Organizer: Martin-Gropius-BauOn the occasion of the exhibition Side by Side Poland – Germany. A 1000 Years of Art and History

Gropius Bau

Gropius Bau 2023

Gropius Bau, Kino (Untergeschoss)

Gropius Bau, Cinema (Lower ground floor)

Tür an Tür und doch ein weiter Weg zur Nachbarschaft: Deutschland und Polen

T&uuml;r an T&uuml;r und doch ein weiter Weg zur Nachbarschaft: Deutschland und Polen

Gropius Bau linksbündig_neu

cookieConsent

Berliner Festspiele 75

appFooterBfsLogo

Jazzfest Berlin linksbündig_neu

appFooterFestivals0

MaerzMusik linksbündig_neu

appFooterFestivals1

Musikfest Berlin linksbündig_neu

appFooterFestivals2

Performing Arts Season_neu

appFooterFestivals3

Reflexe und Reflexionen

appFooterFestivals4

Theatertreffen linksbündig_neu

appFooterFestivals5

Treffen junge Szene linksbündig_neu

appFooterFestivals6

appFooterLinks0

appFooterLinks1

appFooterLinks2

appFooterLinks3

appFooterLinks4

appFooterLinks5

appFooterLinks6

appFooterLinks7

appFooterLinks8

appFooterLinks9

appFooterLinks10

appFooterSocials0

appFooterSocials1

appFooterSocials2

BKM-Logo englisch

appFooterSponsors0

appHeaderButtons0

appHeaderMenuFestivals0

links0

links1

appHeaderMenuGroups0

links2

links3

links4

links5

appHeaderMenuGroups1

appHeaderMenuGroups2

appHeaderMenuGroups3

appHeaderMenuLinks0

Located in the centre of Berlin, the Gropius Bau is a lively place for encounters with art and each other. As an internationally renowned exhibition centre, it offers space for major exhibitions and performances by contemporary artists.

Fallback-Bild Gropius Bau

gropius-bau-config

There are currently no exhibitions on view at Gropius Bau.

Closed

ctas0

ctas1

Gropius Bau 2026

Events

Exhibitions & Projects

todayButton

program

ctas

smartInfo

Our newsletters keep you updated on current and upcoming exhibitions and events. Learn more about our kids programme and plan your next visit.

Sign up for our newsletter!

visibility

We’re Looking Forward to Welcoming You Again in March!

Gropius Bau is currently closed for exhibition preparations. Our restaurant Beba and our bookstore will reopen on 4 March, before we kick off our spring programme, featuring a performance by <a href="${link:{uuid:{16d14ae2-9463-45b4-91de-95a846c0f377},repository:{website},path:{/bfs-de/gropius-bau/programm/2026/veranstaltungen/leila-hekmat}}}">Leila Hekmat</a>, the <a href="${link:{uuid:{fd3f9e70-97e8-46fb-b639-fc701f8d4039},repository:{website},path:{/bfs-de/gropius-bau/programm/baubau/veranstaltungen/baubau-play-day-pop-up-26}}}">big pop-up</a> of our play space BAUBAU and the opening of our <a href="${link:{uuid:{baa82be9-6411-41e5-806b-4889004c8459},repository:{website},path:{/bfs-de/gropius-bau/programm/2026/ausstellungen/peter-hujar-liz-deschenes}}}">Peter Hujar / Liz Deschenes</a> exhibition. Find more details in our <a href="${link:{uuid:{62c3018b-bb40-46ce-8019-646ec5cd2e4a},repository:{website},path:{/bfs-de/gropius-bau/besuch/informationen}}}">Information &amp; Tickets</a> section.

See You Soon

gb25_edit_website_arnus_lewis_baubau_dsgvo

01117

teasers

ctaButton

Fallback-Bild Musikfest Berlin

teasers0

Advance sales are now live: tickets for ten selected concert highlights of the Musikfest Berlin, which in 2026 will also mark the 75th anniversary of the Berliner Festspiele, are now available. The programme includes Gy&ouml;rgy Ligeti’s grotesquely humorous anti-opera Le Grand Macabre and George Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess.

