Kaus Australis Foundation is an artist-run organization initiated in 1985 by 4 visual artists. For several years accommodation was found in temporarily available city-harbour buildings which, one after another, were turned into suitable studio and presentation spaces. During this period Kaus Australis initiated a number of exhibitions and generously invited guest artists from different countries to share working and presentation space.

Starting from 1993, Kaus Australis had the opportunity to design and realize appropriate and long term accommodation, reflecting a more functional artistic space. The new building from 1997 is located at the Northern edge of Rotterdam and mainly composed of pre-fabricated materials. It shelters 10 large scale studios with abundant daylight, 5 on each side of a 40 m long drive-in corridor. The main entrance offers a well equipped kitchen, office, library and meeting place.  The 4 artists of the organizing team have their own studios inside the building. Team members do assist guest artists intensively on all levels of their profession but do not involve their own artistic work in the foundation. Four studios are continuously available for guest artists from here and abroad. These studios can be connected in order to function as an entire exhibition space. Guest artists stay for about 3 till 6 months; the foundation receives about 17 guests per year.

From 1997 Kaus Australis organizes an ongoing program by inviting professional guest artists from all over Europe and the rest of the world, showing artist’s presentations and from time to time large scale exhibitions or events.  In the past Kaus Australis maintained exchange programs for guest-artists with Barcelona, Cologne and Lille. Over the last years there are structural connections with Basel, Los Angeles and Tokio.

for more information, please go to http://www.kausaustralis.org/start.php