The Internationale Gesellschaft der Bildenden Künste (IGBK) is a powerful lobby, representing the interests of visual artists. It has been the guiding idea of IGBK since its beginning to foster worldwide collaboration amongst visual artists in all directions.
Service
We council visual artists on the possibilities of working opportunities and grants, both in Germany and abroad. We help cut through red tape associated with exchange and exhibition projects abroad, and issue the IAA International Identity Card for artists (residing in Germany). The card includes ticket price reductions or free admission to many museums and galleries worldwide.
IGBK services and consulting offers are available to all organised and non-organised visual artists in Germany. Since April 2013 we have been working on www.touring-artists.info, a joint project of IGBK, the Dachverband Tanz Deutschland and the International Theatre Institute in Germany (ITI). The website provides information on visas, residence, transport, customs, taxes, social insurance, and copyright related to cross-border mobility for artists working internationally. The project is supported by the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media.
Symposia and workshops
We organise symposia and workshops on topics of relevance to artists. We invite artists, cultural politicians, scientists, and practitioners in the field of cultural mediation, art education, and the art market. With our partners we discuss topical issues concerning training in the arts, communication, identity, and the conditions and perspectives of contemporary art. Through these activities, IGBK seeks to stimulate new ideas, propose possible solutions and sharpen the vision for future-oriented concepts.
Art accross borders
IGBK is engaged with several organisations and networks, particularly at the European level. In cooperation with its partners, IGBK attempts to insure that the interests of artists are taken into consideration at relevant political and administrative decision-making levels.
IGBK represents the German National Committee of the International Association of Art (IAA), which with more than 90 members is the world's largest international NGO of visual artists. IGBK is part of the current Executive Committee of IAA Europe and has acted as the office of IAA Europe 2015-2019. We are active in Culture Action Europe (CAE), in the artists mobility network On The Move (OTM), and we are an associated member in the worldwide network of arts residencies Res Artis. IGBK is a member of the German UNESCO Commission (until end of 2020) and of the Kunstrat (Fine Arts Council) of Deutscher Kulturrat (German Cultural Council).