Open Art Festival

From May 3 to 17, 2026, the OPEN ART Festival once again invites you to discover contemporary art in public spaces in Freiburg and the Freiburg region. For two weeks, the festival will transform the urban space into a stage for artistic interventions, unusual encounters and temporary art locations in everyday places. Under this year's leitmotif "Unavailability", OPEN ART focuses on the tensions that arise when art encounters places, materials, working environments and urban routines.

The festival will open on May 3 on Augustinerplatz. An opening speech by the new Mayor of Culture, Roland Meder, will kick off the festival and make the artistic diversity of the program visible. All participating artists will be introduced, along with small surprises as a prelude to two weeks of art in the urban space. OPEN ART sees itself not only as an exhibition format, but also as a space for artistic processes, for dialog and for art that does not detach itself from places, but develops out of them.

The focus is on the idea of inscribing art into everyday life and thus opening up new perceptions. Artists from Freiburg and the region work together with craft businesses, stores, restaurants, public spaces and other unusual places. These encounters result in site-specific works that take up the genius loci of a place, incorporate existing materials and make the public space readable anew as a space for experiencing art. Art is not only shown, but can be experienced as a conversation, as an irritation and as a resonance space.

Art education is an essential part of the festival. OPEN ART aims to break down inhibitions and open up access to contemporary art - beyond classic exhibition situations. Talks with artists, open formats, spontaneous actions and participatory elements invite visitors not only to view art, but also to think about it and experience it. This is precisely the festival's special claim: to make art visible as part of the social dialog.

The festival concludes with a festive event on May 17 in the Stadtgarten am Pavillon. This is where this year's prizes will be awarded, accompanied by live music and a get-together. OPEN ART 2026 thus ends where it begins at its core: in the encounter between art, space and audience.

The entire program is available on our website and can also be downloaded as a folding map.