Kindl - Zentrum für zeitgenössische Kunst

Art where beer was once brewed

The transformation of the former industrial complex into a centre for contemporary art is thanks to Salome Grisard and Burkhard Varnholt, who acquired the listed ensemble of engine house, brewhouse, tower, and boiler house in 2011 and carefully renovated it. Since 2016, the buildings of the former Kindl brewery in Neukölln have been showcasing significant positions of international contemporary art. The result is a place that doesn’t separate architectural history and art but allows both to be considered together.

Spaces with Gravitas

Visitors here do not find themselves in conventional exhibition spaces, but rather in a mixture of architectural history, preserved brewery technology, and contemporary art. In the engine house, monographic retrospectives and thematic group exhibitions are presented simultaneously across three floors, each comprising around 400 square meters. Particularly impressive is the boiler house: with a height and length of around 20 meters on each side, it still bears visible traces of its former use on its walls and has already hosted site-specific works by international artists such as Cornelia Parker, Alfredo Jaar, and Mona Hatoum.

Kindl – Centre for Contemporary Art: The Current Program

In addition to painting, sculpture, installation, and performance, film and video presentations form another focus of the program. The exhibitions, under artistic direction, are complemented by artist talks, lectures, and concerts. Currently, Mischa Kuball’s work is running in the boiler house: With boiler house, the conceptual artist, who uses light as a medium to explore architecture as well as social and political discourses, explores the boiler house as a site-specific work that connects the present with the past. In parallel, the engine house presents Iliggocene – The Age of Dizziness, a group exhibition that addresses the feeling of contemporary disorientation and gathers artistic positions that seek new vocabularies for these states of giddiness.

Admission and Opening Hours

The Kindl – Centre for Contemporary Art is open Wednesdays from 12:00 to 20:00 and Thursdays to Sundays from 12:00 to 18:00. Admission costs 10 Euros (You for KINDL) or 7 Euros (KINDL for You). Admission is free on the first Sunday of every month. Children and young people under 18 years of age are always admitted free of charge. The building is wheelchair accessible.