Salon de Refusées

Exhibition for rejected female artists. 47 works from 17 countries. A counterpoint to the institutional art world. February – March 2024, krautART ARTspace Berlin.

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Salon des Refusées – A Counterpoint

The historic Salon des Refusés in Paris in 1863 showcased works rejected by the official jury of the Paris Salon. Among them were artists by Manet, Cézanne, and Pissarro. What was intended as a concession to the outrage of those rejected became the catalyst for modern art.

160 years later, the structure has changed little. The juries have become more diverse, but the mechanisms remain: those who don’t fit the logic of the system—formally, thematically, or biographically—are not shown. This particularly affects female artists without an academic background, without gallery affiliation, without the right networks.

The Salon des Refusées at krautART ARTspace offered a counterpoint to this logic. The open call was specifically aimed at female artists whose work had been rejected from juried exhibitions, art prizes, or residencies in the preceding 18 months. There was no curatorial process in the strict sense – deliberately so, to avoid creating new exclusions. Applications were accepted as long as they met the formal requirements.

The result: 47 female artists from 17 countries. Painting, multimedia, textile art, video, photography, printmaking, street art, digital works. A physical exhibition at the krautART ARTspace, complemented by a virtual exhibition, artist talks, and workshops.

The international response – the open call attracted applications from 18 countries – confirmed the hypothesis: The problem isn’t a lack of quality. What’s lacking are structures that make quality visible beyond established networks.

From Salon to Voices of the Unseen

The Salon de Refusées network and the wealth of shared experiences provided the impetus for the research project Voices of the Unseen – commissioned by the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT). Thirteen of the participating artists contributed to a collective video work that transformed the patterns visible in the salon—precarity, institutional exclusion, resilience—into a shared artistic form.

Key Facts

Dates: February 29 – March 28, 2024
Location: krautART ARTspace, Berlin-Lichtenberg
Participants: 47 female artists from 17 countries
Formats: Physical exhibition, virtual exhibition, artist talks, workshops
Concept and Curator: Cornelia Es Said