Musikfest Berlin

Fallback-Bild MaerzMusik

teasers1

MaerzMusik invites you to concerts, performances, installations and discourse formats at the Haus der Berliner Festspiele and several other venues in Berlin. The programme is published; advance ticket sales are on.

MaerzMusik

Fallback-Bild Theatertreffen

teasers2

On 13 January, the Theatertreffen’s jury of critics announced their selection of the 10 most remarkable productions for the 2026 Theatertreffen at a press conference. Our congratulations go to the nominated production teams and all participants!

Theatertreffen

More Berliner Festspiele

gb26_leila_hekmat_roses_rising_3_2.jpg

Leila Hekmat: Roses Rising – The Movement

OnDangerousGroundVaginalDavisMockup

The Practice – What Moves Artists

The Practice – What Moves Artists&nbsp;is a book series by Gropius Bau that invites artists to showcase a practice that they pursue, that has influenced them or that has been with them for a long time. In the second volume of the series, artist, performer and author Vaginal Davis looks back on the saucy underground scenes of Los Angeles and Berlin together with former bandmates.&nbsp;On Dangerous Ground recounts past gigs, spectacular live performances and well-kept secrets.

Vaginal Davis: On Dangerous Ground

A Vibrant Place for Enganging with Art and Each Other

Located in the centre of Berlin, Gropius Bau is an internationally renowned institution that stages large-scale exhibitions and performances by contemporary artists. Its diverse events focus on exchange and discussion, bringing together local and global perspectives.

About Gropius Bau

gb25_diane_arbus_lady_bartender_at_home_with_a_souvenir dog_new_orleans_la_1964

Widely regarded as one of the most original and influential artists of the 20th century, Diane Arbus’ bold black-and-white photographs demolish aesthetic conventions and upend all certainties. With&nbsp;Diane Arbus: Konstellationen, Gropius Bau presents the most comprehensive exhibition of her work to date.

Diane Arbus: Konstellationen

GB25_Lewis_A Plot, A Scandal_quadratisch

Ligia Lewis is a central figure in redefining performance within the context of the visual arts. Her solo exhibition&nbsp;I’M NOT HERE FORRRRR… at Gropius Bau&nbsp;brings&nbsp;together new and existing works that explore themes of race, gender, violence and resistance.

Ligia Lewis:I’M NOT HERE FORRRRR...

gb24_braetsch_baubau_quadratisch

With BAUBAU, the artist Kerstin Br&auml;tsch designed an&nbsp;admission-free play space for kids, where more is allowed than forbidden. On Gropius Bau’s ground floor, colourful wallpapers, structures, objects and open-ended material called “loose parts” configure flexible spaces that are shaped by children’s activities.

BAUBAU:A&nbsp;Play Space for Kids

gb25_burkhalter_spielen_in_der_stadt_quadratisch.jpg

teasers3

What is and has been the role of play in public space? Gabriela Burkhalter’s&nbsp;Playing in the City&nbsp;presentation traces the history of playgrounds since their emergence in 1900 to today. The free presentation is open to all and can be seen in two rooms next to BAUBAU’s entrance.

Playing in the City:A Short History from 1900 to the Present

Currently at Gropius Bau

Widely regarded as one of the most original and influential artists of the 20th century, Diane Arbus’ bold black-and-white photographs demolish aesthetic conventions and upend all certainties. With Diane Arbus: Konstellationen, Gropius Bau presents the most comprehensive exhibition of her work to date. Featuring 454 prints, many of them shown here for the first time, Konstellationen offers new perspectives on Arbus’ iconic images and the wide range of her portraiture.

Ligia Lewis is a central figure in redefining performance within the context of the visual arts. In her multifaceted practice, she combines performance, live installation and film. From autumn 2025, Gropius Bau presents I’M NOT HERE FORRRRR…, the artist and choreographer’s most comprehensive solo exhibition to date. It brings together new and existing works that explore themes of race, gender, violence and resistance.

