ART AT ERA

Since 1999, ERA has enriched Trier’s cultural landscape with diverse exhibitions showcasing European artists, from emerging talents to established creators, both from Germany and abroad. The Academy’s spacious foyer, bright cafeteria and glazed gallery, added in 2011, provide ideal spaces and lighting conditions for the presentation of paintings, graphics, photographs, sculptures and other visual artworks.

Art has always played a major role at ERA – so much so that over the years a particular piece has become nothing less than the symbol of our Academy:La jaula de la libertad (the cage of freedom).

Visitors to ERA’s headquarters and participants in our training events are all familiar with this monumental sculpture made by the great Spanish Basque artist Eduardo Chillida. Specially designed for the space in front of the ERA conference centre and installed there in 1998, this work masterfully illustrates the dialectic between law and freedom.

Besides the reproductions of Roman busts that can be found in our main building, many works of art have subsequently been donated to ERA and are on permanent display in our premises. Since its creation, ERA has also hosted hundred temporary art exhibitions and thus supported various artists – beginners or established, local or international.

On 3 September, ERA invites you to the opening of its next exhibition.

Can they make a living from this?

Artwork / Artistic value

Exhibition from 4 September – 30 October 2026

Under this title, ERA Trier is presenting a group exhibition by the ‘Alte Druckerei’ art collective in Trier. The collective was founded in 2007 and comprises seven artists.

The exhibition’s title poses a question – and depending on one’s perspective, the answer varies. For instance, the answers to the specific question: “Can you make a living from your art?” might be: “yes”, “no”, “to a certain extent”, “hmm”, “…” For others, standing before the works, it is a thought experiment: “Could you make a living from your art?”

But the exhibition raises further questions: Does the viewer’s perspective on a work change if they know that the artist has to make a living from it? Is art assessed differently when there is an economic necessity behind it? And conversely: Does an artist who is dependent on sales create differently – more freely or less freely – than someone for whom art does not have to put bread on the table?

The Kunsthaus Crew come from a variety of life circumstances: some create alongside a full-time job or in retirement, whilst one person lives exclusively from their art. What unites them is their high standards – towards themselves, their craft and the impact of their works. On display are works in mixed media, screen printing, painting, drawing, printmaking, photography and wood art. Seven techniques, seven approaches, one question: What is a work of art worth – and to whom?

As guests of the exhibition, the Year 12 and 13 Foundation Courses in Fine Art at Saarburg Grammar School are presenting works that explore the exhibition’s theme from an artistic perspective. The laudatory address will be given by Margit Schäfer, artist and art educator.

The exhibiting artists are:

Anja Streese, screen printing and mixed media

Klaus Berghaus, painting

Jairo Gutiérrez Feut, painting and photography

Axel Schumann, photography

Toni Schneider, wood art

Guests:

Peter Heinbücher, photography; Doris Tasarek, photography
Foundation courses in fine art for Years 12 and 13 at Saarburg Grammar School

Further information about the art collective:

Kunsthaus “Alte Druckerei”