K&uuml;nstler und Schriftsteller referieren und diskutieren &uuml;ber die Rolle der Kulturschaffenden in der DDR

Gropius Bau

Gropius Bau 2023

Geist und Macht

Geist und Macht (German text only)

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Berliner Festspiele 75

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Reflexe und Reflexionen

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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.

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There are currently no exhibitions on view at Gropius Bau.

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Gropius Bau 2026

Events

Exhibitions & Projects

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

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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

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Balkan Erotic Epic. The Exhibition

Marina Abramović

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

Sp&auml;tschicht x C/O Berlin

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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.

Musikfest Berlin

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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

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The programme has been published. Advance ticket sales will start on 18&nbsp;April at 10:00.

Theatertreffen

More Berliner Festspiele

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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.

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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...

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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

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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

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Peter Hujar / Liz Deschenes: Persistence of Vision

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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

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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

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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;

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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

This exhibition explores the relationships of dissident art and power in the GDR through a large number of representative works. Dissidence and critical distancing from the state apparatus took a great variety of artistic forms in the former socialist republic. This gathering of &ldquo;other&rdquo; art from the GDR asks how Germany&rsquo;s recent history can be reappraised after decades of sterile East-West comparisons. Who are its real heroes? The exhibition will present the production of an active, dynamic and fearless network of assertive painters, poets, performers, actionists, Super8 filmmakers and jazz and rock musicians who looked for spaces of freedom beyond the reach of the state.

Die Ausstellung Gegenstimmen beleuchtet das vielseitige Schaffen von kritischen und nichtstaatstragenden K&uuml;nstlern in der DDR. In unterschiedlichen Sparten (Malerei, Skulptur, Installation, Fotografie, Plakat und Buchobjekt) wird die Wechselwirkung zwischen &bdquo;Geist&ldquo; (k&uuml;nstlerischer Freiheit) und &bdquo;Macht&ldquo; (repressivem Regime) aufgesp&uuml;rt und gezeigt, wie unterschiedlich K&uuml;nstler aus der ehemaligen DDR ihrer eigenen Haltung und System-Absage im k&uuml;nstlerischen Werk Ausdruck gaben. Die pr&auml;sentierten Exponate laden zur Spurensuche in die 1970er- und 1980er-Jahre ein. Gleichzeitig forscht die Ausstellung nach dem bildk&uuml;nstlerischen Ausdruck von Distanz, Privatisierung, R&uuml;ckzug als Teil des genetischen Codes, auch der &auml;sthetischen DDR-Gegen&ouml;ffentlichkeit. In der westdeutschen Museumslandschaft der 1990er- und 2000er-Jahre ist Kunst mit DDR-Bezug &ndash; eine Kunst, die g&auml;nzlich quer zu Erfolgskriterien und Marktma&szlig;st&auml;ben entstanden ist und eine singul&auml;re kunsthistorische Situation spiegelt &ndash; kaum vertreten. Diese L&uuml;cke will die Ausstellung schlie&szlig;en.

Vielfach wird der Fall der Berliner Mauer als performatives Ergebnis der Maulwurfsarbeit der K&uuml;nstler der DDR gesehen. Dem kann nicht zugestimmt werden. Der Anteil der K&uuml;nstler ist nicht zu leugnen, jedoch hielt sich revolution&auml;rer Eifer in Grenzen. Kunst reagiert nicht kurzschl&uuml;ssig auf historische Ereignisse. Trotzdem haben K&uuml;nstler ihre M&ouml;glichkeit, auch wenn diese beschr&auml;nkt waren, genutzt: Gef&uuml;hle aufzuladen und Einstellungen zu provozieren. So entstand durch k&uuml;nstlerische Positionen, die ideologische Vorgaben ignorierten und auf die der Begriff vom Sozialistischen Realismus nicht passte, ein vielzelliges, vitales, angstlos agierendes Netzwerk selbstbewusster Individuen.

