What is Contemporary Art Exchange?

Contemporary Art Exchange (CAX) is a curatorial and arts education platform established in 2009 by independent curator, arts educator and researcher Kate Brehme.

Exchange is at the core of my curatorial practice, whether its in fostering the exchanging of artistic ideas, experiences or skills. My projects span across geographic borders, are collaborative and explore themes including place and cultural identity, labour and work, globalisation, disability and social engagement. I’m guided by the belief that everyone should and can have access to the arts; thus education and learning form a large part, rather than a by-product, of my curatorial activities, whether they be exhibitions, workshops or events. 

Who is Contemporary Art Exchange?

Hello! Contemporary Art Exchange (CAX) is led by me – independent curator, arts educator and researcher Kate Brehme.

I began my career in 2002 by first training as an artist at TAFE (Technical and Further Education). However, after much encouragement from our teachers to get out and actually be artists, and realising that I was much better at organising, talking and writing about art than making it, I turned my attention to curating.

I then completed a Bachelor of Contemporary Art and a Masters of Cultural Heritage at Melbourne’s Deakin University, volunteered at wonderful arts organisations such as Fortyfivedownstairs, The Cunningham Dax Collection and the Benalla Art Gallery in Australia, and worked as an arts educator for The Fruitmarket Gallery, The National Galleries of Scotland and Strathclyde University in Scotland all while curating my own projects and eventually launching CAX in 2009.

In 2012 I moved to Berlin, taking CAX with me. I learnt German and continued on with projects I began in Edinburgh, bringing over artists from Scotland and Australia alike, and working with Berlin based artists. In addition to CAX, I work for organisations such as the Berlin based NODE Center for Curatorial Studies, Picture Berlin and the Piet Zwart Institute’s Masters Education In Arts in the Netherlands. In 2020 I completed and published my doctoral research at The Center for Metropolitan Studies at Berlin’s Technical University where I explore what it means to be a curator working internationally today and how place (particularly of the urban kind) affects that work. And alongside my independent curatorial practice I co-run Berlinklusion, Berlin’s Network for Accessibility in Arts and Culture, established in 2017 with colleagues Jovana Komnenic, Kirstin Broussard and Dirk Sorge with the goal of making Berlin’s arts and cultural scene more accessible for artists and audiences with disabilities.