Kathrin Böhm keeps calling herself an artist and considers herself local in Hackney and Höfen.
Her work is operating in and outside of the art world, acting trans-locally to connect practices of change,
and organising the real economy in order to take it back. Continuous interests in her work are the collective
(re-)production of public space, trade as public realm & the everyday as a starting point
for culture.
Kathrin has expanded the terms of socially engaged practice through a wide range of co-produced
complex organisational, spatial, visual and economic forms, which often start with familiar everyday
formats, such as a school, a shop, wallpaper or a drink.
She is a founding member of the international artist initiative
Myvillages (Myv), the art-led action group
Keep it Complex - Make it Clear (KIC), art and architecture collective
Public Works (pw), and the
Centre for Plausible Economies (CPE). She set up the
Haystacks series in 2013 and arts enterprise
Company Drinks in 2014.
Kathrin regularly publishes, and contributes as a researcher to the wider topics of New Economy,
Usership of Art and the Production of Public Space. She is a member of the
Community Economies Institute and holds a Professorship vor Art within Corporate Context at
Alanus University.
In 2020 she stopped starting more new projects, and in 2021 Kathrin
composted what she had produced
as an artist so far at The Showroom London, in order to make fertiliser and sustain long term infrastructures
such as the
Rural School of Economics with Myvillages, Company Drinks and The Centre for Plausible Economies.
Projects / Exhibitions (selected)
2022
Composting Knowledge, Lumbung documenta fifteen, Kassel
Coalesce, curated by Paul O'Neill, ADN Gallery, Barcelona
The Rural School of Economics, exhibition, with Myvillages,
Het Nieuwe Instituut, Rotterdam
Rural School of Economics with Myvillages, trans-local and ongoing, in partnership and collaboration
with Pollinaria (IT), Vanabbe Museum (NL), Scottish Sculpture Workshop (UK), ruruhaus Kassel (DE) and others
2021
COMPOST, The Showroom, London
British Art Show 09, Hayward Gallery Touring, UK
Tip of the Iceberg, Focal Point Gallery, Southend
Potential Agrarianisms,
Kunsthalle Bratislava (Myvillages)
2020
The Interdependence (idt.), launching a new multi-local economic identifier, in collaboration with the Community Economy Institute
Complex States: Art in the Years of Brexit, online exhibition
Pirammmida, online portal and a consequent virtual symposium
2019
When Decisions Become Art, Kunstbunker, Nuremberg
Setting the Table: Village Politics, Myvillages exhibition, Whitechapel Gallery, London
Food - Bigger than the Plate, V&A Museum, London
Trade Show 03, together with Kate Rich, the Cube, Bristol
Poster Take Over, PUBLICS, Helsinki
2018
From Nope to Hope: Art vs Arms, Oil and Injustice organised by
artists who removed their work from @designmuseum
Hope to Nope: Graphics and Politics 2008-2018, Design Museum, London
3049 by patten, Tenderpixel London
The Land We Live In - The Land We Left Behind, Hauser and Wirth Somerset
2017
The New Archive,
NN Contemporary Art, Northampton
Phytology, Artist in Residence, Nomad Projects, London
Dark Matter Games, Archive, Salt, Venice
Drawing Biennial, Drawing Room, London
Creating the Countryside, Compton Verney Museum and Gallery
Open House, Delfina Foundation, London
2016
Foreign Pickers,
Politics of Food, Delfina Foundation, London
Teesside World Exposition of Art and Technology, mima, Middlesbrough
Making Use, Museum of Modern Art, Warsaw
spaceREC, with Radek Rudnicki,
1215.today
Brown at Work, Croome Redefined/National Trust, Croome, Worcetershire
International Village Show, Museum of Contemporary Art, Leipzig
Brand News, together with An Endless Supply, for
Market Town, LU Arts, Loughborough
2015
Lending Shape to Form - Formen des Festlegens, A-Z Collection Marzona, Hamburger Bahnhof, Berlin
