Neuer Aachener Kunstverein

NAK Neuer Aachener Kunstverein is one of the youngest institutions of its kind in Germany; a private non-profit association for contemporary art in the tradition of the German Kunstverein model with about 400 members. Where the Kunstverein as an institution and its significance is based on a tradition going back more than 200 years, starting in the era of enlightenment as a legacy of the rising bourgeoisie for showing contemporary art and social exchange, NAK was founded in 1986 as a late echo of the 1964 Fluxus festival, with Joseph Beuys and Wolf Vostell as center protagonist at the local university in Aachen. The spirit of this moment has since been source of commitment to contemporary art.

NAK is a core institution of the local art scene, but way beyond this, it is also internationally recognised as an innovative platform for contemporary art and its discourse. NAK has the freedom to operate relatively independent in terms of its immediate economical as well as political interests. This twofold autonomy predestines the Kunstverein to be a space for artistic experimentation, where innovative curatorial work can be accomplished without spurious consideration for political duties or mercantile calculations.