Bonaventure Soh Bejeng Ndikung Named New Director of Renowned Berlin Arts Institution

The supervisory board of the Kulturveranstaltungen des Bundes in Berlin GmbH (KBB) today appointed Bonaventure Soh Bejeng Ndikung as the new director at the Haus der Kulturen der Welt (HKW). Ndikung will take over his new position from Bernd M. Scherer on 1 January 2023.

The chairwoman of the supervisory board of the KBB, Minister of State for Culture and the Media Monika Grütters: “As an internationally sought-after renowned curator and cultural manager, Bonaventure Ndikung is a perfect fit for the Haus der Kulturen der Welt. With his excellent network, his scientific education and his passion for art, he is virtually predestined to further develop this institution, which is unique in Europe. In doing so, he can build on the strong foundation that Bernd Scherer and his team have established.”

Prof. Dr. Bonaventure Soh Bejeng Ndikung: “Berlin is home to citizens from 190 nations, and these people must be fundamental in the future structuring of a House of World Cultures, as fellow travellers and co-creators of a house of complexity, of analysis of the diverse asymmetries of the world and ultimately of reconciliation of cultures. I am honoured that I have been given the responsibility to open the way for such a future. I thank the supervisory board of the KBB and Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media Monika Grütters for their trust and I am very much looking forward to working with the team at the HKW, my colleagues at the KBB and, of course, the artists, cultural workers and scholars from all over the world.”

Prof. Dr. Bernd Scherer: “Together with my team, I warmly welcome Bonaventure to HKW. After many collaborations with SAVVY Contemporary, I can say with certainty that this selection is absolutely convincing, both in terms of content and personally. I look forward to seeing how Bonaventure will further develop HKW with its employees, discourses and programs. His courage to experiment and the joy in researching will surely bring new impulses to Berlin and national culture.”

Prof. Dr. Bonaventure Soh Bejeng Ndikung (born 1977 in Yaoundé, Cameroon) is a curator, author, holding a PhD in biotechnology. Ndikung is professor for the MA programme Spatial Strategies at the Weißensee School of Art, Berlin, and co-editor and author of numerous publications on aspects of cultural criticism and critical exhibition theory. Ndikung is also Artistic Director of the Dutch exhibition sonsbeek 20-24 and the 13th Rencontres de Bamako 2021, a biennial of African photography in Mali. He was Curator at Large of documenta 14 in Athens and Kassel, and Guest

Curator of Dak’Art – Biennale de l’Art Africain Contemporain 2018 in Dakar, Senegal. Since 2009, he has been managing director and artistic director of SAVVY Contemporary, Berlin. For his work there, Ndikung received the Order of Merit of the State of Berlin in October 2020.

Haus der Kulturen der Welt is part of the Kulturveranstaltungen des Bundes in Berlin GmbH. Further institutions are Berlin International Film Festival and Berliner Festspiele with Martin Gropius Bau. The KBB is financed entirely by the federal government from the budget of the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media, summing up to roughly 47 million euros in 2021.