Mit: Autoperforationsartisten / Sibylle Bergemann / Joachim B&ouml;ttcher / Micha Brendel /Hans Brosch / Manfred Butzmann / Hartwig Ebersbach / Christiane Eisler / Anatol Erdmann / Lutz Fleischer / Thomas Florschuetz / Michael Freudenberg / Lutz Friedel / Else Gabriel / Rainer G&ouml;r&szlig; / Eberhard G&ouml;schel / Wasja G&ouml;tze / Peter Graf / Hans-Hendrik Grimmling / Sabina Grzimek / Bernd Hahn / Klaus H&auml;hner-Springm&uuml;hl / Angela Hampel / Volker Henze / Peter Herrmann / Sabine Herrmann / Veit Hofmann / Petra Kasten / Ralf Kerbach / Klaus Killisch / J&ouml;rg Kn&ouml;fel / Andreas K&uuml;chler / Michael Kunert / Verena Kyselka / Mark Lammert / Helge Leiberg / Via Lewandowsky / Walter Libuda / Frank Maasdorf / Ute Mahler / Werner Mahler /Peter Makolies / Yana Milev / Oskar Manigk / Otto Manigk / Erhard Monden + Eugen Blume / Bert Papenfu&szlig; + Ronald Lippok / A.R. Penck / Oscer Pioppi / Steffen Reck / Robert Rehfeldt / Ruth Rehfeldt / Stefan Reichmann / Reinhard Sandner / J&uuml;rgen Sch&auml;fer / Wolfram Adalbert Scheffler / Hans Scheib / Hans Scheuerecker / Hanns Schimansky / Christine Schlegel / Cornelia Schleime / Gil Schlesinger / Bernd Schlothauer / Annette Schr&ouml;ter / Hans-Joachim Schulze / Frank Seidel / Reinhard Stangl / Matthias Stein / Gabriele St&ouml;tzer / Strawalde (J&uuml;rgen B&ouml;ttcher) / Gudrun Trendafilov / Joachim V&ouml;lkner / Trak Wendisch / Jochen Wermann / Karin Wieckhorst / Michael Wirkner / Reinhard Zabka

<h3>Katalog</h3>

Zur Ausstellung erscheint ein Katalog (Deutsch/Englisch) mit zehn wissenschaftlichen Kurzbeitr&auml;gen und 80 K&uuml;nstler-Statements. Aus dem Inhalt des Kataloges:

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<ul>
	<li>Wolfgang Engler: Nach Biermann: DDR im Endspielmodus</li>
	<li>Jan Faktor: Geruch und Augenblick. &Uuml;ber die Szene vom Prenzlauer Berg</li>
	<li>Sara Blaylock: Language Play in Prenzlauer Berg Photography</li>
	<li>Carolin Quermann: &bdquo;Es lacht das Salatschwein&ldquo;. Freisein in Absurdistan. Zum Leitwolfverlag Dresden</li>
	<li>Angelika Richter: &bdquo;Ich bin Du&ldquo;. Repr&auml;sentation von Geschlecht in der Bildenden Kunst der DDR und ihre Abweichung von normativen K&ouml;rperbildern</li>
	<li>Hans-Eckardt Wenzel: Noch mal Gemeinsinn!</li>
	<li>Paul Kaiser: Instabile Wertlage. Der westliche Blick auf die nonkonforme Kunst aus der DDR &ndash; zwischen Mythenproduktion und Entzauberung</li>
	<li>Ulrich Kavka: Zweideutige Sicht auf doppeltem Boden &ndash; Versuch einer Vergegenw&auml;rtigung</li>
	<li>Annett Gr&ouml;schner: Mein Prenzlauer Berg ist nicht dein Prenzlauer Berg. Vom Paradigmenwechsel einer Ortslage</li>
	<li>Heike Emmrich-Willingham: &bdquo;V&ouml;gel m&uuml;ssen fliegen&ldquo; &ndash; Von der Notwendigkeit, man selbst zu sein</li>
</ul>

&nbsp;

Gegenstimmen. Kunst in der DDR 1976-1989

Voices of Dissent: Art in the GDR 1976-1989

Voices of Dissent: Kunst in der DDR 1976-1989

Veranstaltungen Gegenstimmen

ausstellungen

Exhibitions 2016

2016

Programm

Programme

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

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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

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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

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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

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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.

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The exploration of myths and rituals shapes the fourth edition of the Performing Arts Season with works by Marina Abramović, Mario Banushi, Marie Chouinard, Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker / Rosas, Ictus, Bl!ndman, Dumb Type, Damien Jalet / Kohei Nawa and Gisèle Vienne. The programme will be published on 18 June, and advance ticket sales will start.

Performing Arts Season

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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.