Tiny Domingos
This Q+A column focuses on off-/project-/artist-led spaces and otherwise difficult to label projects, and the people that keep them going. The goal is to highlight and chronicle such initiatives across the region that we currently refer to as Central and East Europe.
How are you?
Fine. Still crazy, thirsty, and curious after all these years.
How did it start and, dare I ask…how will it end?
It started with no money and no network and will end with no money and a network. A network is very valuable.
photo: Anne-Renee Hotte. Image courtesy of ROSALUX.
photo: Morgan Legaré. Image courtesy of ROSALUX.
What do you need?
Inspiration, support, and plenty of praise.
Who/what has held you up?
Nothing and nobody.
Is it sustainable?
No. Although there was this concern at the very beginning.
What do you measure?
Nothing.
Image courtesy of ROSALUX.
Image courtesy of ROSALUX.
Are you “independent”? How do you define “independent”?
Being independent means working with complete freedom; free from constraints imposed by anyone, whether political, institutional, commercial, or otherwise.
Who/what is your kin?
ROSALUX is a member of Kolonie Wedding e.V. (an association that brings together more than twenty project spaces in our neighborhood) and the Netzwerk freier Berliner Projekträume und – initiativen (Berlin Network of Independent Project Spaces and Initiatives). We also feel a strong connection to many artistic initiatives around the world.
Why do you stay/what keeps you going?
We are passionate about art. We love sharing it and building bridges between communities and audiences who don’t know each other.
photo: ROSALUX. Image courtesy of ROSALUX.
Is it enough?
Definitely.
What’s the most memorable project you’ve realized?
The fact that we managed to maintain a continuous program for 21 years without structural funding. We have given it our all—both in terms of resources and potential—and we are proud of that. The energy we put into our projects is clearly evident and appreciated for what it is.
What has been the biggest surprise?
Not receiving structural funding for our organization despite an intense and widely recognized local and international program. This is a disgrace that speaks volumes about the disregard shown by public authorities and stakeholders toward Berlin’s independent cultural scene, particularly in the fields of visual arts and artist-run spaces. This is all the more true when one considers their role in Berlin’s cultural ecosystem and in promoting the city’s image internationally.
Who/What is your biggest inspiration?
The energy and talent of the new generations of artists.
What is your biggest challenge?
Combining my artistic practice with the programming for the project space. One requires travel, the other requires being present and paying attention on site.
ROSALUX is a project space with a strong interdisciplinary and international orientation that has been firmly rooted in Berlin for more than 15 years. It is named after Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz, an interface between creative districts. Rosa Luxemburg’s courage and commitment to a fairer society have been a growing inspiration.
ROSALUX is a polyphonic and inclusive space for work, exchange, and presentation. A place for questioning, collective imagination, and decentring. A place for art research, new methodologies, and artistic languages. A space offering visibility to artistic practices off the beaten track.
ROSALUX believes in:
– the inter- and transdisciplinary dialogue
– the transformative potential of art and (post)humanism
– the artist-led approach to worldbuilding, planetary health and futurity
– the artist/curator as an inspiring emancipating force
– artistic diplomacy to promote inclusion, solidarity, cooperation and encounter.
ROSALUX is committed to the empowerment of the artistic base and promotes self-determined artistic ways of working and project ideas, networking, and cooperation with other artistic initiatives and independent project spaces on a local and international level.
Founding director: Tiny Domingos
Member of Kolonie Wedding Association
Founding member of the Berlin network of independent project spaces: Netzwerk unabhängiger Projekträume und -initiativen Berlin
https://www.instagram.com/rosaluxdotcom/
The Off-Space Q+A column was created by Katie Zazenski for the now-defunct BLOK Magazine in July 2020 as a way to platform the independent, artist-run spaces and projects across the CEE region. The archive (which as of April 2026 is unfortunately no longer accessible) was intended, as is this new iteration, to be a space for platforming the critical and often under-recognized role that these projects, collectives, spaces, and people play in the ecosystem of contemporary art.
Spaces/projects featured in the original index: Stroboskop Art Space (Warsaw), U10 (Belgrade), ODD (Bucharest), Studio PRÁM (Prague), Plague (Krasnodar), Złoty Kiosk (Wrocław), Heerz Tooya (Veliko Turnovo), 427 (Riga), Super Bien! (Berlin), Noch (Odesa), hoast (Vienna), Patara Gallery (Tbilisi), DOM Gallery (Riga), Hoib Gallery (Tallinn), Editorial Projects (Vilnius), Aether (Sofia), MATCA (Cluj-Napoca), Annenstrasse 53 (Graz), Post – Yu+ th Art Biennial (Podgorica), Hlebzawod (Kyiv), Kyiv Lodge (Kyiv), Galeria UL (Gdańsk), LOL [Law of Life] (Berlin, Hamburg, Leipzig), SDK Sunflower (Warsaw), INDECIS (Timişoara), Apiece (Vilnius).
