Berlin is a city as defined by its seasons as it is by its cultural output. It’s fitting, then, that Berlin’s two major annual art events, Gallery Weekend and Art Week, are staged at periods when the weather turns—the former during April, the latter in September. Just in time to usher in this autumn, the 13th edition of Berlin Art Week will take place from September 11 to 15, uniting over 100 participants as they open their doors and transform the city into an art oasis, with museums, fairs, private collections, project spaces, and innumerable Berlin galleries set to take part.
Besides having enough programming to make one wonder when they’ll find time to eat a meal between shows, this year’s Art Week promises to be unforgettable for art experts and the art curious alike. There are major reopenings (the ZK/U – Center for Art and Urbanistics), huge fairs (Positions at Tempelhof Airport Hangar 6-7), and hidden gems (find me at the site-specific audiovisual installation SILT, by artists Ona Julija Lukas Steponaitytė, Iida Jonsson, and Ssi Saarinen, in the monastic Reethaus venue).
Whether you’re planning to zip around the city by train, bike, or e-scooter, we’ve picked five shows and events worth adding to your Berlin Art Week itinerary this year.
-
“Pier Paolo Pasolini. Porcili” at Neue Berliner Kunstverein
Image Credit: Photo Vittorio La Verde Few artists are as revered and reviled as Pier Paolo Pasolini, an openly gay Italian whose outspoken Marxism and leftist films earned him controversy prior to his brutal murder in 1975. Among those films was 1975’s Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom, which graphically depicts the sexual violence and torture of a group of young people by Italian fascists during World War II.
At the Neue Berliner Kunstverein, “Pier Paolo Pasolini. Porcili” will pay tribute to the legendary artist with a broad collection of original materials, including photographs, films, newspapers, books, and film costumes, making this a must-see exhibition for art and film lovers. The exhibition will chronicle the systemic discrimination that marked Pasolini’s life, coinciding with a film program at Babylon, where Saló, Teorema, and other famous films by the director will screen.
September 11–November 10, 2024, Chausseestrasse 128 / 129
-
“Commons Cosmodrome” and “No Departures Without Arrivals” at ZK/U – Center for Art and Urbanistics
Image Credit: ©Vicente Cordua The reopening of this art center set within a freight station is among the week’s hottest events. The center underwent four years of renovations, with a public rooftop terrace, exhibition areas, and workshop rooms added in the process. It’s now ready to reintroduce itself with two exhibitions, “Commons Cosmodrome” and “No Departures Without Arrivals,” which are unified under the theme of cooperation.
“Commons Cosmodrome” highlights the spatial and programmatic potential of both the new and existing spaces, with an emphasis on exploring new forms of education and political emancipation; the exhibition will feature work by local artists and projects like BeeDao, ClimArt, Picnic FM, and KUNSTrePUBLIK. Meanwhile, “No Departures Without Arrivals” focuses on the creative bonds forged between former and current residents like Flaneur Magazine, Ivetta Sunyoung Kang, and DAT POLITICS through live DJ sets, synchronized cooking sessions, and a shared film screening.
The vernissage will include speeches by State Secretary Stephan Machulik, Senator Joe Chialo, project owner Matthias Einhoff, and architect Peter Grundmann, among others, and will feature a concert by Susan Augustt, DJ sets by DAT POLITICS and Shawescape Renegade, and, of course, tours of the house and exhibitions.
September 12–15, Siemensstraße 27
-
“Forgive Us Our Trespasses” at Haus der Kulturen der Welt
Image Credit: Courtesy the artist The Haus der Kulturen der Welt (HKW) has always been a jewel in the city’s crowded institution space—it acts as Germany’s national center for international contemporary arts, focusing especially on non-European culture and society. For Art Week, the HKW is staging “Forgive Us Our Trespasses,” which invites dozens of artists, scholars, and activists to consider forms of trespassing, be they religious, social, nationalist, sexual, or otherwise. It’s an apt topic in Germany, where immigrants and diasporic communities have continued to face violence and hostility in recent years.
Curated by Bonaventure Soh Bejeng Ndikung, the show’s many artists have taken on the idea of “trespassing” and created works that touch on the assertion of humanity and community and the subversion of heteronormative patriarchal and white supremacist structures. Together, these kaleidoscopic perspectives make for an exhibition that dismantles normativity—all while pushing past the boundaries of HKW’s exhibition halls to spread (or, more aptly, to trespass) into the neighboring Tiergarten and the Spree. Here, Art Week visitors can expect to see works by the likes of Mariana Castillo Deball, Emmanuel Owusu-Bonsu, Mansour Ciss Kanakassy, Babá Murah, Sandra Vásquez de la Horra, and recent Venice Biennale standout Isaac Chong Wai.
September 14–December 8, 2024, John-Foster-Dulles-Allee 10
-
“Samuel Fosso: Black Pope (Works 1975–2017)” at KINDL
Image Credit: ©Samuel Fosso Samuel Fosso opened his first photo studio at 13 years old, and has since become one of Africa’s most renowned artists. The showcase of his work at KINDL will pull from a variety of projects he’s worked on over the past several decades, including his first series, “70s Lifestyle” (1975–78). That series saw him explore role-playing and identity in self-portraits inspired by American fashion magazines and the flamboyant style of singer Prince Nico Mbarga.
In future series, Fosso would come to perform as famed figures throughout history, becoming like Angela Davis, Malcolm X, and many more. Along the way, he switched genders and even occasionally races for his pictures, as he did in La Bourgeoise (1997), which features the artist in a long wing, makeup, black evening gown, and a fur stole. That work will feature in this show alongside pieces from series such as “70s Lifestyle,” “Emperor of Africa” (2013), and “Black Pope” (2017).
September 15, 2024–February 16, 2025, Am Sudhaus 3
-
“HALLEN 05” at Wilhelm Hallen
Image Credit: Photo Matteo d’Agostino Since beginning this eponymous series in 2020, the exhibition has grown larger and larger; this year marks the biggest one yet, with a nine-day program of art and programming. In total, there will be six exhibitions—three from private art collections, two by major German institutions, and one independently curated show—and 16 participating contemporary art galleries.
Art aficionados won’t want to miss Hanover-based Kestner Gesellschaft, which will present a special project by Casey Spooner focused on his project SPOONER2020, and “Fallow Ground,” a special exhibition by Spaced Out (with RESERVOIR & PSM) that will show works by 22 artists from Southern Africa. Additional highlights include a specially conceived work by Anys Reimann via Düsseldorf-based gallery Van Horn and an outdoor work by Dorothy Iannone presented by Berlin’s Peres Projects and Paris’s Air de Paris. Of course, it wouldn’t be Berlin without a major closing party, and HALLEN 05 won’t disappoint: the community radio station Refuge Worldwide’s End of Summer Party promises to close out the season and Art Week with some body-thumping bass.
September 7–15, at Kopenhagener Strasse 60–72