The Culterim | Independent Class is a six-month class with an accompanying curriculum. The focus is on the development, experimentation and expansion of the 12-15 participants' own artistic practice. To this end, each participant has their own workspace in our Culterim | Studios for the duration of the class. In addition to their own work, exchange and reflection are focussed on and practised. A change of perspective and courage are encouraged and challenged in group and individual discussions.

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The curriculum includes an examination of theoretical aspects of art as well as a wide range of practical hard skills for working as a freelance artist. A special focus of the programme is on teaching and getting to know the Berlin art scene. To this end, the class will come into contact with and discuss the independent and commercial scene.

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At the end of the Culterim | Independent Class, the class plans, curates and produces its own exhibition accompanied by the head of class.

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Curriculum details

Workplace/ studio space

All participants receive a studio space in one of the three class studios in the Culterim | Studios | Waldstraße in Berlin-Reinickendorf. Everyone will be part of the Culterim | Studio community from day one. The studios in Waldstraße are in very good condition, the workstations are 15-20 square metres in size and equipped with chairs and work tables. The studio house is directly connected to public transport (6 minutes on foot from S+U Karl-Bonhoeffer Nervenklinik (S25, U8), 22 minutes to Friedrichstraße, 24 minutes to Kottbusser Tor). The studios are located directly above a DIY store. See photos for a first impression.

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Class meetings

The weekly class meetings form the centrepiece of the class. These alternate between group and individual discussions with the head of class Fred Unruh in the studios and various exchange formats. In these formats, the participants regularly work with guest contributions and engage in dialogue with actors from the Berlin art scene.

 

Exchange formats

• Input formats

  • Theoretical perspectives on art

  • Hard skills for freelance artists

    • Portfolio

    • Planning, curating and producing exhibitions

    • Self-presentation and self-marketing

  • Open formats initiated by the participants

• Excursion formats:

  • Class to Professional

    • Talks with professionals in galleries, project spaces, artists

  • Guest contributions

  • Artists Talks

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Final exhibition

The Culterim | Independent Class plans, curates and produces its own class exhibition, accompanied by the head of class.

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Culterim | Independent Class Sides

• You become part of a Culterim | Studio community

• You have access to the Studio Talks

• You get discounts on all Culterim | Spaces (exhibition spaces)

Head of class - Fred Unruh

Fred Unruh is a co-founder of the Berlin art collective Studio Huette and has been an integral part of Culterim since the beginning. In addition to various exhibitions of his own in Germany, Switzerland and France, he took over the artistic direction of the Culterim | Residency Programme at the Gutshof in Dahlewitz in 2023 and 2024 and was part of the three-member curatorial team of Culterim.

 

Fred Unruh is currently in his graduate year at the Kunsthochschule Berlin Weißensee with Professor Albrecht Schäfer and is studying as a guest student at the Universität der Künste. He completed a guest semester in the Feldmann painting class and at the L'école des Beaux-Arts de Marseille and was a scholarship holder of the Lucia Loeser Foundation. Before taking the step to establish himself in art, he completed a degree in sociology and psychology in Mannheim and Istanbul.

 

The cultivated change of perspective in group and individual discussions, both as artistic director in the Culterim | Residency Programme and from the perspective of a student at the various art universities, consolidated his ambition to bring the wide-ranging artistic exchange to life in a concrete teaching programme in the Culterim | Independent Class.

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Language

German and English are spoken in the Culterim | Independent Class. We recommend very good knowledge of at least one of the two languages.

 

Participation fee

The participation fee for the Culterim | Independent Class is a total of 2,750 euros (payable monthly, 550 euros per month). The fee covers the entire curriculum including excursions, guest contributions and exhibition participation as well as a permanent studio space.

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Curriculum 2025: January - June

Every Monday,

weekly alternating group and individual discussions and

other exchange formats

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January

06.01.2024: Start of the Culterim | Independent Class (welcome day, introduction to the programme and allocation of studio spaces)

13.01.2024: Excursion (exhibition)

20.01.2024: Group and individual discussions

27.01.2024: Excursion format (project space)

 

February

03.02.2024: Group and individual discussions

10.02.2024: Input format (guest contribution: Artist Talk)

17.02.2024: Group and individual discussions

24.02.2024. Excursion format (exhibition with talk)

 

March

03.03.2024: Group and individual talks

10.03.2024: Input format (guest contribution: writing workshop)

17.03.2024: Group and individual discussions

24.03.2024: Input format (guest contribution: self-presentation and marketing)

31.03.2024: Group and individual discussions

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April

07.04.2024: Excursion format (gallery)

14.04.2024: Group and individual discussions

21.04.2024: Input format (making an exhibition)

28.04.2024: Group and individual discussions

 

May

05.05.2024: Input format (portfolio)

12/05/2024: Group and individual discussions

19 May - 1 June: Artistic practice (preparation for final exhibition)

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June

02-05/06/2024: Final exhibition construction

06.-08.06.2024: Abschlussausstellung

09.06.2024: Final exhibition dismantling

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(The curriculum is provisional and will be subject to change in detail)