Booking MuseumsInformation Berlin Tel +49 30 24749 888 Fax +49 30 24749 883 <a href="museumsinformation@kulturprojekte-berlin.de">museumsinformation@kulturprojekte-berlin.de</a>

Gropius Bau

Gropius Bau 2023

Lunchführungen zur Ausstellung „Tanz der Ahnen“

Guided lunch tours through the exhibition “Dance of the Ancestors”

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

gb26_marina_abramovic_massaging_breasts_2_zu_1

Balkan Erotic Epic. The Exhibition

Marina Abramović

gb26_spaetschicht_co_2zu1

0110

With Andrew Durbin, Biliana Voutchkova, Gary Schneider, Queer Analog Darkroom and Selin Davasse – free admission

Sp&auml;tschicht x C/O Berlin

01118

teasers

ctaButton

Fallback-Bild Musikfest Berlin

teasers0

The full programme and tickets for all events of Musikfest Berlin are now available. In 2026, the festival also marks the 75th anniversary of the Berliner Festspiele and brings together leading international orchestras, renowned conductors and outstanding soloists in a diverse concert programme – ranging from opera productions to contemporary works, from Gy&ouml;rgy Ligeti’s grotesque humorous anti-opera Le Grand Macabre to George Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess.

Musikfest Berlin

bfs26_jubiläum_plakat_stoetzer_ausschnitt1

teasers1

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 Berlin, on Berlin’s Ringbahn and at other locations in the city.&nbsp;

75 Years of the Berliner Festspiele

Fallback-Bild Theatertreffen

teasers2

Selected from more than 700&nbsp;productions, Theatertreffen once again presents the 10&nbsp;most remarkable productions of the year in May. The festival is complemented by the new format Mehr Drama! as well as a series of conversations curated by Matthias Dell on aesthetic, social and culture-political issues.

Theatertreffen

More Berliner Festspiele

01119

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

The programme has been published. Tickets are available now. Selected from more than 700&nbsp;productions, Theatertreffen once again presents the 10&nbsp;most remarkable productions of the year in May. The festival is complemented by the new format Mehr Drama! as well as a series of conversations curated by Matthias Dell on aesthetic, social and culture-political issues.

gb26_thepractice_marinaabramovic_web_3x2_1

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 third volume of the series On the Erotic, performance artist Marina Abramović talks about female sexuality after menopause, the eroticism of the masses and her love for the planet.

Marina Abramović: On the Erotic

gropiusbau_spaetschicht_juni--8-von-40-.jpg

A Vibrant Place for Enganging with Art and Each Other

Located in the centre of Berlin, Gropius Bau is a lively place to encounter art and each other. The internationally renowned institution is part of the Berliner Festspiele and stages large-scale exhibitions and performances by contemporary artists, offering new perspectives on our present.

About Gropius Bau

OnDangerousGroundVaginalDavisMockup

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

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_hujar_david_wojnarowicz_with_hand_touching_eye_.png

Peter Hujar / Liz Deschenes: Persistence of Vision

gb24_braetsch_baubau_teaser

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

Spielen in der Stadt

A Short History from 1900 to the Present

What has been the role of play in public space, both historically and in the present? Complementing BAUBAU, our free play space for kids, Gabriela Burkhalter’s Playing in the City 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 the play space’s entrance.

Playing in the City

gb26_abramovic_massaging_breasts_3zu2_2.jpg

Marina Abramović, one of the most influential contemporary artists, presents Balkan Erotic Epic. The Exhibition at Gropius Bau, marking her first major solo show in Berlin since the 1990s. The exhibition brings together historical and new works by the performance artist, tracing her ongoing engagement with ritual, eroticism, death and the body as a site of political resistance.

Marina Abramović: Balkan Erotic Epic. The Exhibition

Currently and Upcoming

gb26_spaetschicht_engel_co-berlin

With Andrew Durbin, Biliana Voutchkova, Gary Schneider, Queer Analog Darkroom and Selin Davasse

On the occasion of <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: Persistence of Vision</a>, Sp&auml;tschicht x C/O Berlin turns its focus on 26 March to photography within the shifting terrains of urban space, visibility, and resistance. Look forward to performances, a workshop, a screening and a reading. Admission is free.

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!

Persistence of Vision

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

A&nbsp;Play Space for Kids

A Short History from 1900 to the Present

From sandpits to adventure playgrounds, urban play spaces have – throughout their evolution – taken many different forms. What has been the role of play in public space, both historically and in the present? Complementing BAUBAU, our free play space for kids, Gabriela Burkhalter’s Playing in the City 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 the play space’s entrance.

Playing in the City &nbsp;

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 2015

For the first time artworks from Oceania were the subjects of an exhibition at the Martin-Gropius-Bau. They came from an area on the middle and lower reaches of the river Sepik in Papua-New Guinea. About 220 artworks from twelve lenders &ndash; some of Europe&rsquo;s most prominent museums were involved &ndash; were on view. As early as the beginning of the 20th century the aesthetics of the art of the Sepik region fascinated European scholars and artists, Berlin and Basel were centres of Sepik scholarship.

The Sepik plain is a large area of water and marshland. The banks of the Sepik, which extends for almost 1,200 kilometres, are inhabited by small tribal groups who speak over a hundred different languages. On the middle and lower reaches of the Sepik alone over ninety different languages are spoken, so one cannot think of the region as a relatively homogeneous settlement area. No sooner had the Sepik been discovered and named (in 1886) Kaiserin Augusta River by the German colonialists (who also drew on the same nomenclature for the Bismarck Sea into which it flowed), than the highly elaborate material culture aroused the attention of collectors and museologists all over the world.