Food in restaurants is on the same level as art in museums, Turf Projects, Croydon
Glitterwall, NN Contemporary Art, Northampton
Grow it Yourself, Center for Contemporay Art Parco Arte Vivente (PAV), Turin
Inside Cities: Art and the built environment, Arup HQ, London
2014
Company: Movements, Deals and Drinks, commissioned by
Create London, Barking and Dagenham (myv), ongoing
Money Distribution Machine and Other Useful Contraptions, together with ThreeCs, Peckham Platform
Trade Show R-urban, Agrocité, Colombes, Paris
2013
Trade Show, curated by Kathrin Böhm and Gavin Wade, Eastside Projects, Birmingham
Good News From Nowhere, The Architecture Foundation, London
I am a shop. Costumes for selling things and giving them away, in collaboration with PIP, The Showroom, London
Ittinger Ei and
International Village Shop, Kunstmuseum Thurgau, CH (myv)
Coniston Cricket Pavilion, online brief, with Hydar Dewachi, Grizedale Arts, Coniston, UK
Comunitas, Bildmusset, Umeå, Sweden (myv)
2012
Tingbjerg Posters for
Visit Tingbjerg, curated by Kenneth Belfelt and Matthias Borello, Copenhagen
Thurgauer Ware und Laden, Kunstmuseum Thurgau, CH (myv)
Eco Nomadic School, myvillages.org in collaboration with aaa (Paris), Agency (Sheffield) and FCDL (Brezoi)
Colchester Inn, exhibition and public programme, firstite, Colchester (pw)
2011 r-urban,
together with
atelier d'architecture autogérée (Paris), EU Life+ Project, Colombe (Paris) (pw)
Vorratskammer, Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin (myv)
Caravan Pot, in collaboration with Forever Young, Ballykinler and
PS2, Belfast, Northern Ireland (pw)
2010 Kunst Station Triemli, commissioned by the City of Zürich for Kunst Station Triemli, Zürich, CH, ongoing (pw)
10 Ton Press, various locations, London, UK, ongoing (pw)
DIY Regeneration, King's Cross and Camden Arts Centre, London
2009 Rhyzom, collaborative research project on local cultural production and trans-local dissemination, EU Culture 2007–13 funding, various locations, EU (pw)
Banco de Repente, during Experimenta 09, commissioned by Claire Cumberlidge for British Council, Lisbon (pw)
1000 bags here & now,
Street Project, Whitechapel Gallery, London (pw)
Yourwhere,
Wolverhampton Art Gallery, Wolverhampton, UK
a ball is a ball is a ball, commissioned by
Radar, Loughborough University, Loughborough, UK (pw)
Today’s Extension, during
Beyond These Walls, South London Gallery, London (pw)
2008 Folkestonomy, Folkestone Triennale, Folkestone (pw)
International Village Shop, a collaboration between public works, myvillages.org (Ger/NL/UK) and Grizedale Arts, UK, ongoing
Publish and Be Damned 08, Independent Publishers Fair, A Foundation, London (pw)
2007 Folk Float, a mobile local archive for Egremont, commissioned by Grizedale Arts, ongoing (pw)
Can you show me the space,
Stanley Picker Gallery, Kingston, UK (pw)
Granville Cube, Public Art Programme for Granville New Housing, Kilburn, London, UK (pw)
2006 Future Gallery, commissioned by Siemens Arts Program and Corporate Communications Siemens, UK (pw)
Höfer Waren, self-initiated, Höfen, Germany, ongoing
British Art Show 06, Baltic, Newcastle, Urbis, Manchester, Angel Row Gallery, Nottingham (pw)
2005 Make:Shift, Research and Design Proposal Project, Bagfactory, Johannesburg, SA (pw)
2004 Park Products, curated by Sally Tallant, Serpentine Gallery, London (pw)
and millions and millions, Galerie Barabara Wien, Berlin
Rules for Boot, as part of
Shrinking Cities, Kunstwerke, Berlin (pw)
Mobile Porch at Raving, curated by Rosa Pera, CAAC - Centre for Contemporary Art Andalucia, Sevilla (pw)
and millions and millions at
Sodio y Asfalto, curated by Ann Gallager and Tobias Ostrander, Museo Rufino Tamayo, Mexico City
and millions and millions at
Tonight , curated by Paul O’Neill Studio Voltaire, London
