Exhibition Fees – The Berlin Model and FABiK
The concept of exhibition fees in Berlin, known as the “Berlin Model,” was introduced in 2016 at the initiative of bbk berlin. To this end, a fund for exhibition fees (FABiK) was established.
The Concept of Exhibition Fees in Berlin
The special fund, which is firmly established in the state budget (see FABiK Guidelines 2018), is allocated exclusively for the remuneration of professional visual artists and, consequently, for the provision of their artistic works or performances in temporary exhibition projects at Berlin’s municipal galleries.
This ensures that the fees do not come at the expense of exhibition planning. Corresponding contracts for the payment of production, catalog, or material costs, as well as curatorial services, installation work, or transportation costs, must of course be concluded separately, as before.
Fee Schedule
At the beginning of each year, Berlin’s municipal galleries submit funding requests to the Senate Department for Culture and Europe, outlining their financial needs and in accordance with their exhibition plans for the entire current year.
The following fee schedule has been in effect since August 2022:
- Solo exhibition (1–2 artists): min. €2,500 per artist
- Small group exhibition (3–9 artists): min. €800 per artist
- Group exhibition (>10 artists): min. €400 per artist
- Group exhibition (>30 artists): min. €150 per artist
These fees are to be understood as minimum fees (see the Cultural Affairs Department’s recommendation on minimum fee thresholds, December 2023).
Development of the FABiK Fund for Exhibition Fees for Visual Artists
The Exhibition Fee Fund for Visual Artists (FABiK), which has been paid out in Berlin’s municipal galleries since January 2016, was secured by the bbk berlin. All artists exhibiting in Berlin’s municipal galleries benefit from this, regardless of their place of residence. The minimum fees also apply to all exhibitions funded by the state.
In 2025, the FABiK program was suspended with a budget of 650,000 euros. The immediate consequence was that visual artists were no longer paid for the works they had provided and had already suffered significant losses of income by 2025.
In October 2025, the bbk berlin received the welcome news:
The FABiK Fund for Exhibition Fees will remain in place! The political decision to abolish the FABiK has been reversed and was officially confirmed by Cerstin Richter-Kotowski, State Secretary for Culture, at the 75th anniversary celebration of the bbk berlin.
Berlin's 2026–27 Two-Year Budget: FABiK's budget was cut from 650,000 to 500,000 euros.
→ 27.01.2026 | Pressemitteilung des bbk berlin: Erstes Pressefrühstück des bbk berlin und seinen Tochtergesellschaft kulturwerk (link)
→ 27.10.2025 | Wir haben gute Neuigkeiten: FABiK bleibt erhalten! (link)
→ 02.09.2025 | Pressemitteilung des bbk berlin: FabiK – Fonds für Ausstellungshonorare gestrichen! (link)
→ 31.01.2025 | Pressemitteilung des bbk berlin: Fonds für die Ausstellungsvergütung Bildende Kunst – FABiK soll zu 100 % gekürzt werden! (link)
→ 2018 Leitlinie der Senatskanzlei Kulturelle Angelegenheiten: Ausstellungsvergütung in Berlin (pdf)
→ 2018 Vortrag und Diskussion in Wien_Ausstellungshonorare: Das Berliner Modell (link)
→ 2018 Das Berliner Modell: Ausstellungshonorare (pdf)
→ 2017 verdi Stuttgart: Zwei Seiten einer Medaille Ausstellungshonorar | Ausstellungsvergütung (pdf)
The exhibition fee fund, paid in Berlin's municipal galleries since January 2016, was increased in 2017 from €300,000 to €400,000 for the 2018/19 double budget, and to €650,000 starting in 2022.
All artists exhibiting in Berlin's municipal galleries benefit from the Fonds Ausstellungsvergütung für bildende Künstler*innen (FABiK), regardless of their place of residence.
Until 2018, this was reserved for artists residing in Berlin. In addition, minimum fee guidelines apply to all state-funded exhibitions.
The municipal galleries manage the funds flowing from district budgets themselves through commission administration. These funds are earmarked; districts cannot use them for other purposes than paying exhibition fees.
The galleries conclude contracts for exhibition fees directly with the artists. Exhibition fees are paid gross. Any tax obligations are the artists' responsibility. These fees count as income from artistic activity at the Künstlersozialkasse (KSK).
From an artist's perspective, these fees won't make you rich. But they are more than symbolic – they represent explicit public appreciation of artistic work.
Given the precarious economic basis of most artistic professions, additional income – even just a few hundred euros per year – can be highly significant for individual artists.
Moreover, exhibition fees are always freely negotiable; each state or municipality can set rules it deems appropriate. Berlin has now used this leeway, sending an important message to all federal states.
After initiatives to reform copyright law for visual artists failed in the German Bundestag ten years ago, bbk berlin worked with municipal galleries to realize this pragmatic, simple model.
The "Berlin Model" and copyright reform in the spirit of the "Initiative Ausstellungsvergütung" do not exclude each other – they complement one another: The "Berlin Model" creates a self-imposed commitment by a state or municipality. Payments are based on individual fee contracts for using works owned by the artists themselves – and solely for making their own work available.
A copyright reform, however, would extend and improve exhibition rights, requiring remuneration for every use of a visual artwork in an exhibition – regardless of ownership or organizer – paid to the copyright holder or heirs. This right lasts 70 years after the artist's death and typically requires a collecting society to enforce and distribute via agreed keys.
Legally and practically, the "Berlin Model" and enforcing exhibition rights via copyright are very different. The former can be implemented decentrally by states and municipalities anytime, while copyright is a federal matter. You can pursue one without abandoning the other.
Artistic work always has value. It must also have its price.
bbk berlin, May 2017 (ed. updated August 2022)