“European Kunsthalle c/o Ebertplatz“:  The programmatic title stands for a new phase for the European Kunsthalle – one in the form of a new, temporary structure on Ebertplatz in Cologne. The outdoor space was specially designed by Vienna-based artist Dorit Margreiter, who will be representing Austria at the 2009 Venice Biennial.

An extension of the European Kunsthalle’s project office (which opened in the Ebertplatzpassage in June 2008), Margreiter’s design defines a concrete, yet experimentally modifiable spatial framework for contemporary art presentations and events. Art and architecture become catalysts for alternative ways of perceiving and utilizing public space and changing urban structures.

Margreiter delineates her model for a temporary, urban, outdoor Kunsthalle as a modular choreography that is realized gradually over time. “European Kunsthalle c/o Ebertplatz” aims at a communicative exchange between art and the broader public. It is conceived as a framework for developing an audience both through and with art – questions central to any contemporary art institution.