A Home for Something Unknown
02 Mar - 28 Apr 2024
Yalda Afsah, Taslima Ahmed, Douglas Boatwright, Yvon Chabrowski, Beth Collar, Armin Lorenz Gerold, Rosanna Graf, Line Skywalker Karlström, Mazen Kerbage, Dina Khouri, Bob Kil, Bitsy Knox, Vera Lutz, Katharina Marszewski, José Montealegre, Marcela Moraga, Christophe Ndabananiye, Lucas Odahara, Emeka Okereke, Mooni Perry, Shirin Sabahi, Romana Schmalisch & Robert Schlicht, Mohammad Shawky Hassan, Paola Yacoub, Bassem Yousri, Sati Zech
Curators: Ines Borchart, Layla Burger-Lichtenstein, Susanne Mierzwiak, and Katharina Schilling
A project in cooperation with Haus am Lützowplatz
Funded by the Berlin Senate Department for Culture and Community
With the exhibition A Home for Something Unknown, Neuer Berliner Kunstverein (n.b.k.) and Haus am Lützowplatz present works by 27 international artists living in Berlin who were awarded the Berlin Senate 2023 visual arts work stipend. The twofold increase in the number of artists receiving this scholarship, as well as the heightened international representation of recipients compared to previous years, underscore Berlin’s deep commitment to fostering and celebrating the visual arts within its vibrant cultural landscape. For the first time, the group show is spread across two exhibition venues, offering a diverse range of individual approaches to social phenomena and providing insight into Berlin’s contemporary art scene. Working with mediums such as video, sound, painting, sculpture, installation and performance, the artists reflect on various forms of coexistence, examining the underlying structures and narratives.
The collection of traces and signs – employing poetic, documentary, or archive-based practices – stands out as one of the exhibition’s overarching themes. It illustrates a shared desire to reveal fissures, ambivalences, and power imbalances in everyday life. The question of self-image holds central importance, as artists take on the role of historian, archaeologist, or mediator, shaping their reference systems through diverse disciplines and perspectives. What unites these artistic contributions is their deliberate unveiling of suppressed forms of knowledge, overlooked places, or marginalized voices. As the title A Home for Something Unknown suggests, the term “home” represents less a division between inside and outside or familiarity and otherness, but rather a longing to discover a space for sensations and ideas that might otherwise remain unnoticed.
Exhibitions
Neuer Berliner Kunstverein
Chausseestraße 128/129, 10115 Berlin
Artists: Douglas Boatwright, Yvon Chabrowski, Beth Collar, Dina Khouri, Bob Kil, Bitsy Knox, Vera Lutz, Katharina Mercedes Marszewski, Christophe Ndabananiye, Lucas Odahara, Emeka Okereke, Mooni Perry, Shirin Sabahi, Romana Schmalisch & Robert Schlicht
Curators: Layla Burger-Lichtenstein, Susanne Mierzwiak
Curatorial Assistance: Daria Koehler
Haus am Lützowplatz
Lützowplatz 9, 10785 Berlin
Artists: Yalda Afsah, Taslima Ahmed, Rosanna Graf, Armin Lorenz Gerold, José Montealegre, Marcela Moraga, Mohammad Shawky Hassan, Line Skywalker Karlström, Mazen Kerbaj, Paola Yacoub, Bassem Yousri, Sati Zech
Curators: Ines Borchart, Katharina Schilling
www.hal-berlin.de
Discourse program
Friday, March, 1, 2024, 8 pm
Tourist
Performance by Bob Kil
Neuer Berliner Kunstverein, Chausseestraße 128/129, 10115 Berlin
Thursday, March 21, 2024, 5 pm
How Can I Speak About Trees
Performance by Line Skywalker Karlström
Artistic-performative exploration of the immediate surroundings at Haus am Lützowplatz
In English
Haus am Lützowplatz, Lützowplatz 9, 10785 Berlin
Duration: 2 hours. It is possible to join the performance at any time.