Shadow Cabinets, curated by Ted Purves and Rene Block, Kunsthalle Fredericianum, Kassel (pw)
Mobile Porch at Parasite Paradise, Explorama, curated by SKOR, Utrecht (pw)
2003 Von Null auf Hundert, Projektraum Deutscher Künstlerbund, Rosenthalerstrasse, Berlin (Stefan Saffer)
match/makers, Lismore Circus, Camden Council, London (pw)
myvillages.org, launch event, Heiligendorf, Germany (myv)
and millions and millions at
Pavilion, Bloomberg Space, London
2002 lay-out, public design studio,
Gasworks Gallery, London (pw)
Fitting, Fire Station Riem, Kunstprojekte Riem, curated by Claudia Büttner, Munich (pw)
cut&paste, commissioned by Peabody Trust, Pembury Estate, London (Nicoline van Harskamp)
WmK Mobil (Mobile Porch), Kunstprojekte Riem, curated by Claudia Büttner, Munich (pw)
2001 and millions and millions, The Showroom, London
Let’s Get to Work, curated by Gavin Wade, Susquehanna Art Museum, Harrisburg
2000 Mobile Porch, commissioned by Georgia Ward for NKAT, Westway Flyover, London (pw)
mottomix, OTTO, Copenhagen (Stefan Saffer)
Miranda, PARC, Kent Institute of Art and Design, Canterbury (Stefan Saffer)
1999 picnics, Residency, Camden Arts Centre, London (Stefan Saffer)
Happy Hobby, curated by Kate MacGarry, Tablet Gallery, London (Stefan Saffer)
Surprise IV, Kunsthalle Nuremberg (Stefan Saffer)
One Night Pub, Central Point Gallery, London, in collaboration with Lisa Cheung
In The Midst Of Things, curated by Gavin Wade and Nigel Prince, Bournville, Birmingham
1998 UFO Landing platform, Maasvlakte, Port of Rotterdam
Whitechapel Open, Canary Wharf, London
roomworks, SaliGia Gallery, London
East International, Norwich
1997 Fielding, Portalen, Copenhagen
set, Neue Galerie, Dachau
Halle I., Galerie Köstring/Maier, Munich
Conferences / Talks / Workshops (selected)
2022
Mini Majelis, Rural School of Economics, Lumbung documenta fifteen, Kassel
Goods as Collective Imagination, Haus der Bildung, Bonn
By Design or by Disaster Conference, Free University Bolzano, IT
After Growth - a Symposium on Post Capitalist Imaginaries, Nottingham Contemporray, Nottingham, UK
Inaugural Lecture as Professor for Art within Corporate Context, Alanus University, Ger
2021
Talk and Workshop, MA in Social Entrepreneurship, Goldsmiths College London
Heimat, Talk Series, University Kassel
Alternative Artist Economies, Groundwerk Series, TURF Projects, Croydon
Redrawing the Economy, as part of Reframing Community-based Economies', SIRIUS, Ireland
Krater Summer School, Center of Creativity / Museum of Architecture and Design, Ljubljana
2020
Liviana, International Community Economies Conference, Community Economies Institute
Syllabus, a national, collaboratively-produced alternative learning programme
C4R, Keynote on Artist Residencies, organised by aaa, online
Politics of Food, Book launch and Talk, Delfina Foundation, London
Migrants Make Culture, Keep it Complex Activation Day, in collaboration with Migrants in Culture
Kestle Barton Future Development, Advisory and Research Panel
2019
Culture is a Verb, Lincoln Annual Keynotes on Culture, Mansions of the Future, Lincoln
Make it Work by Keep it Complex, Company Drinks, Barking
Community Production and Collective Products, talk at Steamhouse, Birmingham
Re-drawing Art World Economies, with Kuba Szreder, Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester
The Rural, conference, Whitechapel Gallery, London
2018
Unlearning Economy, Elephants in the Room, Assembly for commoning art institutions, Casco Art Institute: Working for the Commons, Utrecht
The Rural: Contemporary Art and Spaces of Connection, Whitechapel Gallery Working Group
Redrawing Artistic Economies, Centre for Plausible Economies, together with Kuba Szreder
Economies as a Means, Valand Academy, Gothenburgh
Culture is a Verb, Mansions of the Future, Lincoln
Trade as Public Realm, Camberwell College, UCL, London
2017
Publics Launch, Publics, Helsinki,
