KW Institute for Contemporary Art is one of the most important institutions for contemporary art in Germany. KW has no collection of its own: instead, it sees itself much more as a laboratory for the presentation of exhibitions, artist ateliers and the latest events in national and international contemporary culture. The KW actively fosters artistic developments in cooperation with artists and institutions as well as via commissioned works.
KW was founded in the early 1990s by Klaus Biesenbach and a group of young art enthusiasts in a rundown former margarine factory in Berlin-Mitte. KW owes its rapid emergence as an international centre for contemporary art to the unique nature of its building, its artistic programme and its partnerships with several other institutions – first and foremost its close relationship to the P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center in New York.
In 1997, KW founded the Berlin Biennale für zeitgenössische Kunst (berlin biennial for contemporary art), which takes place for the 11th time in 2020.