X. Berlin Biennale 2018 at Berlin Biennale Berlin

X. Berlin Biennale 2018

We don't need another hero

09 Jun - 09 Sep 2018

10th Berlin Biennale for Contemporary Art: 9 June - 9 September 2018

Agnieszka Brzeżańska, installation view, 10. Berlin Biennale, Akademie der Künste (Hanseatenweg), Berlin, from the series Kobayashi Maru, 2014; from left to right: QUARANTINE GRID, 2014, acrylic paint on MDF board, metal leaf, inkjet print on archival paper, courtesy Agnieszka Brzeżańska; NANZUKA, Tokyo; FIRST SPARK, 2014, acrylic paint on MDF board, metal leaf, inkjet print on archival paper, courtesy Agnieszka Brzeżańska; NANZUKA, Tokyo; COLLAPSED TIMELINES, 2014, acrylic paint on MDF board, metal leaf, inkjet print on archival paper, private collection; SOFT DISCLOSURE, 2014, acrylic paint on MDF board, metal leaf, inkjet print on archival paper, private collection; SOVEREIGN AVATAR, 2014, acrylic paint on MDF board, metal leaf, inkjet print on archival paper, private collection, RESISTANCE OF FREE EARTH, 2014, acrylic paint on MDF board, metal leaf, inkjet print on archival paper, collection Satoshi Shiraki & Michiyo Kamata; DREAMTIME DEFENDERS, 2014, acrylic paint on MDF board, metal leaf, inkjet print on archival paper, private collection, Watch, 2014–16, metal leaf, monitor, live TV news channel, courtesy Agnieszka Brzeżańska; NO MAGIC JUST MIRACLES, 2014, acrylic paint on MDF board, metal leaf, inkjet print on archival paper, courtesy Agnieszka Brzeżańska; NANZUKA, Tokyo; VEILS OF ILLUSION, 2014, acrylic paint on MDF board, metal leaf, inkjet print on archival paper, courtesy Agnieszka Brzeżańska; NANZUKA, Tokyo; INTERDIMENSIONAL MERCENARIES, 2014, acrylic paint on MDF board, metal leaf, inkjet print on archival paper, private collection, photo: Timo Ohler

Agnieszka Brzeżańska FIRST SPARK, 2014, courtesy Agnieszka Brzeżańska; NANZUKA, Tokyo, photo: Keizo Kioku

Ana Mendieta, installation view (detail), 10. Berlin Biennale, Akademie der Künste (Hanseatenweg), Berlin, photo: Timo Ohler, from left to right: Untitled, no date, graphite on paper, collection The Estate of Ana Mendieta, LLC, courtesy Raffaella Cortese Gallery, Milan; Galerie Lelong & Co., New York; Untitled, no date, ink on paper, collection The Estate of Ana Mendieta, LLC, courtesy Raffaella Cortese Gallery, Milan; Galerie Lelong & Co., New York; Untitled, ca. 1983–85, ink and wash on paper, private collection, Münster, courtesy Galerie Lelong & Co., New York; Untitled, ca. 1984–85, graphite on paper, collection The Estate of Ana Mendieta, LLC, courtesy Raffaella Cortese Gallery, Milan; Galerie Lelong & Co., New York; Untitled, ca. 1983–85, ink and wash on paper, private collection, Modena; Untitled, ca. 1984–85, graphite on paper, collection The Estate of Ana Mendieta, LLC, courtesy Raffaella Cortese Gallery, Milan; Galerie Lelong & Co., New York; Untitled, ca. 1981–84, graphite on paper, collection The Estate of Ana Mendieta, LLC, courtesy Raffaella Cortese Gallery, Milan; Galerie Lelong & Co., New York; Untitled, no date, graphite on paper, framed, collection E. Righi, Bologna; Untitled, 1985, leaves imprinted with ink on paper, collection The Estate of Ana Mendieta, LLC, courtesy Raffaella Cortese Gallery, Milan; Galerie Lelong & Co., New York

Ana Mendieta, Untitled, ca. 1983–85, ink and wash on paper, 33 × 21,3 cm, private collection, Modena, courtesy Galleria Raffaella Cortese, Mailand; Galerie Lelong & Co., New York

Basir Mahmood, all voices are mine, 2018, 4K video, color, sound 2.1, 20′13′′, installation view, 10. Berlin Biennale, Akademie der Künste (Hanseatenweg), Berlin, courtesy Basir Mahmoud, photo: Timo Ohler

Basir Mahmood, all voices are mine, 2018, video still, 4K video, color, sound 2.1, 20′13′′, courtesy Basir Mahmood