Ligia Lewis: I’M NOT HERE FORRRRR…

Current Exhibitions

gb26_abramovic_massaging_breasts_3zu2_2.jpg

Marina Abramović: Balkan Erotic Epic. The Exhibition

Playing, laughing, making noise, letting off steam, doing nothing – all in an exhibition venue! With BAUBAU, the artist Kerstin Br&auml;tsch designed an&nbsp;admission-free play space for kids, where more is allowed than forbidden. On Gropius Bau’s ground floor, colourful wallpapers, structures, objects and open-ended material called “loose parts” configure flexible spaces that are shaped by children’s activities. They set the tone and decide what happens in this place.

BAUBAU

gb26_hujar_david_wojnarowicz_with_hand_touching_eye_.png

Working in New York City between the Stonewall uprising of 1969 and the onset of the AIDS crisis in the 1980s, Peter Hujar captured a pivotal cultural moment in piercing black-and-white photographs. In the exhibition Persistence of Vision, Hujar’s photographs are interspersed with contemporary works by New York City-based artist Liz Deschenes, opening up an intergenerational dialogue on photography.&nbsp;

Peter Hujar / Liz Deschenes: Persistence of Vision

gb26_abramovic_massaging_breasts_quadrat.jpg

One of the most influential performance artists of all time, Marina Abramović presents Balkan Erotic Epic. The Exhibition at Gropius Bau in spring 2026. The show traces her ongoing engagement with ritual, eroticism, death and the body as a site of political resistance. Drawing on the folklore of Abramović’s native Balkans, the exhibition weaves together filmic and sculptural installations with live performance.

Marina Abramović: Balkan Erotic Epic. The Exhibition

Upcoming

gb26_spaetschicht_x_schwules_museum_3_2.jpg

With Bishop Black, Hugo Tepest, Perel, River Roux, Ulrike Ottinger

On 8 January, we’re kicking off the new year with another edition of our event series Sp&auml;tschicht, which we’re organising in collaboration with Schwules Museum. This edition centers the body as a place of negotiation, militantly rejecting society’s norms.

Sp&auml;tschicht x Schwules Museum

We are looking forward to welcoming you back in mid-March with the reopening of our play space, <a href="${link:{uuid:{df42e57d-a14a-4b44-a5e4-9d3e7dcab5a6},repository:{website},path:{/bfs-de/gropius-bau/programm/baubau}}}">BAUBAU</a> (on 22 March), and two exhibitions, <a href="${link:{uuid:{55d64239-53fe-4b12-8567-a63191c6cae4},repository:{website},path:{/bfs-de/gropius-bau/programm/2025/ausstellungen/vaginal-davis}}}">Vaginal Davis: Fabelhaftes Produkt</a> (from 21 March) and <a href="${link:{uuid:{9618c701-bd05-432e-b688-5943e1f7fc57},repository:{website},path:{/bfs-de/gropius-bau/programm/2025/ausstellungen/yoko-ono}}}">YOKO ONO: MUSIC OF THE MIND</a> (from 11 April). For details on opening hours and tickets, please visit our <a href="${link:{uuid:{62c3018b-bb40-46ce-8019-646ec5cd2e4a},repository:{website},path:{/bfs-de/gropius-bau/besuch/informationen}}}">Information &amp; Tickets</a> page. We look forward to seeing you soon!

See you in March!

gb26_leila_hekmat_roses_rising_3_quadratisch.jpg

How does the bourgeois longing for revolt take shape, when the faith in progress and reason is unsettled? Berlin-based artist and director Leila Hekmat explores this question in her newly commissioned performance Roses Rising – The Movement, premiering in the Gropius Bau’s atrium. Moving between concert and ballet, the piece transforms the space into a landscape hovering between bunker, rehearsal room and dreamscape and invites the audience to witness a dinner party unravel into a happening.

