BERLIN.- Gallery Weekend Berlin and abc art berlin contemporary are continuing to expand their structure. As the new Executive Director, Cédric Aurelle will, effective immediately, take over leadership of both initiatives.

Gallery Weekend Berlin and abc art berlin contemporary have been able to establish themselves in recent years as major highlights of the Berlin art year. In collaboration with the initiators, nine Berlin galleries, and with support from Michael Neff and Maike Cruse, the new Artistic Director of abc, Cédric Aurelle will continue to establish the successful activities of both initiatives. The goal is to expand both projects and to work as a catalyst for the international cultural community.

'With his substantiated experience, institutional background and excellent knowledge of the local, national and international art scene, Cédric Aurelle is the ideal person to bring the important figures of both organizations together with the global art world,' say the initiators.

Cédric Aurelle was director of the Bureau des Arts Plastiques at the French embassy of Berlin from 2007 until 2011, and afterwards served as Art Commissioner at the Institut français in Paris. During this time, he initiated among other things the successful gallery exchange Berlin-Paris and Thermostat, a cooperation between 24 art centers and organizations. Between 2001 and 2006 he was employed at the Centre Pompidou in Paris. He has curated numerous exhibitions and writes regularly for the French art newspaper Le Quotidien de l'art as well as for various arts publications.