Claus Michaletz Preis & KVOST Stipendium

The Kunstverein Ost is announcing this year’s KVOST Stipendium, which is awarded in combination with the Claus Michaletz Preis since 2022. The 10,000 Euros prize is established in memory of the publisher and founder of the Secco Pontanova Foundation, Claus Michaletz. The full amount of the prize money goes to the scholarship holders. The scholarship is aimed at artists whose biographical roots lie in Central and Eastern Europe / the former Eastern Bloc.

The works created in this process will be presented in a solo exhibition starting with Berlin Art Week in September 2026.

The application documents are now available: KVOST Scholarship
Application deadline is April 17, 2026.

The current situation of the art scene in the Republic of Moldova

KVOST TALK . 06.02.2026 . 7 pm
Talk with Lilia Dragneva (artist, curator, and scholar) and Volker Kreidler (photographer and curator)
Lilia Dragneva is one of the most prominent experts and activists in the contemporary Moldovan art scene. She has been director of the Centre for Contemporary Art [ksa:k] since 2000 and is curator of the BUNKER Gallery in Chișinău. She teaches art history, management, and curatorial practices at both AMTAP and the Al. Plămădeală Academy of Fine Arts.

LAUNCH OF “Old Habits, New Beginnings”

17.01.2026 · 7 PM

On January 17, artist Anna Raczyńska will launch her first monograph Old Habits, New Beginnings at KVOST. Together with collabarators of the book, we will explore the dualistic approach behind its visual concept – combining Polish and German language, designers, and writers – while reflecting on the complexity of Central and Eastern European identities, within which Raczyńska’s practice is situated. Michalina Sablik and Sophia Yvette Scherer, whose text contributions are featured in the book, will be in conversation with Anna.

The event is kindly supported by Adam Mickiewicz Institute and the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage Poland.
LAUNCH OF “Old Habits, New Beginnings”

Drinks & Music by Hitori Ni

12.09.2025 . 6 – 9 pm

For the Featured Night of Berlin Art Week, Kvost invites you to a special musical evening: Georgian artist, lighting designer, and music enthusiast Hitori Ni (alias Omar Gogichaishvili) will perform an exclusive DJ set—inspired by the current exhibition ›The Knight at the Crossroads‹ by Claus Michaletz Prize winner David Apakidze.

Hitori Ni’s music selection is as multi-layered as his artistic practice: ambient, noise, and atmospheric electronics merge with dub, techno, punk, and metal. Like a bipolar radio, his sound oscillates between meditative expansiveness and cathartic intensity.

As the lighting designer of the Bassiani club and art director of the queer HOroom Nights, Hitori Ni plays a key role in shaping the visual identity of Tbilisi’s club scene. His photographic work documents Georgia’s queer underground culture, and as curator of the biennial festival Wings of Desire, he creates spaces for community, visibility, and resistance.
Drinks & Music by Hitori Ni

CLAUS MICHALETZ PREIS 2025 : DAVID APAKIDZE

Award Ceremony
10.09.2025 . 6:30 pm

Welcome : Stephan Koal . Director KVOST . Introduction : Nathalie Hoyos . Curator & Advisory Board KVOST . Words of Greeting : Sven Lehmann . Chair of the Committee on Culture & Media in the German Bundestag and Member of Parliament for Bündnis 90/Die Grünen . Award Ceremony : Silke Manske . Chairwoman of the Board Secco-Pantanova Stiftung