Leila Hekmat: Roses Rising – The Movement &nbsp;

Playing, laughing, making noise, letting off steam, doing nothing – all in an exhibition venue! With BAUBAU, the artist Kerstin Br&auml;tsch designed an&nbsp;admission-free play space for kids, where more is allowed than forbidden. On Gropius Bau’s ground floor, colourful wallpapers, structures, objects and open-ended material called “loose parts” configure flexible spaces that are shaped by children’s activities.

Upcoming at Gropius Bau

main

gb24_braetsch_pop_up_3

Located in the centre of Berlin, the Gropius Bau is a lively place to encounter art and each other. The internationally renowned institution stages large-scale exhibitions and performances by contemporary artists.

Ab 4. September

Festivals & Programme Series

Ausstellungen

Exhibitions 2011

The Royal Castle in Warsaw and Martin-Gropius-Bau, Berlin are jointly developing the exhibition entitled “Side by Side. Poland – Germany. A 1000 Years of Art and History” which will be on view in Berlin from September 23, 2011 to January 9, 2012.
The exhibition is being shown as&nbsp; part of the International Cultural Programme of the Polish EU Presidency 2011.
The project outline has been supervised by an scientific board headed by Professor Władysław Bartoszewski. The exhibition curator is the Polish art historian Anda Rottenberg, known for a number of internationally acclaimed exhibitions and long-serving director of Zachęta National Gallery of Art in Warsaw.
Poland and Germany look back on over 1000 years of shared history. The complex nature of the history of the two neighbours has above all been shaped by major political developments and events, which have removed from the horizon areas of cultural common ground in such fields as culture, religion, language and economy.
Both German and Polish cultural memory is often shaped by emotion and prejudice. Nonetheless, there seems to be a consensus on both sides of the River Oder that a new process of understanding, which begun over 20 years ago, has been forming a basis of a lasting friendship. Polish presidency of the European Union is a unique opportunity to strengthen this vital dialogue through an exhibition in the German capital. This will be the very first time that the 1000 years of Polish-German history in all its manifestations is depicted in a major exhibition.
Approximately 700 historical and contemporary exhibits – with some 250 paintings, 30 sculptures, 60 incunabula, 80 manuscripts and 60 prints – will be shown in 19 rooms of the gallery’s ground floor with a total area of 3,200 square metres. Apart from traditional works of art the exhibition includes over 60 documents, 100 craft objects, 150 photographs, film material and books as well as examples of music including compositions by Arnold Schönberg, J.F. Telemann, J.S. Bach and the others. The exhibits from numerous Polish, German and international museums and collections are witness of the culture in Poland and Germany. The list of lenders includes the National Museum in Warsaw, the Łódź Museum of Art, the Victoria &amp; Albert Museum in London and the Vatican Library.
Among the special highlights is the presentation of Jan Matejko’s monumental work the ‘Prussian Homage’ on loan from the National Museum in Kraków. Contemporary artists have also ventured a look into the future with works that were especially commissioned by the Martin-Gropius-Bau.
A comprehensive education programme addressed to school children and students is designed to advance cultural exchange between Poland and Germany. The programme that provides information is aimed to contribute to the further integration of Europe and mutual understanding.
Catalogue 
 A German-Polish catalogue on the exhibition “Side by Side. Poland – Germany. A 1000 Years of Art and History” is being edited by the Polish art historian Prof. Małgorzata Omilanowska and published by DuMont-Verlag. The c. 780-page, richly illustrated catalogue contains essays by renowned experts from Germany and Poland as well as guest authors from other countries. 
 Published by DuMont Verlag, 700 pages 
 Trade edition: € 39.95 
 Museum edition: € 22.00 
 German edition: ISBN: 978-3-8321-9399-7 
 Polish edition: ISBN 978-3-8321-9400-0

Tür an Tür

Side by Side

Veranstaltungen Ai Weiwei in New York

2011

Programm

Programme

The Berliner Festspiele organise a range of festivals and art exhibitions, concerts, dance and theatre performances, readings, lectures, debates and much more throughout the year. These events are presented at a range of locations across Berlin but are concentrated primarily at their own two venues: the Gropius Bau and the Haus der Berliner Festspiele.

