Urban Nation Berlin Museum for Urban Contemporary Art: “Diversity is Our Treasure”
This past September 16th, a unique new museum and archive for research, exhibitions and exchange, focusing on one of the most important art forms, and the most documented art movements in the 21st century opened its doors to the public.
Urban Nation under the lead and based on the vision of Creative Director Yasha Young who has worked on this vision since 2013, was built as the first independent and non-commercial space for urban contemporary art. With more than 100 artists, Urban Nation Berlin made the impossible possible, and with the support of Berlin’s secretary of cultural affairs, Tim Renner, this initiative was congratulated because of its vision and ambition.
All Nations Under One Roof
The unique institution houses all nations under one roof and its located in the Wilhelminianera building at Bülowstrasse 7 in Schöneberg. Berlín. For the inaugural day, ten curators NAMES @Nancy have selected approximately 100 urban artists, including Seth Globetrotter, Franco Fasoli Jaz, Miss Van, Shepard Fairey, Ron English, Faith47, Icy and Sot, Herakut, Nychos, Low Bros, Saner, just to mention a few. Their pieces also were created specifically for the museum and exhibited for the very first time.
“Urban contemporary art is the logical next step to follow what is happening on the street,” Miss Young said recently. Besides to the Museum, the installations located at the Art Mile invited the public to come along and discover the artworks. Regarding the opening of the museum, MONTANA-CANS produced a limited special edition for URBAN NATION, celebrating the opening and a long-term partnership with the project. ARTISTS DOTDOTDOT and STEIN.
Limited URBAN NATION Edition, color: Shock Black SH9000, 400ml
Impressions of the Art mile
here some impressions of the art mile that took place during the opening around the museum:
The Martha Cooper library
The Museum also featured the Martha Cooper library, named after our beloved legend and photographer, who has dedicated her life to document graffiti and the street art movement for more than thirty years. This has becoming one of the biggest documentation libraries of street art and the urban culture, to educate and preserve all this history. The man responsible to take care and curate this compound is Christian Omodeo.
Martha Cooper – Photojournalist
It’s a fact we all wonder about the current direction of the urban movement, which is dangerously becoming bigger and bigger. So, that’s why Yasha assures the key purpose of the museum is “to give some more grounding and integrity to street art, before it becomes a little thing that was swallowed up by advertising.”
Visit the URBAN NATION MUSEUM in Berlin and don’t forget the murals nearby – for more infos check the map and URBAN NATION website!
photography by Nika Cramer, Interior shots by Sabine Dobre/URBAN NATION, opening impressions by Jordan Katz/MONTANA-CANS
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Urban Nation Berlin opens Museum for Urban Contemporary Art