“Wir müssen Ihnen leider mitteilen, …”

As part of the collective Eine Krise bekommen, I co-authored the article “Wir müssen Ihnen leider mitteilen, …”, reflecting on our multi-day seminar “Eine Krise bekommen: Kunsthochschulen und Ausschlussmechanismen” (2022) and the resulting installation of the same name. Both critically examine selection processes and barriers within art university contexts, asking how exclusion and discrimination occur even before admission, what expectations are placed on students, and who is able to meet them. The interactive group installation, presented in the main courtyard of the UdK Berlin during the annual student exhibition in July 2022, grew out of these discussions. Responding to the rejection letters sent each year to thousands of applicants, it makes visible the often-invisible mechanisms of exclusion and discrimination, inviting collective reflection and response.