Controversy Teeter-Totter LOVE-HATE. Image Courtesy of Esra Gülmen.
Probably every little child had an artistic awakening while watching Barbie as Rapunzel (at least we did): A princess that escapes the Tower she lives in with a simple brush. A brush that can paint everything, every dress, every place you dream of and let it become reality – Well, we don’t have a magic painting tool for you, but something similar: Berlin Art Week 2023! A week full of colors, abstract shapes, sound installations, performances, and a lot of layers, in every way possible. Here are 11 Highlights you definitely should visit. Because in the end, Earth without Art is “EH”, right?
Painting by Vera Kochubey.
SLEEK X PRAISE STUDIO
To kick off the Berlin Art Week celebrations, SLEEK is hosting a vernissage and party together with the Collective, studio, agency, and brand Praise. Our handpicked artists are talents like Vera Kochubey, Zsá Zsá, and Jonas Büßecker – music by Usman Bin Latif. We can’t reveal everything yet, but there is going to be music, dancing, chewing gum, amazing colours, and definitely good company! Special thanks to Vuse, Benriach, Gin Mare, Peroni, Selekt, and Woodford Reserve.
Sep 12, 2023, 7pm-late / Praise Studio, Karl-Marx Str. 86, 12043 Berlin
HALBHAUS: TRANSMITTER
HALBHAUS is an exhibition space, that was originally rented by the Berlin University of the Arts as a studio space for their students. Therefore, it became a place, where upcoming artists can exchange their work and their ideas with each other – just like a “Transmitter”; a device that generates electromagnetic waves to transport information. On Thursday, HALBHAUS presents an exhibition, that’s not only a collection of unique artworks, but a center of organic growth and creativity.
Sep 14 – Sep 17, 2023 / Potsdamer Straße 120, 12205 Berlin
John Lennon and Yoko Ono. Image Courtesy by Eric Koch.
NEUE NATIONALGALERIE: PERFORM!
What would you do if you had a pair of scissors in your hand and could do whatever you wanted – without consequences? Cut a strand of Hair? A piece of fabric? Undress a person? Those questions were asked by the legendary artist Yoko Ono, when she created the performance and participatory work “Cut Piece” in 1964. In collaboration with Studio Yoko Ono and the Neue Nationalgalerie, different Berlin-based Artists will perform the work where they sit motionless in front of the audience and get their clothing cut with scissors – A significant piece of performance Art recreated in Berlin.
Sep 13-Sep 17, 2023, daily at 5pm / Mies Hall, Neue Nationalgalerie, Potsdamer Straße 50, 10785 Berlin
Image Courtesy of MaHalla.
MAHALLA OPEN
Over 100 artists from all over the world, invited by seven curator teams – all of them came together to create the MaHalla OPEN: an exhibition, that transcends the conventions of time and art. With music, performances, installations, and many other mediums, the artists have been given the freedom to use the stage for themselves as they wish. The exhibition transforms into a festival of its own beautiful and creative kind, that is purposely planned late into night.
Opening Sep 13, 2023, 6pm – 11:59pm / Sep 14, 12pm – Sep 17, 11:59pm / MaHalla Wilhelminenhofstrasse 76/77, 12459 Berlin
Image Courtesy of Fotografiska.
FOTOGRAFISKA: GRAND OPENING
Finally! – The long-awaited Fotografiska is celebrating its grand opening during Berlin Art Week: panel talks, live music, and multiple DJ sets across three floors will welcome the guests on Thursday. Overall, the new Contemporary Museum will showcase upcoming visual artists, as well as established ones, Berlin-based as well as international ones. With long opening hours every day, the Fotografiska invites its visitors to explore the building and the artworks for themselves and at their own pace. Although there is already a well-planned program of different exhibitions, workshops, and events for the future, the grand opening is definitely going to be one of the highlights of Berlin Art Week 2023.
Opening Sep 14, 2023, 7pm – late / Oranienburger Str. 54, 10117 Berlin
Image Courtesy of Esra Gülmen.
HALLS #4: ESRA GÜLMEN
Esra Gülmen is a Berlin-based artist from Istanbul. Her contemporary art is playful, ironic and moves between sculpture and painting. It’s her own creative language, that she uses to respond to social topics such as the human condition, our inner voice, and daily obsessions. Her exhibition focuses on dialectics in a constructive and visual dialogue. At the same time, Halls #4 is a location, that offers not only Gülmen the stage and space she deserves but also a popular well-organized Arts Festival with 19 galleries and 50 exhibiting artists spread over a 9.000m² large area. The Exhibition at the Wilhelm Hallen is going to be one of the bigger and more impressive events during Berlin Art Week.
