is a programme hosted by the Bern Academy of the Arts HKB.
A decade ago, the Sommerakademie im Zentrum Paul Klee introduced a landmark educational template that was reinvented by the reestablished Sommerakademie Paul Klee (SPK), beginning in August 2017.
The new Sommerakademie Paul Klee is a fully funded programme offering artists a departure from business as usual, without becoming an exhausting interruption in its own right. It caters to practitioners working at a postgraduate level, whether or not they have an official certificate saying so. Professional experience and intellectual appetite are the main requirements.
From 2017–2024, eight residents were granted access to the university’s outstanding infrastructure and technical support over two summer session. Although based on the idea of an academy, the aim was to transcend the blueprint of seminars and tutorials, and to focus on group research and cross-professional coalition building. Back in the 2000s, there were few examples of summer retreats as proposed by the Zentrum Paul Klee. Our new programme built on this pioneering idea, while proposing a more complex blend of theory and practice, discourse and production. With its atypical timeline and exceptional infrastructure, the SPK combined collective inquiry with the perks of production-oriented residencies. The SPK is a fully funded programme, covering room, travel and visa expenses. This in close partnership with international art institutions.
Both in terms of a concrete curatorial theme and a fundamental working premise, the SPK seeks to account for the consequences of Contemporary Art. It traces the impact artists effectively have on the world around them, and works towards possibilities of reclaiming and steering that leverage. As such, it asks how the traction of Contemporary Art, as is, can be used to maximum effect, here and now.
In 2025, the last cycle of the Sommerakademie Paul Klee will take place in Bern, during three separate sessions over the course of one year (see time line below). Since 2017, Bern Academy of the Arts HKB has been the association's institutional partner and has provided substantial support. While the residents of the Sommerakademie were able to benefit from the HKB facilities, the content developed during the summer sessions was passed on to HKB students in the form of workshops. Due to cantonal cost reduction measures, this collaboration between the Sommerakademie association and HKB will unfortunately no longer be possible from 2026. The association and the HKB very much regret this. The Association Sommerakademie Paul Klee will be dissolved at the end of 2025.
We would like to thank our supporters, followers and friends for the support and trust placed in our association. We would also like to thank all the former residents, fellows, curators, and speakers that participated and contributed to the Sommerakademie.
We are looking forward to a great last year with Pauline Hatzigeorgiou’s programme!
– During the first session, curator Pauline Hatzigeorgiou will publicly present her curatorial framework on Wednesday, 21 May 2025 at 6 p.m. at Kapitel Bollwerk in Bern, as part of the GK zu Gast talks.
– For the second session from 4–8 August 2025, Pauline Hatzigeorgiou has invited three guests, Nika Dubrovsky, Niloufar Emamifar, and Georgia Sagri, and Bern Academy of the Arts HKB Alumna, Karen Amanda Moser, to design a workshop in Bern.
– This workshop will be taking place from 10–14 November 2025 at the HKB for students of the Master programme of the Contemporary Art Practices (CAP), and the Bachelor students of Art Education and Fine Arts of the HKB.
– During this November week, there will be a second public event where Pauline Hatzigeorgiou will reflect on the group’s work (date and time tba).
The Division of Design and Fine Arts offers the three Bachelor degree programmes Art Education, Visual Communication and Fine Arts, as well as the Master degree programmes building on these Bachelors: Art Education, Communication Design and the Master in Contemporary Arts Practice residing at Y Institute.
The main focus is on independent, mentored project work in the workshop, and practical, craft-oriented and theoretical teaching accompanies this. Depending on the way students choose their courses, the various degree programmes may overlap. The intersections could be in technical, cultural-historical or theoretical fields. The different programmes also offer joint classes.
→ state-of-the-art print workshops
→ wood, plastics, metal, and textile facilities
→ high-tech sound studio
→ audiovisual media lab for film, video, and photography
→ conservation and restoration facilities
→ specialized libraries
→ contacts to conservation and restoration facilities