KAI 10

In the location's words:

KAI 10 | ARTHENA FOUNDATION is a non-commercial art institution without its own collection. The exhibition rooms are located in a former warehouse built in the 1950s at Kaistraße 10, one of the few remaining historical buildings in Düsseldorf's Medienhafen. With over 600 square meters of exhibition space, it offers an ideal setting for the presentation and realization of artistic ideas. KAI 10 is accessible with Free admission during regular opening hours and complements the offerings of other museums and exhibition venues in the region. Over 200 artists have exhibited here since the opening in September 2008. These include world-renowned names alongside less established positions that are always worth discovering - not least in the local scene in the Rhineland. Numerous artists of the younger generation were already represented at KAI 10 before they became widely known in recent years.

KAI 10 | ARTHENA FOUNDATION's supra-regional and international appeal is also ensured by activities outside the premises in Kaistraße as well as projects in other locations. One highlight was its participation in the 55th International Biennale in Venice in 2013, when the Arthena Foundation presented a highly acclaimed solo show by Thomas Zipp as part of the Eventi Collaterali . The exhibition Backdoor Fantasies in 2014 not only took place in its own rooms, but also in other buildings and the outdoor space of the Medienhafen. There is also an increasing number of collaborations with renowned partner institutions in Germany and abroad, such as the Kunsthalle Nürnberg (2016, 2020), the Goethe-Institut Paris (2017), the KINDL Center for Contemporary Art in Berlin (2017), Building Bridges Art Exchange in Los Angeles (2017) and Marta Herford (2019). In 2017, in cooperation with the Collaborative Research Center Affective Societies at the Freie Universität Berlin, the much-discussed exhibition Affect Me. Social Media Images in Art. Together with the Kulturkreis der deutschen Wirtschaft im BDI e.V., the ars viva prize was awarded in KAI 10 in October 2018, in conjunction with an exhibition of the prizewinners.

The promotion of young art historians and critics is also a major concern of the Arthena Foundation. The mediation of art was the focus of two projects with students from the University of Cologne and Heinrich Heine University in Düsseldorf. The Art Criticism Lab has already taken place twice at KAI 10. Under the guidance of renowned authors, it offered young journalists the opportunity to learn the tools of art journalism. As an organizationally lean but internationally oriented institution, KAI 10 | ARTHENA FOUNDATION stands for an intensive examination of contemporary art in direct contact with visitors.

About the KAI 10 program

The world of art today is extremely diverse. Individual trends and tendencies rarely become so dominant that other directions fade completely into the background. The exhibitions at KAI 10 reflect this diversity, with the focus on thematic group exhibitions that relate several artistic positions to each other in dialog. Each exhibition raises anew the question of how a theme linking the artworks can be visualized not only through the works on display, but also through their staging in the space. The artists are often involved in the conception of an exhibition. However, individual artists have also been seen in the role of stage designers or directors of extensive overall productions.

In the conception of the exhibition projects, current topics of the time and social developments are just as much the subject of debate as fundamental questions that are constantly being asked and which concern the artistic processes themselves. Some exhibitions have been devoted to the topicality of surrealism and the richly associative metamorphoses of the world of things. The continuing relevance of classical art forms such as painting and drawing is also up for debate. The strong contemporary relevance of KAI 10 is also evident in the reflection on today's use and circulation of images, for example with regard to social media and their political implications. Interactions with other areas of culture - for example in the comparison of fine art and design - are also a recurring theme.

Even if the engagement with art today increasingly takes place on the Internet, the physical encounter with works of art does not lose importance. KAI 10 sees itself as a place where intellectual access to art is made possible through direct sensory experience. The exhibition format allows an in-depth examination of the artwork and its complexity. In a direct encounter with art, not only the sensual but also the cognitive potential of speculative artistic thought can best unfold.

KAI 10 promotes the 'dialog' between art and its audience through a series of accompanying activities. A steadily growing list of publications now comprises more than 37 titles, which are as individual in their design and content as each individual exhibition itself. In addition, each exhibition is accompanied by an extensive supporting program. Free guided tours encourage visitors to engage with the works on display. Artists offer the opportunity to get to know the creative minds behind the projects. Lectures or discussion panels to which critics, curators or experts from other academic disciplines are invited, as well as film presentations with commentary, take a closer look at specific issues. All these events serve to maintain intensive and direct contact with visitors, but above all to inspire enthusiasm for contemporary art across different horizons of opinion and knowledge.