Berliner Festspiele

Berliner Festspiele linksbündig_neu

Fallback-Bild Berliner Festspiele

In accordance with the ePrivacy Directive (2002/58/EC), you must consent to the use and storage of cookies when you visit our website. In addition to the strictly necessary, functional cookies, we recommend that you also activate further cookies in order to be able to use all the functions on our website.

furtherInformation

You can listen to some of our events this year digitally in the Berliner Festspiele Media Library after the live concerts.&nbsp;In addition, On Demand offers from past years are available.

Musikfest Berlin in the Media Library

jfb24_research_lab_web_visual_neu

The international Jazzfest Research Lab&nbsp;welcomes academics and students to take a critical look at the festival’s archive, its programmes, creators, musicians and – last but not least – its myths. In two seminars during the summer semester of 2024, students from the Berlin University of the Arts and the University of Hildesheim have explored the festival’s history from various perspectives. In this film, the participants give a first look at how they dealt with their research subject.

Introducing: Jazzfest Research Lab

jfb24_community_lab_web_visual_neu

To mark its 60th anniversary, Jazzfest Berlin is celebrating the cultural diversity of the neighbouring district of Moabit in collaboration with around 35 official partners and initiatives and with over 350 participants of all ages.&nbsp;In June 2024, interviews were conducted with 20 partners who presented their perspectives, wishes and ideas for the Jazzfest Community Lab Moabit. You can get a first impression with this film.

rere24_teaser_mediathek

Curated by&nbsp;Meron Mendel and Saba-Nur Cheema&nbsp;

From 13 to 16 June 2024, the interdisciplinary themed days “Reflexes &amp; Reflections” on the Israel-Palestine conflict and its consequences for society in Germany took place at the Haus der Berliner Festspiele. You can now find video and audio recordings of the discourse events in the Berliner Festspiele Media Library!

Reflexes &amp; Reflections. 7 October, the war in Gaza and the debate in Germany

In the Media Library

bfs26_die_unsichtbaren_c_kiran_west_35

National Youth Ballet John Neumeier

The Invisibles

bfs26_jubiläum_plakat_stoetzer_ausschnitt1

Theatertreffen-Blog Header

In 2026 the Berliner Festspiele celebrate their 75th anniversary. A selection of events programmed throughout the entire year engage take the anniversary as their theme or mark the occasion with works at the Haus der Berliner Festspiele, the Gropius Bau, the Philharmonie, on Berlin’s Ringbahn and at other locations in the city. Outstanding international that liberal societies and their cultural institutions face in a new, multipolar world order. artists such as Marina Abramović, Gabriele St&ouml;tzer and Akira Takayama will set the agenda both thematically and aesthetically. Entitled “Die gro&szlig;e Unordnung” (The Great Disorder), the four-day focus Reflexes &amp; Reflections will also enquire about the challenges.

75 Years of the Berliner Festspiele

0111

The massacre, hostage-taking and rocket attacks by Hamas have shaken us deeply. The grue-some attack on Israel on 7&nbsp;October left us stunned and initially lost for words.

The Berliner Festspiele on Current Events in Israel, Gaza and Germany

With this letter of intent, we, the signing cultural organizations, express our intention to welcome, host and stage Ukrainian theatre artists in our venues, to make Ukrainian dramatic work visible to the European community.

Support of the Ukrainian Cultural Scene

011114

slides

slides0

The Theatertreffen’s jury of critics announced their selection of the 10 most remarkable productions for the 2026 Theatertreffen. The programme will be published on 2&nbsp;April, advance ticket sale will begin on 18 April, 10:00.

slides1

Tickets for ten selected concert highlights of the Musikfest Berlin, which in 2026 will also mark the 75th&nbsp;anniversary of the Berliner Festspiele, are already available. The programme includes Gy&ouml;rgy Ligeti’s grotesquely humorous anti-opera Le Grand Macabre and George Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess.

011115

A dance collage by John Neumeier which explores aspects of German expressive dance through music, texts and songs and commemorates the victims of Nazi rule. Guest performance of the National Youth Ballet John Neumeier.