Thursday, April 11, 2024, 7 pm
Cosmic Dialogues on Fiction Writing
Conversation with Charmaine Poh, Feng You, Park Hye-in and Yan Lin (Asian Feminist Studio for Art and Research)
In English
Neuer Berliner Kunstverein, Chausseestraße 128/129, 10115 Berlin
Sunday, April 28, 2024, 2 pm
Künstlerinnengespräch mit Yalda Afsah und Sati Zech
Moderated by Julia Meyer-Brehm (art historian and cultural editor, Berlin)
In German
With a performance by Rozhina Rastgoo: When do you feel a stranger / Wann fühlen Sie sich fremd? A performative examination of the sculpture Behausung by Sati Zech
Haus am Lützowplatz, Lützowplatz 9, 10785 Berlin
Sunday, April 28, 2024, 4 pm
Tourist
Performance by Bob Kil
With Ewa Dziarnowska and Ashley Temba
Neuer Berliner Kunstverein, Chausseestraße 128/129, 10115 Berlin
Educational program
Visitors are invited to engage in immersive guided tours led by knowledgeable art educators at Neuer Berliner Kunstverein and Haus am Lützowplatz. Delving into the exhibition’s artistic inquiries and themes through interactive dialogue, the visitors’ perspectives, questions, and interests are actively incorporated.
Samstag, 23. März 2024
Guided tour
In English
3 pm > Neuer Berliner Kunstverein, Chausseestraße 128/129, 10115 Berlin
5 pm > Haus am Lützowplatz, Lützowplatz 9, 10785 Berlin
Samstag, 13. April 2024
Guided tour
In German
3 pm > Neuer Berliner Kunstverein, Chausseestraße 128/129, 10115 Berlin
5 pm > Haus am Lützowplatz, Lützowplatz 9, 10785 Berlin
The guided tours last 60 minutes and can be attended without prior booking. Visitors can choose to attend both tours consecutively or participate in just one of the tours.
Free admission to all events
Publication
As part of the n.b.k. book series “Berlin”, a bilingual publication (German/English) is published by Walther und Franz König, Cologne, including a greeting by Joe Chialo, a preface by Marius Babias as well as texts by nes Borchart, Layla Burger-Lichtenstein, Susanne Mierzwiak, Katharina Schilling, a. o.
Curators: Ines Borchart, Layla Burger-Lichtenstein, Susanne Mierzwiak, and Katharina Schilling
A project in cooperation with Haus am Lützowplatz
Funded by the Berlin Senate Department for Culture and Community
With the exhibition A Home for Something Unknown, Neuer Berliner Kunstverein (n.b.k.) and Haus am Lützowplatz present works by 27 international artists living in Berlin who were awarded the Berlin Senate 2023 visual arts work stipend. The twofold increase in the number of artists receiving this scholarship, as well as the heightened international representation of recipients compared to previous years, underscore Berlin’s deep commitment to fostering and celebrating the visual arts within its vibrant cultural landscape. For the first time, the group show is spread across two exhibition venues, offering a diverse range of individual approaches to social phenomena and providing insight into Berlin’s contemporary art scene. Working with mediums such as video, sound, painting, sculpture, installation and performance, the artists reflect on various forms of coexistence, examining the underlying structures and narratives.
The collection of traces and signs – employing poetic, documentary, or archive-based practices – stands out as one of the exhibition’s overarching themes. It illustrates a shared desire to reveal fissures, ambivalences, and power imbalances in everyday life. The question of self-image holds central importance, as artists take on the role of historian, archaeologist, or mediator, shaping their reference systems through diverse disciplines and perspectives. What unites these artistic contributions is their deliberate unveiling of suppressed forms of knowledge, overlooked places, or marginalized voices. As the title A Home for Something Unknown suggests, the term “home” represents less a division between inside and outside or familiarity and otherness, but rather a longing to discover a space for sensations and ideas that might otherwise remain unnoticed.
