More than 500 people came to explore digital art at Berlin’s LA18 in September, but behind the successful exhibition was an unexpected financial challenge. The independent organizers of BYOB Berlin found themselves facing around €500 in uncovered expenses, prompting fellow artists to come together for a fundraising event.
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The original exhibition, Plug and Play, took place on September 6 as part of Berlin New Media Week 2026. Visitors explored four floors of creative work by more than 50 international artists, including digital installations, experimental visuals, and seven audiovisual performances.
For a project built around artistic collaboration, the response to the financial shortfall came from within the creative community itself.
Five Artists Joined the Fundraising Effort
On September 25, DOCK 11 in Berlin hosted After BYOB Fundraiser, an evening of experimental sound and visuals organized to help cover the exhibition’s remaining costs.
Five acts volunteered to perform at the fundraiser: Optical Collusion, Movan, Pavel Pakhomov, Cotton Rust, and Kontrol Voltaj. The event also received practical support from DOCK digital, which provided equipment needed for the performances and production.
Tickets were offered with a minimum donation of €5, or €10 for employed attendees. The organizers stated that money raised would first cover the outstanding expenses, with any surplus shared among the performers.
The fundraising effort offered a glimpse of a less visible side of independent digital art. Behind the projections, performances, and installations are practical costs that still need to be covered, even when an exhibition attracts an enthusiastic audience.
For BYOB Berlin, the solution was another gathering of artists, this time using their creative work to support the people who had made the earlier exhibition possible.
