Columbus Art Foundation

The Columbus Art Foundation is an initiative by Columbus Holding (www.columbus.ag), whose activities divide into three main areas: sponsorship, exhibiting and collecting. Central to its work is the only support project in Germany for artists who are completing their studies and taking their first steps into the professional art world.

sponsorship. The Columbus Art Foundation has been supporting high-quality young art since 1996. This support lasts for three years, during which time the Columbus Art Foundation acts as a partner to the artist involved. Unlike a bursary or a sponsorship for a specific project, few terms and conditions are laid down in advance. Entrants into the support programme first take part in a group exhibition of work by ten nominees, held every autumn. When the three years are up, the programme concludes with a large-scale individual exhibition and catalogue book for the two successful candidates. In the time in between, we make support plans in consultation with the artists involved and tailor our support to the needs of their specific kind of art production – in fact, we endeavour to create a support dialogue. In 2006, Columbus Holding was awarded the “Deutscher Kulturförderpreis” by the Bund Deutscher Industrie’s cultural division, in recognition of more than ten years of supporting young artists.

exhibiting. An extensive exhibition programme is a vital part of contemporary art promotion by Columbus. Since Columbus Holding took up residence in the “Haus für Ideen” (or “house for ideas”) in 2004, exhibitions have mainly been held in-house at Ravensburg, in an art hall with 800 sqm of space. The Columbus Art Foundation puts on several major temporary exhibitions here every year.

Since May 2008, the Columbus Art Foundation’s non-permanent exhibitions have taken place in their new space – 1,000 sqm approx. – on the second floor of HALLE 14. The exhibition format developed in 2007 in Ravensburg has largely been kept to in Leipzig: the programme begins with two exhibitions, held in parallel, by artists reaching the end of their time in the support project. This is followed, in the autumn, by the “+10” group exhibition, featuring the year’s ten selected artists. At the end of this exhibition, the next recipient/recipients of the prize is/are announced. The exhibition cycle is completed by a further group exhibition in the summer, generally based around a specific theme.

The Columbus Art Foundation had a num-ber of reasons for choosing the Spinnerei and HALLE 14. Its close proximity to one of the most interesting training institutes in the German-speaking world today, the Academy of Visual Arts Leipzig, was a major consideration. We anticipate a highly productive relationship with our new neighbours, and are ready to learn from our new location. Being on HALLE 14’s 2nd floor also puts us close to the “Universal Cube”; a project by Joachim Blank’s class at the Academy of Visual Arts Leipzig – another great stroke of good luck for us. The explicitly non-commercial model of HALLE 14 also harmonises with the Columbus Art Foundation’s philosophy.

collecting. Columbus has had an art collection since 1995. Most purchases are made from sponsored artists. To a lesser extent, the collection purchases works from already well-known artists. In future, the Columbus collection will focus on three particular issues, chosen to be broad enough to encourage variety but specific enough to make the artworks relevant to Columbus Holding and the Haus für Ideen. These three issues are: “art and economy”, communication”, and “Haus für Ideen” (location-specific interventions.) This will be a way for the Columbus collection to develop a specific, contextualized unity that goes beyond merely documenting the history of the sponsorship programme.

Jörg van den Berg