Hey!
ilali is an artists’ studio bringing together a group of international artists and curators in the heart of Schillerkiez, Berlin. Similarly to any community, ilali forms a microcosm. The group endeavours to reflect on this interconnected state of working together. The artists strive to further develop their own projects according to their intrinsic needs and desires, while remaining open to the constant possibilities for change inherent in a collective construct.
The space is focused on communicating its purpose in collective unity and in relation to the environment it finds itself within. This is echoed in the origin of the name “ilali’. Inspired by its founder’s South African origin, the name ilali comes from isiXhosa and means “village”. Within ilali, artists create and collaborate on their practices, and sell and communicate their works in the gallery space. Ilali is lastly an “ alternative social space”, designed for interaction between artists and the surrounding community as well as a venue to facilitate events and distill ideas outside everyday life.
These different dimensions are essential for ilali’s artists to expand and expose their practice. To them, art is a self-styled communion evolving through non-hierarchical prefigurative politics. Once they found a space, things began to collide, merge and transform. As they navigate through the ever-changing shape of their individual artistic faiths and desires, they aim at extending further out into orbiting affinity circles, groups and galleries. Their central objective is to honor their creative process, and in doing so, to nourish the interaction with their surrounding community. Welcome to the village.