Independent Collectors

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Timo Miettinen

Finnish collector talks about the impossibility of ignoring Berlin’s relevance in today’s art world.

Iris and Timo Miettinen

To celebrate another year of Gallery Weekend Berlin we speak to a selection of collectors who have a special bond with Berlin

Focusing on the collecting scene of the city and the personal relationship between city and collector, we find out what makes this capital not just a special place for its artists and visitors, but for the collectors too.

Finnish collector Timo Miettinen talks to IC about the impossibility of ignoring Berlin’s relevance in today’s art world, his own exhibition space Salon Dahlmann and how the city’s western part is gradually reclaiming its former glory.

IC
Tell us about your connection to Berlin. How did it all begin?

TIMO MIETTINEN
I came to Berlin ten years ago with a group of Finnish real estate investors. It was then that I got really interested not only in Berlin’s real estate situation but in the local art scene as well as the city itself.

IC
What is the collecting scene like in Berlin?

TIMO MIETTINEN
Berlin’s collecting scene is very lively, compelling, interesting and international. Especially in comparison to my hometown, Helsinki.

Installation View IN WONDERLAND. A Birthday Exhibition for Timo Miettinen, at Salon Dahlmann, Berlin. Courtesy the artist and Miettinen Collection, Photo: Roman März

IC
Your collection consists of a lot of German and Finnish based artists – why is this important to you?

TIMO MIETTINEN
I am Finnish and I would like to promote Finnish art at my exhibition space in Berlin. I feel Germany has become my second home. My collection however is international and not only based on works by German or Finnish artists. Actually one of my favorite artists is the Spaniard Secundino Hernandez. We first discovered his work here in Berlin back in 2009 and have been collecting his works ever since.

IC
Many international artists are coming to Berlin. Has this influx of artistic talent had an impact on your collection and if so, how?

TIMO MIETTINEN
It definitely has had an impact on my collection. I am very interested in buying art from young artists and promoting their work. For this reason, Berlin is really an important place to be – also for a collector.

IC
Do you normally work directly with artists or do you go through Berlin galleries?

TIMO MIETTINEN
Normally I buy art from galleries but many of the artists I collect are not presented by a gallery, so I also buy art directly from them. I also buy art at auctions or from other collectors.

IC
How have you seen the Berlin art scene change and where do you think it’s headed?

TIMO MIETTINEN
Berlin’s art scene has been growing continuously and will continue to grow and change. I also believe that more collectors will come to the city. One thing I find especially interesting is to witness the change that is happening in West Berlin with Charlottenburg gradually becoming another hotspot for the art scene, reclaiming its former glory. I opened my exhibition space Salon Dahlmann in our house on Marburgerstrasse 3 in 2012 and I am happy to see that others have opened exhibition spaces in locations near by.

IC
Will you be attending Gallery Weekend Berlin this year (2016)? And if yes, do you have any tips for the collectors coming on where they should go?

TIMO MIETTINEN
I will definitely be attending this year’s edition of Gallery Weekend Berlin. Naturally my first recommendation would be our anniversary exhibition „In wonderland“ at Salon Dahlmann, which will be open every day of the weekend from 11am–6pm. Other than that I know that Galerie Michel Haas will be showing works by Leiko Ikemura from the 29th of April onwards. I recently saw an exhibition by Ikemura at Berlin’s Haus am Waldsee which I thought was amazing. She is a great artist.

Miettinen Collection is featured in the BMW ART GUIDE by INDEPENDENT COLLECTORS.

For more information visit Miettinen Collection.

Timo Miettinen

Finnish collector talks about the impossibility of ignoring Berlin’s relevance in today’s art world.

Berlin (52)

You are the Concept

Private sessions with IC founder and strategist Christian Kaspar Schwarm.

Julia Stoschek

Sergej Timofejev in conversation with Julia Stoschek: one of the most active and famous collectors of time-based art.