Working Across Divides, Frieze Projects Symposium, Goethe Institut London
London Salon on Edgelands, City Now City Future Programme, Museum of London
Frieze Talks, Goethe Institut London
Learn To Act International Workshop, Sheffield University (co-organiser)
Civic University, organised by public works, Tate Exchange, Tate Modern
Planetary Futures Seminar: Postcapitalist Art Worlds, Institute of Advanced Studies (IAS)
Attacking the Social Front, Delfina FOundation, London
Civic University Friday Session, Tate Exchange, Tate Modern
2016
Company Drinks, talk and workshop,
Trade Test Site, Arhus
PARK Lek Public Enquiries, with Mary Jane Jacob, Mick Wilson, Lia Ghilardi, Helena Selder, Kerstin Bergendal, Valand Academy, Göteborg
Trade as Public Space, talk and workshop, mima, Middlesbrough
Myvillages and Company Drinks,
Culture Now Series, ICA, London
Royal College of Art, Public Art Seminar, London
2015
Serpentine Transformation Marathon, Serpentine Galleries, London
Art and Economy Seminar, Radar, Loughborough University
Re-imagining Rurality Conference (keynote), University of Westminster, London
Glocal Design, conference, University of Bolzano (It)
The Brighton School, seminar, organised by Spacemakers, Brighton
Urban Makers - Urban Traders, Symposium, Sheffield School of Architecture
Planetarities, Research Seminar, Critical Studies, Goldsmiths College, London
2014 International Village Shop, Floating Cinema, East London
Public Art, Chelsea College of Art, London
Art and Mental Health, House of Lords, London
Money Distribution Machines, artist talk, Peckham Platform, London
Social Arts Practice & Mental Health, panel discussion, Chelsea College of Art and Design, London
Company Bar, Frieze Art Fair, London
Company Bar, Art Review, London
Rural Luxury and Natural Fermentation, CLIC workshop, Höfen and Frensdorf, Southern Germany
Collective Product Development, workshop, Trade Show, Eastside Projects, Birmingham
2013
Saturday Talk, Serpentine Gallery, London
Utopian talk-show by Sophie Warren and Jonathan Mosley, Eastside Project Space, Birmingham
R-urban Conference, organised by atelier d'architecture autogérée, Agrocite, Paris
Talking Shop, presentation and discussion, The Showroom, London
Cut and Paste, Read+Talk+Make Workshops organised Andrea Francke, Lambeth, London
Kathrin Böhm reads Colin Ward, Reading Anarchism Programme, New Art Space Amsterdam, Amsterdam
Public Arts Seminar, Milton Keynes Gallery, Milton Keynes
2012 The Art of Making Things Public and Getting Things Done, talk, organised by Paul O'Neill for IXIA, Glyndŵr University, Wrexham
Reveal Conference 2012, talk, organised by Reveal Somerset, Wells, Somerset
Miljonprogrammet – the city of the future, talk, School of Architecture & the Built Environment, Stockholm
Atlas - Open Book Session, South Bank Centre, London
2011 Designing Economic Cultures: public works, exchanging practices, talk, Goldsmiths College, London
Public Evaluation Event, Eastside Projects, Birmingham (pw)
Recycling Workshop, as part of Rurban, in collaboration with aaa, Paris (pw)
Performative Architectures, discussion, The Showroom, London
Relationship between people and places (narrative), Architecture Design Innovation Programme (ADIP), round table, TU, Berlin
Is making cakes art, panel discussion, Kultur und Kreativwirtschaft Festival, Nürnberg
2010 Concrete Geometries - Spatial Form in Social and Aesthetic Processes, symposium, Architectural Association, London
Human Cities Symposium, Brussels
Collaborations. The local and extended notions of architecture, talk, Goldsmith College, Department of Design, London, UK
2009 Art in the Social Sphere, symposium, Radar, Loughborough University, Loughborough, UK
2008 Cultural Programmes and their Space, Entre Villes at Métropoles Conference, Maison de l’Europe and Ville de Paris, France
Art and Regeneration, Folkestone Triennial, Folkestone (organised by pw)
