Deutsche Bank is planning to establish a new arts forum in central Berlin, primarily to exhibit its corporate collection, one of the largest in the world, encompassing 50,000 works acquired since the late 1970s.
The arts centre, expected to open in mid-2018, is located in the Prinzessinnenpalais at 5 Unter den Linden—the boulevard leading up to the Brandenburg Gate. “We are working on an exciting programme,” says Klaus Winker, a spokesman for Deutsche Bank, adding that it is too early to give details.
With an available area of 3,000 sq. m, the building will house both permanent and temporary exhibitions as well as hosting concerts, readings, talks, workshops, sporting events and a café. About a third of the space will be devoted to displaying art. Exhibitions of the bank’s own collection—focused on works on paper and photography—will be supplemented with shows of other private collections.
The centre will incorporate the Deutsche Bank KunstHalle, currently located at 13/15 Unter den Linden. The KunstHalle is the successor to the Deutsche Guggenheim, a cooperative venture with the Guggenheim Museum which closed in 2013. The new forum will treble the space available for exhibiting art.
Deutsche Bank is a major sponsor of art, focusing on emerging artists by supporting museums and fairs, awarding its own art prize and publishing an art magazine.