Sep 9 – Sep 17, 2023, 11am-8pm / Wilhelm Hallen, Kopenhagener Straße 60-72, 13407 Berlin
Image Courtesy by Ai Weiwei.
AI WEIWEI: KNOW THYSELF
Ai Weiwei is back in Berlin and ready to impress us once again: His new exhibition “Know Thyself” is opening on Wednesday and shows iconic artworks from the past, that the Chinese Artist recreated with the help of small colorful Lego-Stones. The Plastic Stones are an element that unites not only generations but also people from all over the world. At the same time, they remind of pixels and mirror the short life and the mass circulation of visual content. The paintings Weiwei chose to add his own personal touch are pieces such as The Water Lilies by Monet, The Last Supper by Michelangelo and Number 31 by Jackson Pollock. One thing to look out for during the visit: Ai Weiwei as Judas.
Opening Sep 13, 2023, 6pm-9pm / Sep 13 – Sep 17, 2023 / Neugerriemschneider – Christinenstraße, Christinenstr. 18-19, 10119 Berlin
Pangolin by Lin May Saeed. Photographed by T. Clark. Image Courtesy of Lin May Saeed.
LIN MAY SAEED: THE SNOW FALLS SLOWLY IN PARADISE
Cows, Cats, Pangolins and a Fox? During Art Week, the Georg Kolbe Museum hosts the first solo exhibition of Lin May Saeed. The artist, who recently passed away, is known for her 3-dimensional work that covers topics such as animal ethics, animal rights and the connection between animals and humans. Her different sculptures and reliefs manage to balance a child-like easiness with the seriousness of the topic. To underline the artistic work of Saeed, the exhibition is in dialogue with the work of the important female modernist artist Renée Sintenis (1888-1965).
Opening Sep 13, 2023, 6pm-10pm / Sep 14-Sep 17, 2023, 11am-6pm / Georg Kolbe Museum, Sensburger Allee 25, 14055 Berlin
Jota Mombaça. Photographed by Pedro Yared Lima for Dazed.
JOTA MOMBAÇA: A CERTAIN DEATH/THE SWAMP
If you are in Berlin on Wednesday evening – run to the opening of Jota Mombaças exhibition “A certain Death/The Swamp”! The Brazilian visual and performance artist is known for her interdisciplinary work that focuses on topics such as gender disobedience, modern colonialism, and its consequences on nature and society. While visitors can discover textile work, ceramics, and drawings; an expansive video installation generates the centerpiece and heart of the exhibition. So travel together with Mombaça to the mangrove forest, have a different angle on Berlin, and get inspired.
Opening Sep 13, 2023, 5pm-9pm / Sep 14-Sep16, 2023, 11am-6pm / CCA Berlin – Center for Contemporary Arts, Kurfürstenstraße 145, 10785 Berlin
Image Courtesy of Denise Flamme.
DENISE FLAMME: BLUSH REHABILITATION
“Blush Rehabilitation” tells the story of modified octopuses being rescued from the polluted and overheated sea, and of the forced perfect smile that wears braces at night – It’s an exhibition, that continues the artist’s ongoing endeavor to explore displacement, exploitation, and the scientific manipulation of non-human entities, laying bare the intricate consequences for both humans and our non-human counterparts. Denise Flamme’s work encompasses a diverse array of sculptural pieces, garments, and drawings, each meticulously crafted to weave together progressive hybrid worlds within intimate personal performance scenarios, where boundaries blur and form a symbiotic existence.
Opening Sep 12, 2023, 6pm-9pm / Sep 13-Sep 17, 2023, 12pm-6pm / Monopol, Provinzstraße 42, 13409 Berlin
Image Courtesy of Neuer Berliner Kunstverein.
DOROTHY IANNONE: ON THE CONTINUING JOURNEY
Dorothy Iannone is not only a unique artist who worked with various techniques such as paintings, photography, and sound installations, but also an artist who fought for sexual, physical, and human freedom. While the exhibits question patriarchy and different balances of power itself, the recurring motive of the collection is spiritual unification. The Neuer Berliner Kunstverein shows her best work over the last decades to celebrate the life of the US-American artist.
Opening Sep 13, 2023, 6pm / Neuer Berliner Kunstverein, Chausseestraße 128/129, 10115 Berlin