Institution & Initiative, together with Celine Condorelli, London Metropolitan University (organised by pw)
MA Lab Course, talk, Goldsmiths College, London
2007 Open Market, Local Operations Series, discussion round, Serpentine Gallery, London
Rural Arts Space, Shrewsbury Museum and Gallery (organiser)
Architecture as Initiative, Architectural Association, London (organised by pw)
2006 public works: one to one propositions, School of Architecture, Technical University, Berlin
Art in the Public Sphere, book launch and panel discussion, Tate Britain
Designing Informalities, talk, Barbican Gallery, London
2005 public works, talk, Norwegian Centre for Design and Architecture, Oslo
Curating and the public sphere, International Project Space, Bournville/University of Central England, organised by Barnabby Drabble as part of Curating below Zero
public works, Friday Sessions, 2610 south Architects, Johannesburg, SA (pw)
public works, talk, Spatial Arts Programme, London Metropolitan University (pw)
Research Seminar, together with Andrea Philips, Bartlett School of Architecture, London
2004 Okkupationen Neukölln,seminar, organised by Birgit Schumacher und Uwe Jonas, Berlin
Creative Mapping - Community Workshop, Thurrock Council/English Heritage/General Public Agency
2003 Situations,talk, UWE and Arnolfini, Bristol
Symbolic versus Real, republic_art workshop, Golldsmiths College, London
Designing Informalities,talk, Cities Programme, London School of Economics
Urban Developments,talk, kunstprojete_riem, Munich
2002 Mobile Porch: Urban Toy, Urban Drift Conference, Berlin
Moments of Contact, talk, Lenbachhaus, Munich
Can art save architecture?, Camden Arts Centre, London
From Art to Architecture, Art&Architecture, London
Painting Conversation, with George Shaw, IKON Gallery, Birmingham
2001 Outside, talk, RSA, Art for Architecture, London
Talking Oranges, as part of Team Build (by Anna Best and b+b), Baltic Visitor's Centre, Gateshead
2000 Art&Business , Gender Studies, Academy of Fine Art, Berlin
RDI Summerschool, Dartmoor Hall, Devon
The Public and the Appliance of Art, Academy of Fine Art, Nuremberg
Research and Teaching
Since 2022Professor for Art within Corporate Context at Alanus University for Art and Society, Alfter
since 2018Centre for Plausible Economies, c/o Company Drinks, initiated by Kathrin Böhm and Kuba Szreder
2016-17 Re-drawing the Economy, co-ordinated by Katherine Gibson,
Community Economy Research Network.
London Creative Network, Artist Mentor, Space Studios, London.
since 2011Associate Researcher,
R-Urban project by aaa, Paris.
since 2006Co-organiser of the
Eco Nomadic School, trans-local, Europe-wide
2004–09 Post-doctoral AHRC Fellowship at the School for Art & Design, University of Wolverhampton.
2003–07 Inter10 at the Architectural Association, School of Architecture, together with Andreas Lang.
Visiting lecturer at UK based art and architecture schools, including the Royal College of Art, Kingston University, Goldmiths College, Slade School of Art, Central St. Martins, Chelsea College of Art and Brighton School of Art. International teaching includes the School for Architecture, Oslo, Technical University, Berlin, Art Academy Nuremberg, Royal Academy Copenhagen, Valand Academy Gothenburg.
Art School Education
1996–98 MA Fine Art, Goldsmiths College, London
1990–95 Academy of Fine Arts, Nuremberg
Related Websites
www.myvillages.org
www.publicworksgroup.net
Project Websites
www.ruralschoolofeconomics.info
www.companydrinks.info
www.makeitclear.eu
www.internationalvillageshow.myvillages.org
www.trade-show.info/
www.internationalvillageshop.net
www.conistoncricketpavilion.co.uk
www.vorratskammer.myvillages.org
www.rhyzom.net
www.publicworksgroup.net/fridaysessions
www.folkestonomy.net
www.colchesterinn.net
www.diyregeneration.net
www.inter10.net
www.ruralartspace.net