Art Exhibition at Volkspark's Castle: Celebrating a 25-Year Anniversary
**The Burg Galerie im Volkspark: A Hub for Contemporary Art in Halle (Saale)**
The Burg Galerie im Volkspark, located in the heart of Halle (Saale), serves as the central exhibition venue for the Burg Giebichenstein Kunsthochschule Halle, the local art university. With a rich history of showcasing the work of the school's students and graduates, the gallery is a beacon for contemporary art practices connected to the academic and artistic community there.
The gallery regularly hosts graduation and master student exhibitions, providing a platform for finishing artists to present their final projects. For example, the annual "Take Off" exhibition features master students' graduation works, showcasing diverse contemporary art projects ranging from installations to textile art.
Another tradition is exhibition visits combined with artist talks, fostering dialogue between students, artists, and art history scholars. These events offer valuable insights into the artists' creative processes and help to bridge the gap between theory and practice. In January 2024, the gallery organised a visit to the "graduiert ≈ präsentiert" exhibition, where two alumni, Jakob Schreiter and Felicitas Fäßler, discussed their artistic investigations into architecture and plant-metal relationships, respectively.
The gallery also supports interdisciplinary engagement, involving art history students in discussions on professional fields in art and facilitating joint visits and exchanges. This approach reinforces its role as an educational and cultural hub within the Kunsthochschule Halle.
The exhibitions often explore contemporary and experimental themes. For example, Jakob Schreiter's work addresses the historicity of digital and analog architecture, while Felicitas Fäßler's installation explores the relationship between plants and metals. The 2025 master exhibition includes works such as "THE BOILING PURPLE" by Hyesun Kim, which communicates awareness of ultraviolet radiation through textiles, and projects like "The Plant Project – Resilience Part II," highlighting themes of environmental awareness and resilience.
The Burg Galerie im Volkspark has established itself as a central venue for contemporary art exhibitions linked to the Burg Giebichenstein Kunsthochschule Halle. Its recurring exhibition formats prominently include graduation and master student shows, combined with artist talks and scholarly discussions. Notable exhibitions tend to explore contemporary themes such as digital-analog intersections, environmental issues, and experimental materiality, reflecting the academic and creative pulse of the Kunsthochschule Halle.
Since its opening on June 28, 2000, with the exhibition "Reflekt - Lab Art and Media," the gallery has presented an average of six exhibitions per year. The gallery has hosted over 150 exhibitions as of 2025. The gallery develops new forms of presentation and mediation, including panel discussions, readings, conversations, and guided tours with artists. Experimental mediation formats such as performances or participatory exchange formats with the audience are also developed on-site.
In 2016, the gallery began the Open Call series, which focuses on thematic aspects. The first prize-winning design in this competition was by the Munich office of Burger Rudacs Architects and Wamsler Rohloff Wirzmüller FreiRaumArchitekten from Regensburg for landscape planning. From 2016 to 2018, the focus of the Open Call was on aspects of text. From 2019 to 2024, the Open Call 'ABC' emphasized contemporary societal themes such as 'S' for city or 'R' for risk.
The Burg Gallery in Volkspark Halle serves as an experimental and action space for students of the BURG, providing them with opportunities to showcase their work and engage with the wider artistic community. From 2016 to 2018, conversations with six eyewitnesses illustrated the dynamic development of the art university over the past 30 years and the significance of the new building for the Art department. The gallery's latest exhibition, 'SOUND', is associated with the 'The Gallery as a Stage' Open Call. All students from both Art and Design departments are eligible to apply for the Open Call series.
In conclusion, the Burg Galerie im Volkspark plays a vital role in the artistic community of Halle (Saale) by providing a platform for emerging artists to showcase their work and engage in dialogue with scholars, artists, and the general public. Its recurring exhibition formats, experimental mediation formats, and thematic Open Call series make it a hub for contemporary art practices connected to the Burg Giebichenstein Kunsthochschule Halle.
The visitors can discover a unique blend of contemporary art and academic community at the Burg Galerie im Volkspark, where exhibitions often reflect the creative pulse of the Burg Giebichenstein Kunsthochschule Halle. Moreover, aspiring artists showcasing their home-and-garden designs could find inspiration in the gallery's recurring, student-focused exhibitions, such as the "Take Off" exhibition for master students.