Belkis Ayón, Installationssansicht 10. Berlin Biennale, Akademie der Künste (Hanseatenweg), Berlin, von links nach rechts: La consagración [Die Weihe ], 1991, Triptychon, Teil I, Monoprint auf Papier, Sammlung Ludwig-Museum at the Russian Museum, St. Petersburg; La consagración [Die Weihe ], 1991, Triptychon, Teil II, Monoprint auf Papier, Sammlung Ludwig-Museum at the Russian Museum, St. Petersburg; La consagración [Die Weihe ], 1991, Triptychon, Teil III, Monoprint auf Papier, Sammlung Ludwig-Museum at the Russian Museum, St. Petersburg; Acoso [Bedrängnis ], 1998, Kollografie auf Papier, Sammlung Estate de Belkis Ayón, Havana, Ohne Titel, 1998, Kollografie auf Papier, Sammlung Estate de Belkis Ayón, Havana; Siempre hay algo que nos escapa o lo inevitable [Es gibt immer etwas, das uns entgeht oder das Unvermeidbare], 1998, Kollografie auf Papier, Sammlung Estate de Belkis Ayón, Havana; My Vernicle, o tu amor me condena [My Vernicle, oder deine Liebe verdammt mich], 1998, Kollografie auf Papier, Sammlung Estate de Belkis Ayón, Havana; My Vernicle o si yo no te olvido [My Vernicle oder wenn ich dich nicht vergesse], 1998, Kollografie auf Papier, Sammlung Estate de Belkis Ayón, Havana; Temores infundados [Unbegründete Sorgen], 1997, Kollografie auf Papier, Sammlung Estate de Belkis Ayón, Havana; My Vernicle o la honda herida [My Vernicle oder die verletzte Welle], 1998, Kollografie auf Papier, Sammlung Estate de Belkis Ayón, Havana; Hay que tener paciencia [Man muss Geduld haben], 1998, Kollografie auf Papier, Sammlung Estate de Belkis Ayón, Havana; ¡¡Déjame salir!! [Lass mich raus!!], 1997, Kollografie auf Papier, Sammlung Estate de Belkis Ayón, Havana, Foto: Timo Ohler

Belkis Ayón, installation view, 10th Berlin Biennale, Akademie der Künste (Hanseatenweg), Berlin, from left to right; La consagración [The Consecration], 1991, triptych, part I, monoprint on paper, collection Ludwig-Museum at the Russian Museum, St. Petersburg; La consagración [The Consecration], 1991, triptych, part II, monoprint on paper, collection Ludwig-Museum at the Russian Museum, St. Petersburg; La consagración [The Consecration], 1991, triptych, part III, monoprint on paper, collection Ludwig-Museum at the Russian Museum, St. Petersburg, photo: Timo Ohler

10th Berlin Biennale for Contemporary Art
9 June - 9 September 2018

Titled 'We don’t need another hero', the 10th Berlin Biennale for Contemporary Art is a conversation with artists and contributors who think and act beyond art as they confront the incessant anxieties perpetuated by a willful disregard for complex subjectivities.

Starting from the position of Europe, Germany, and Berlin as a city in dialogue with the world, the 10th Berlin Biennale confronts current widespread states of collective psychosis. By referencing Tina Turner’s song from 1985, We Don’t Need Another Hero, we draw from a moment directly preceding major geopolitical shifts that brought about regime changes and new historical figures. The 10th Berlin Biennale does not provide a coherent reading of histories or the present of any kind. Like the song, it rejects the desire for a savior. Instead, it explores the political potential of the act of self-preservation, refusing to be seduced by unyielding knowledge systems and historical narratives that contribute to the creation of toxic subjectivities. We are interested in different configurations of knowledge and power that enable contradictions and complications.

Already launched in July 2017, I’m Not Who You Think I’m Not, the public program of the 10th Berlin Biennale, set the tone in a first event that took place in collaboration with the independent educational initiative Each One Teach One (EOTO) e. V. in Berlin. The public program disavows assumed beingness and know-hows, perspectives that are often based on existing, constructed social frameworks and their associated speculations about particular subjectivities. From the buildup to the 10th Berlin Biennale until its conclusion in September 2018, the public program creates situations evading these points of view and, at the same time, proposes a refreshed grammar for facing the present.

Gabi Ngcobo with Nomaduma Rosa Masilela, Serubiri Moses, Thiago de Paula Souza, and Yvette Mutumba

Title: We don’t need another hero
Curator: Gabi Ngcobo
Curatorial team: Nomaduma Rosa Masilela, Serubiri Moses, Thiago de Paula Souza, Yvette Mutumba
Director: Gabriele Horn

Artists

Agnieszka Brzeżańska
Ana Mendieta
Basir Mahmood
Belkis Ayón
Cinthia Marcelle
Dineo Seshee Bopape
Elsa M’bala
Emma Wolukau-Wanambwa
Fabiana Faleiros
Firelei Báez
Gabisile Nkosi
Grada Kilomba
Heba Y. Amin
Herman Mbamba
Joanna Piotrowska
Johanna Unzueta
Julia Phillips
Keleketla! Library
Las Nietas de Nonó
Liz Johnson Artur
Lorena Gutiérrez Camejo
Lubaina Himid
Luke Willis Thompson
Lydia Hamann & Kaj Osteroth
Lynette Yiadom-Boakye
Mario Pfeifer
Mildred Thompson
Mimi Cherono Ng’ok
Minia Biabiany
Moshekwa Langa
Natasha A. Kelly
Okwui Okpokwasili
Oscar Murillo
Özlem Altın
Patricia Belli
Portia Zvavahera
Sam Samiee
Sara Haq
Simone Leigh
Sinethemba Twalo & Jabu Arnell
Sondra Perry
Tessa Mars
Thierry Oussou
Tony Cokes
Tony Cruz Pabón
Zuleikha Chaudhari

Venues:

Akademie der Künste, Hanseatenweg 10, 10557 Berlin-Tiergarten
HAU Hebbel am Ufer (HAU2), Hallesches Ufer 32, 10963 Berlin-Kreuzberg
KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Auguststrasse 69, 10117 Berlin-Mitte
Volksbühne Pavilion, Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz, 10178 Berlin-Mitte
ZK/U – Center for Art and Urbanistics, Siemensstrasse 27, 10551 Berlin-Moabit