KARLSRUHE.- The eleventh Art Karlsruhe is in full swing. The award-winning architecture of the exhibition halls and countless works of classic modern and contemporary art are forming a unique symbiosis as Art Karlsruhe opened its doors on 12 March.

Until 16 March, 220 galleries with 160 one-artist shows and 21 sculpture zones are welcoming an anticipated 50,000 visitors to enjoy art. Paintings, sculptures, and photography from more than 1600 artists from all over the world are on show at art KARLSRUHE – an enormous variety, inviting visitors not only to view and savour but to buy as well.

Special exhibitions are a traditional fixture in the Art Karlsruhe programme. One of this year’s big attractions is the collection of “Stern” magazine founder Henri Nannen on display on an area of 400 m³. The other is the work of the artist rosalie: huge light installations shaping the “Aktionshalle” and “dm-arena” and providing Art Karlsruhe 2014 with a very special feature. Amongst the other highlights of the art fair are two award ceremonies: one for the Hans-Platschek Prize for art and writing and one for the Baden-Württemberg Art Karlsruhe Prize for the best presentation at the event. “Painting – more than a recurring trend?” is the key question at the annual ARTIMA art meetings where art journalist Carl Friedrich Schröer held six one-on-one interviews with Eske Nannen, director of Kunsthalle Emden, Christiane Lange, director of Staatsgalerie Stuttgart, the painter Bernd Zimmer, the former gallery-owner and passionate collector Paul Maenz, the exhibition organiser and head of the Johann Jacobs Museum, Roger M. Buergel, and with Franz Ackermann, artist and professor of painting at the Kunstakademie Karlsruhe.

Art can meanwhile be found not only in the halls of the Karlsruhe Trade Fair Centre but has spread across the whole city as well, creating a multitude of cultural highlights in Karlsruhe during the forthcoming week of art. One preview and vernissage follows the next, numerous galleries are staging special exhibitions and lengthening their opening times.

As every year, the complementary art-Shuttle is at your service again in 2014 for the duration of Art Karlsruhe, providing a transfer service from Art Karlsruhe to art in Karlsruhe and stopping at the Staatliche Kunsthalle and the ZKM. Also available for your convenience is a shuttle bus operating between the trade fair centre and the main railway station.