OSTRALE Biennale O25 – 15. International Exhibition of Contemporary Arts
7th of June – 5th of October 2025 | Dresden, robotron-Kantine (Germany)
For the 15th time the OSTRALE – Centre for Contemporary Art will host its international exhibition of contemporary arts in 2025 which runs from 7th of June to 5th of October at the robotron-Kantine in the heart of Dresden and at other locations.
THEME O25
Colour Dialogue / OVERTONE(S) / Mother of Pearl / Endlessly Blue / Dear Colours, ... / Blue Light / Evergreen / Wavelength / ... (Working Title)
"Colour is a power which directly influences the soul." — Wassily Kandinsky (1866-1944)
"Those who think in terms of black and white abhor nuances / overtones." — Jürgen Wilbert (1945)
We live in a worrying time filled with never-ending existential crises and challenges: The consequences of the worldwide pandemic, inflation and the noticeable impact of climate change, the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, as well as increasing radicalization of society, populism, and growing xenophobia are the oppressing reality.
What is the purpose of art in our present day? Where is it effective? How can art further dialogue, tolerance, democracy and peace? Are individual and societal changes possible through engaging with art?
We believe that art as transformative aesthetic experience is able to trigger deep emotions, stimulate imagination, open up fresh perspectives, and generate food for thought that inspires dialogue, discourse und our togetherness. Through sensual experience and its immanent language, art is able to introduce complex issues to everybody.
In sensory perception processes colour has a prominent role as an artistic design medium. As sensory elements of our perception and imagination, colours directly affect thoughts and feelings and are a significant component in the process of visual communication. Colours are the carriers of emotion and affect psychological and physical processes. Evidently, colours contain powers that we humans relate to in a positive or negative way.
Colours constitute a complex system of communication; therefore, their perception consumes a large part of the neural capacity of living beings. They are indicators of health and well-being in humans and nature. Implicitly or explicitly, we transfer biological basic functions like warning, deterrence, or communication into our cultural interactions.
Colours are a means of identification. As an expression of civil protest movements, they signal societal upheavals, are symbols of resistance and embody the hope for a better world without threats and external constraints.
The more colourful we are able to think the more peaceful can our interactions with each other be.
Jury members: The jury is put together from curators and the leaders of the OSTRALE:
Curators:
Evelyn Drewes ,Gallery owner, Curator / Germany
Drorit Gur Arie , Art historian, Curator / Israel
Dr. Veronika Krülle Kotoucova, Art Historian, Curator, OSTRALE / Czech Republic
Artistic Directors OSTRALE:
Andrea Hilger, 1st Executive Board, OSTRALE / Germany
Antka Hofmann, 2nd Executive Board, OSTRALE / Germany
The Open Call for the O25 is now officially closed!
Application period: 15th of May – 30th of June 2024
Exhibition period: 7th of June – 5th of October 2025
1st Jury meeting: Mid-August 2024
2nd Jury meeting: End of November 2024
We kindly ask you to refrain from questions regarding the selection of artworks before the jury sessions are over. After the 1st jury session, there will be questions from the curators sent out to the artists to answer. Final decisions will only be published after the end of the 2nd jury session. Applicants will be informed of the decisions in writing via E-Mail.