Andrea Mineo's KCAR: An Airbnb Gallery in a Berlin Studio

Italian artist Andrea Mineo (Turin, 1989) has launched KCAR (Kreuzberg Contemporary Art Residence) in Berlin, a hybrid space combining an Airbnb lodging, a gallery, and his studio. The first experiment took place in November 2019, where Mineo hosted guests for a night inside an art installation. The inaugural exhibition featured 'The latest Invention,' a sand sculpture installation referencing the first rental contract in history, dated 2000 BCE from Mesopotamia. Guests included music producers, university students, and a stripper, who reported surreal or mystical experiences. Mineo conceived KCAR to self-fund his artistic research and support fellow artists, inspired by the idea of a gallery open at night for latecomers. He plans to create a new unit of attention called 'Atmen,' equivalent to six complete breaths or 33 seconds of deep attention, represented by a selenite crystal and gold sculpture. The project uses Airbnb to host one guest per night, with proceeds shared among exhibiting artists.