soft power is a non-profit art association (Kunstverein) and venue for artistic projects based in Berlin. As a conceptual framework soft power appropriates a political term that describes and uses the influence which “soft” assets such as culture and art can have on policies and economic spheres. In addition to exhibitions and other public formats that have been taking place in soft power’s exhibition space in a former factory building in Berlin since 2021, soft power also hosts changing residencies and functions as a multidisciplinary workspace.

In their ongoing collaboration, artistic directors Eva Herrmann and Linnéa Bake are working on critically examining the term “soft power” as a conceptual framework through curatorial research, practice, teaching and writing – guided by the question how this ambiguous notion can be productively subverted, challenged and reclaimed from artistic perspectives.