The Sommerakademie at the Zentrum Paul Klee is an international platform for contemporary art, involved in exploring the existence of art and how people think about it. Since the summer of 2006, the academy has been inviting artists once a year to Bern to put on an intensive ten-day, theme-related seminar in August within a circle of selected professors, curators and critics.

The task of the Sommerakademie is to inspire artistic production and reflection through further education, development and contacts, and at the same time, to offer the public the opportunity to take part in this process. The Sommerakademie lays importance on sustainability: it awards project money and presents the theme of each academy in an accompanying publication.

The Sommerakademie seizes on current questions and evokes new impulses. An exhibition renders the selection criteria, contents and objectives accessible to a broad public. At the same time, the exhibition lays the foundation for the work between the invited artists.

The BEKB | BCBE (Cantonal Bank of Bern), founding partner of the Maurice E. and Martha Müller Foundation (MMMF), is sponsor of the Sommerakademie in the Zentrum Paul Klee and provides the capital necessary to guarantee operations for ten years.