12:00 - Annika Kuhlmann: New Eelam

New Eelam is a long-term artwork in the form of a startup initiated by curator Annika Kuhlmann and artist Christopher Kulendran Thomas, organized around a global housing subscription based on collective co-ownership rather than individually owned private property. The real estate technology venture has brought together an interdisciplinary team of specialists across the fields of technology, art, real estate, finance and architecture to explore how a more liquid form of citizenship could be constructed beyond national boundaries.

New Eelam originates from understanding contemporary art’s structural role in reimagining cities, from styles of living to forms of labour. In recent exhibitions Kuhlmann and Thomas have presented ‘concept spaces’ as part of the company’s research and development process – immersive environments that speculate on how technology might be used to reshape society and how a new economic model could develop out of the current economic system.

In anticipation of the subscription-based housing service’s launch later this year, Kuhlmann, Creative Director of New Eelam, will discuss how the company’s speculative aesthetics could become a potentially transformative reality.

Bio:

Annika Kuhlmann is a Berlin-based curator and Creative Director at New Eelam. As part of her long-term collaboration with the artist Christopher Kulendran Thomas she has developed presentations for the 9th Berlin Biennale, the 11th Gwangju Biennale, Hamburger Bahnhof – Museum für Gegenwart, Tensta konsthall (Stockholm), the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago and the V-A-C Foundation for the 58th Venice Biennale. She has recently worked on exhibitions at Haus der Kulturen der Welt (Berlin), BFI Miami, Kunstverein Harburger Bahnhof (Hamburg) and Gropius Bau (Berlin) and is associate curator at Schinkel Pavillon (Berlin).