The deeds of the ancestors created the human world. The changes they wrought are manifested in the environment and cultural relics. The ancestors, it is supposed, created the broad river basin of the Sepik, on whose embankments stand the dwellings and the houses of the men. Of key significance are the dance floors in front of the men&rsquo;s houses; that is where the ancestor figures perform, recalling the great deeds of yore. The dancers embody these ancestors with their rich jewellery and brightly coloured masks and become one with them.

In walking through a village one finds that the rooms are arranged to reflect the social order: there is a clear division between the world of women and that of men, between the public sphere, where everyone is allowed to move about freely, and the sphere which is reserved for male initiates. Within the village the women are mainly assigned to the dwelling houses. The objects are visible. The men, on the other hand, chiefly congregate in the big men&rsquo;s houses and on the dance floors. The objects are hidden and secret and are only on display when rites are performed.

&nbsp;

In the forefront of the selection of ethnological art shown here, is the motif of the human figure, which is common to all cultures: the male or female founder-ancestors of settlements, human communities, and their natural environment. In Sepik societies this ancestor figure is not shown directly. It always unravels itself gradually in complex patterns. The course of the exhibition will enabled visitors to understand the various forms in which these ancestor figures manifested themselves, beginning with the more public ones which became progressively more secret.

&nbsp;

The works are fascinating for their extremely rich decoration on small and large objects and the blending of creative genres which in Europe are kept strictly separate (painting, sculpture): A combination of sculptures in human form and surface decoration; of ornaments on palm leaf stalks and ceremonial buildings; of ceramics in the shape of model figures, used for storing or preparing food.

&nbsp;

On display will be a large outrigger boat and a dug-out canoe, richly decorated door posts for men&rsquo;s houses, huge slit drums, mighty ancestor figures, and splendidly ornamented masked figures. The river basin is a mosaic of linguistic groups. The ninety-odd languages partially explain the variety of created objects. Together with the elaborate rites there is a remarkable abundance of objects, whose formal design is frequently astonishing, fascinating and exotic.

&nbsp;

For a long time the Sepik was overlooked by European, American and Australian explorers and travellers. It was only towards the end of the 19th century that its mouth was discovered and the river navigated by a German ship (the Ottilie). Years were to pass, however, before scientific expeditions were organized. Leading German institutions launched voyages of exploration, from Hamburg in 1909 and from Berlin in 1912-13. The then K&ouml;nigliches Museum f&uuml;r V&ouml;lkerkunde (Royal Museum of Ethnology) in Berlin mounted a full-blown interdisciplinary expedition, some of whose results can only now be published. One of the protagonists of these expeditions had just discovered the sources of the Sepik River, when the First World War broke out in 1914 and soon spread to the South Seas. Australia conquered and took over control of the colony of &ldquo;German New Guinea&rdquo; in 1899-1914.

The present exhibition, put on a hundred years after the last Berlin expedition, went a long way towards bringing this great Berlin enterprise to public attention, for it was only with this expedition that the Sepik area became one of the most significant regions for ethnographical and scientific research in the South Seas.

As early as 1911 a Berlin Museum employee recognized the extraordinary aesthetic value of the carvings from the Sepik. As a result numerous collectors from all over the world have exchanged and acquired these works in the course of adventurous journeys up the river and its numerous tributaries. Soon these masks, figures and paintings came to be found in those art galleries which in the 1920s in Europe and later also in America offered the art of the &ldquo;Primitives&rdquo; side by side with the art of the Modernists. The carvings from the Sepik thus became part of the visual repertoire available to the artists of Modernism at the beginning of the 20th century. They were also, however, the occasion of much other research which was to be carried out in the course of that century with the aim of obtaining more information about the significance and iconography of the objects. The exhibition showed a synthesis of this field of art, which also details the scientific expeditions of the last fifty years.

Although ethnological explorers were quick to speak of a &ldquo;Sepik art&rdquo;, the art world was more reserved, preferring to formulate theories of &ldquo;Primitivism&rdquo; &ndash; until well into the 1980s. The major exhibition on &ldquo;&lsquo;Primitivism&rsquo; in 20th Century Art &ndash; Affinity of the Tribal and the Modern&rdquo; (1984) put on by the Museum of Modern Art in New York is a reminder of this lengthy discussion. Today it is perfectly normal to view such artworks &ndash; previously held, like those of the Sepik region, to be &ldquo;primitivistic&rdquo;&ndash; for their aesthetic qualities. An opportunity to do so was provided by the present exhibition.

Tanz der Ahnen

Dance of the Ancestors

Veranstaltungen

Programme

Exhibitions 2015

2015

Programm

Upcoming

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

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

Key Visual Theatertreffen 2026

Theatertreffen sw

011110

Drama and Discourse, Mehr Drama!, Discussions, Awards

The 10 Most Remarkable Productions

011114

slides

Fallback-Bild Theatertreffen der Jugend

slides0

103 ensembles from all 16&nbsp;federal states have submitted their productions for the 47th&nbsp;Theatertreffen der Jugend 2026. The programme will be published on 30&nbsp;April, advance ticket sales will start on 6&nbsp;May.

Theatertreffen der Jugend

bfs26_in_c_sasha_waltz_c_yanina-isla_3.jpg

slides1

In June 2026, Sasha Waltz &amp; Guests will be performing the productions Beethoven&nbsp;7 and In&nbsp;C at the Haus der Berliner Festspiele. Sasha Waltz &amp; Guests will also be staging a special evening to celebrate the 75th&nbsp;anniversary of the Goethe-Institut.

Sasha Waltz &amp; Guests

bfs26_sounding_light_cloud_gate_c_lin_chun-yung_3

slides2

In August 2026, the festival Tanz im August will return to the Haus der Berliner Festspiele with several productions. Tickets for Sounding Light are already available. The other productions will be published in June.

Tanz im August