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Art on Commission by Citizens \u2013 the \u2018New Patrons\u2019 \u2013 is a large-scale cultural-political project. It started in France as \u2018Nouveaux Commanditaires\u2019 and has spread across Europe with over 500 projects since 1991. In 2007, I co-founded an association in Berlin, which I chaired, and we brought the concept of the New Patrons to Germany. Since then, the initiative has grown into a nationally recognized and increasingly practiced method, for which I stand as the director of the Gesellschaft der Neuen Auftraggeber, a non-profit GmbH that I founded in 2017. To date, we have funded and carried out over 30 projects with international artists across Germany, bringing together thousands of people. In 2021, we received the Zukunftspreis (Future Prize) from the German Cultural Politics Society for our efforts.<\/p>\n
Between 2013 and 2016, I primarily sought out individuals and organizations on the African continent, but also in India and Lebanon, who were interested in art on commission by citizens, resulting in several collaborations. The idea eventually took root in Cameroon, where it continues to thrive. In Germany, the Kulturstiftung des Bundes has been supporting our program since 2017. The Federal Agency for Civic Education and many other partners have supported the New Patrons, as have cities such as Marl, M\u00f6nchengladbach, Stuttgart, and Kiel. At the UDK Berlin, I developed a curriculum to introduce our practice, which we call \u2018Mediation\u2019\u2014a new professional role in the art world\u2014into artistic and curatorial education.<\/p>\n
At our federal office in Berlin, all activities of the New Patrons converge. In 2022, the mediators in Germany founded an association, the Gesellschaft f\u00fcr Kunst und Mediation im B\u00fcrgerauftrag e.V., to independently represent their interests. In 2024, we, together with colleagues from six other countries, founded the Soci\u00e9t\u00e9 internationale des Nouveaux Commanditaires \u2013 International New Patrons Society \u2013 based in Brussels. As the chair of this international association, I represent the interests of a network of mediators from Belgium, Germany, France, Italy, Cameroon, Switzerland, Spain, and, starting in 2025, Croatia.<\/p>\n
As I said, it is a large-scale cultural-political project. Over the years, I have become a leading figure in this European movement. However, the future of art on commission by citizens depends just as much on political climates as on philanthropic engagement and the ambitions of individual actors, such as municipalities. Often referred to as the \u2018art of democracy,\u2019 the New Patrons today form part of the toolbox of progressive, non-partisan social policies, although their financing remains precarious.<\/p>\n