Exhibition view Open Studios 2022. Photo: Toby Binder

Contemporary ART Space PLATFORM

PLATFORM is a multi-faceted art and cultural space that considers itself as a platform in the full sense of the word. It acts as an exhibition space, offers traineeships in the broad field of cultural management, and organizes a diverse range of cultural projects, exhibition programs as well as educational activities for artists. The combination between professional training-on-the-job and the provision of art studios or exhibition spaces makes PLATFORM unique in the German cultural scene.

Since 2009, PLATFORM has been funded by the Munich Employment and Qualification Program (MBQ) of the Department of Labor and Economic Development. The program is run by the Münchner Arbeit gGmbH (non-for-profit). Every year, five trainees in cultural management work one year long in PLATFORM in order to gain insight as well as practical experience in a cultural institution.

However, PLATFORM is much more than a place for gaining advanced work experience. It is a space open for experiments, in which creativity, personal initiative and self-responsibility are fostered. Failure is not only permitted but an integral part of the creative process. As a non-commercial art space, PLATFORM offers aspiring cultural managers and young curators the possibility to shape and refine their professional identities. Apart from so-called “Hospitationen” at other cultural institutions and stays abroad (financed through Erasmus+), it provides an open environment in which young cultural workers can carry out their project ideas (exhibition, symposia, workshops or other event formats).

For these reasons, PLATFORM has established itself as a notable agent in Munich’s cultural life. It constantly generates new impulses for the local art scene, whether through international exhibitions that reflect current art debates (“Beyond the Spectacle,” “BeLonging,” “Wastelands,” etc.), projects in public space (“Kunst Kioske”), the UPDATE education series, the PERSPEKTIVEN prize for young artists based in Munich awarded by Kunstclub 13 e.V., or the so-called “Hot Spots of Art” that document and connect the city’s non-profit art spaces.

The art world is in permanent motion and we try to help shape the cultural-political dynamics in Munich with our diverse range of projects and support programs.

In a nutshell, we offer:

• Competence development and practical job experience for emerging culture managers and curators who – as part of a yearlong traineeship – discover new fields of work and are given the opportunity to organize exhibitions and events in our PLATFORM exhibition hall, partner institutions or in public space;

• Post-academic training in the form of seminars and workshops that specifically target visual artists and creators to give fresh impetus for their professional practice;

• The provision and rental of affordable studios for artists.

Traineeships

PLATFORM focuses in particular on the training of young cultural managers and curators. Each year, five trainees work on projects and exhibitions as part of a training on the job and are prepared for cultural work through educational activities such as workshops and seminars. They are given the opportunity to put the knowledge they gained during their university studies into practice and to develop new fields of work and an independent professional profile in direct contact with other cultural professionals. In addition to working on existing projects, the trainees can conceptualize and, if feasible, implement projects of their own. Furthermore, an insight into another Munich cultural institution is possible through “hospitation”.

Education

PLATFORM has various educational programs for visual artists and cultural managers. The most important is UPDATE, a program in cooperation between PLATFORM and the Berufsverband Bildender Künstlerinnen und Künstler München und Oberbayern e.V. (Professional Association of Visual Artists Munich and Upper Bavaria), which offers practical seminars for issues of a professional contemporary art scene. The aim is to provide support and training in entrepreneurial activities and new fields of work. Various topics are covered, such as public relations, art and cultural mediation, financing and legal issues and art in architecture. The content is taught by experienced professionals in the field.

STUDIOS

PLATFORM is located in a former industrial area in the south of Munich. In a yellow-blue building recognizable from afar, it extends over a 2000sqm floor in the immediate vicinity of the Aidenbachstraße subway station. A 300 qm2 exhibition venue provides space for the presentation of the latest works and ideas, for seminars and workshops, for dialogues and exchange, initiated and organized by the PLATFORM office. 23 bright studios are allocated to professoinal artists through a selection process. The studios are managed and subleased by Münchner Arbeit gGmbH.