman, Jean-Luc Moulène, Evariste Richer, Javier Téllez and Stephen Willats…
These projects were presented in the following institutions:
— CAC Brétigny, Brétigny-sur-Orge/ Künstlerhaus Stuttgart
— Centre d’art contemporain d’Ivry — le Crédac, Ivry-sur-Seine/ Kunstverein Nürnberg - Albrecht Dürer Gesellschaft
— Centre d’art contemporain — la synagogue de Delme/ Brandenburgischer Kunstverein Potsdam
— Centre d’art passerelle, Brest/ Le Quartier, centre d’art contemporain de Quimper / Badischer Kunstverein Karlsruhe
— CNEAI = Chatou/ Halle für Kunst Lüneburg/ Kunstverein Harburger Bahnhof, Hamburg
— CRAC Alsace, Centre rhénan d’art contemporain d’Altkirch/ GAK — Gesellschaft für Aktuelle Kunst Bremen
— La Galerie, Centre d’art contemporain de Noisy-le-Sec/ Kunstverein Braunschweig
— Le Confort Moderne, Poitiers/ Bielefelder Kunstverein
— Le Grand Café, Centre d’art contemporain, Saint-Nazaire/ Kunstverein Wolfsburg
— Maison des arts Georges Pompidou, Cajarc/ Kunstverein Tiergarten/ Galerie Nord, Berlin
— Parc Saint Léger, Centre d’art contemporain, Pougues-les-Eaux/ Frankfurter Kunstverein
Thermostat is a joint initiative of DCA — French national network of contemporary art centres, and the Bureau de la création artistique — Arts Plastiques of the Institut français d’Allemagne; it has been supported by the Kulturstiftung des Bundes (German Federal Cultural Foundation), the Ministry of Culture and Communication (Directorate General for Artistic Creation), Culturefrance and the Plenipotentiary for Franco-German Cultural Relations, as well as by the Cultural Service of the French Embassy in Berlin.