Boros Bunker #4

This former techno-club has been home to the private collection and residence of Christian and Karen Boros.

haubrok projects

Lollie Barr meets collector Axel Haubrok in Lichtenberg

Wurlitzer Berlin-Pied-à-Terre Collection

Gudrun and Bernd Wurlitzer have created a space where artworks sit comfortably alongside signs of everyday life

KUNSTSAELE Berlin

Geraldine Michalke provides one of the most dynamic sites for aesthetic exchanges in Berlin

The Feuerle Collection

Désiré Feuerle has turned a site of isolation and paranoia into a place infused with humanity, lightness and sensuality

Ingrid & Thomas Jochheim

The collector couple describes the discovery process, which has led them to around 700 artworks to date, as emotional

ARNDT Collection

Tiffany Wood and Matthias Arndt aim to collect works that create disturbance

PRIOR Art Space

Oliver Elst and Laura del Arco have built significant collections, both individually and together

Elke and Arno Morenz Collection

A collection about seven postwar avant-garde movements

Collection Night

A new twilight initiative takes places in Berlin to bring private collections together in a special programme.

Warhol and Works on Paper

Editions and works on paper from The Dirk Lehr Collection.

Art is a Window – Christian Kaspar Schwarm

Una Meistere in conversation in Berlin with IC founder Christian Kaspar Schwarm.

Dirk Lehr Collection

A look inside the Berlin-based collection that refuses to follow trends.

Yvonne Roeb

Inside the studio of the artist with the unusual collection.

Christian Kaspar Schwarm “Young Collections”

Inside the constantly growing and unconventional collection of the IC co-founder.

The Vague Space

The continuously contouring art collection from Independent Collectors’ co-founder.

Boros Bunker #3

A look inside the belly of Berlin's most known World War II Bunker.

Gudrun & Bernd Wurlitzer

On the occasion of the sixth edition of Berlin Art Week, Gudrun and Bernd Wurlitzer will be opening up their home and private collection to the public.

Gudrun & Bernd Wurlitzer 2017

After the German reunion Gudrun and Bernd Wurlitzer witnessed the gallery scene in Berlin change dramatically.

me Collectors Room – Picha/Pictures

"Picha/Pictures – Between Nairobi & Berlin" at Berlin's me Collectors Room features artworks by Berlin-based artists and children that live in Kibera, East Africa’s largest slum.

How to Be Unique

An exploration of the interlacing of textual, structural, and lingual elements and painting with a special emphasis on their material manifestations.

Kuhn Collection

Offering a bright perspective of young contemporary art.

Archivio Conz x KW

Archivio Conz presents “Pause: Broken Sounds/Remote Music. Prepared pianos from the Archivio Conz collection” at the KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin.

Haus N Collection & ROCCA Stiftung

Two collections joined forces to create a unique cultural experience in an abandoned car dealership in Kiel, Germany.

Kuhn Collection I

This exhibition is the first in a series in which Michael Kuhn and Alexandra Rockelmann share works from the Kuhn Collection on IC.

Recording Memories

Mimi Kolaneci shares parts of his collection

Haus N Collection & Wemhöner Collection

ach, die sind ja heute so unpolitisch

STUDIO BERLIN – Boros Foundation x Berghain

We are here with insight into the seductive new Berlin happening, STUDIO BERLIN, with an interview with Karen Boros and Juliet Kothe, Artistic Directors of the project.

me Collectors Room Berlin/Stiftung Olbricht

My Abstract World

Haupt Collection

Dreissig Silberlinge

Désiré Feuerle

Publicly accessible private collection in an old bunker.

Lapo Simeoni

Collectors who have a special bond with Berlin.

Kai Bender

Collectors who have a special bond with Berlin.

Olaf Schirm

Collectors who have a special bond with Berlin.

From Sponsorship to Authorship

Creative workshops for brands who want to become great story-tellers.

Manfred Herrmann

The Berlin based tax consultant Manfred Herrmann and his wife art historian Burglind-Christin Schulze-Herrmann have been collecting contemporary art for the last 30 years.

me Collectors Room – Private Exposure