Exhibitions
Neuer Berliner Kunstverein
Chausseestraße 128/129, 10115 Berlin
Artists: Douglas Boatwright, Yvon Chabrowski, Beth Collar, Dina Khouri, Bob Kil, Bitsy Knox, Vera Lutz, Katharina Mercedes Marszewski, Christophe Ndabananiye, Lucas Odahara, Emeka Okereke, Mooni Perry, Shirin Sabahi, Romana Schmalisch & Robert Schlicht
Curators: Layla Burger-Lichtenstein, Susanne Mierzwiak
Curatorial Assistance: Daria Koehler
Haus am Lützowplatz
Lützowplatz 9, 10785 Berlin
Artists: Yalda Afsah, Taslima Ahmed, Rosanna Graf, Armin Lorenz Gerold, José Montealegre, Marcela Moraga, Mohammad Shawky Hassan, Line Skywalker Karlström, Mazen Kerbaj, Paola Yacoub, Bassem Yousri, Sati Zech
Curators: Ines Borchart, Katharina Schilling
www.hal-berlin.de
Discourse program
Friday, March, 1, 2024, 8 pm
Tourist
Performance by Bob Kil
Neuer Berliner Kunstverein, Chausseestraße 128/129, 10115 Berlin
Thursday, March 21, 2024, 5 pm
How Can I Speak About Trees
Performance by Line Skywalker Karlström
Artistic-performative exploration of the immediate surroundings at Haus am Lützowplatz
In English
Haus am Lützowplatz, Lützowplatz 9, 10785 Berlin
Duration: 2 hours. It is possible to join the performance at any time.
Thursday, April 11, 2024, 7 pm
Cosmic Dialogues on Fiction Writing
Conversation with Charmaine Poh, Feng You, Park Hye-in and Yan Lin (Asian Feminist Studio for Art and Research)
In English
Neuer Berliner Kunstverein, Chausseestraße 128/129, 10115 Berlin
Sunday, April 28, 2024, 2 pm
Künstlerinnengespräch mit Yalda Afsah und Sati Zech
Moderated by Julia Meyer-Brehm (art historian and cultural editor, Berlin)
In German
With a performance by Rozhina Rastgoo: When do you feel a stranger / Wann fühlen Sie sich fremd? A performative examination of the sculpture Behausung by Sati Zech
Haus am Lützowplatz, Lützowplatz 9, 10785 Berlin
Sunday, April 28, 2024, 4 pm
Tourist
Performance by Bob Kil
With Ewa Dziarnowska and Ashley Temba
Neuer Berliner Kunstverein, Chausseestraße 128/129, 10115 Berlin
Educational program
Visitors are invited to engage in immersive guided tours led by knowledgeable art educators at Neuer Berliner Kunstverein and Haus am Lützowplatz. Delving into the exhibition’s artistic inquiries and themes through interactive dialogue, the visitors’ perspectives, questions, and interests are actively incorporated.
Samstag, 23. März 2024
Guided tour
In English
3 pm > Neuer Berliner Kunstverein, Chausseestraße 128/129, 10115 Berlin
5 pm > Haus am Lützowplatz, Lützowplatz 9, 10785 Berlin
Samstag, 13. April 2024
Guided tour
In German
3 pm > Neuer Berliner Kunstverein, Chausseestraße 128/129, 10115 Berlin
5 pm > Haus am Lützowplatz, Lützowplatz 9, 10785 Berlin
The guided tours last 60 minutes and can be attended without prior booking. Visitors can choose to attend both tours consecutively or participate in just one of the tours.
Free admission to all events
Publication
As part of the n.b.k. book series “Berlin”, a bilingual publication (German/English) is published by Walther und Franz König, Cologne, including a greeting by Joe Chialo, a preface by Marius Babias as well as texts by nes Borchart, Layla Burger-Lichtenstein, Susanne Mierzwiak, Katharina Schilling, a. o.