In-Between Spaces

“I initially felt like an outsider ... bleakness with hope.“

— Abuzer Güler

The works in this room focus on moments of travel and waiting that defined the daily lives of many migrant workers. Monotonous factory work is central to this transient state; it drew labourers to Germany and determined their lengthy daily commutes. Depictions of their isolated coexistence in subways and public spaces reflect this experience of perpetual non-arrival and placelessness.

Initially intended as a temporary measure, “guest work” in West Germany often entailed fixed-term contracts for migrant workers. Separated from their families and Friends back home, many lived in company dormitories for the duration of their employment. Without language Courses for adults, communicating with German-speaking colleagues was difficult.

Hard physical labour and social isolation led many to suffer from physical and mental illnesses. The West German healthcare system often dismissed these conditions in a racist manner, using diagnoses such as “Morbus Mediterraneus” and the “Mamma Mia Syndrome”, which are still used in some contexts today.

Sohrab Shahid Saless

In der Fremde

During the 1960s, Sohrab Shahid Saless studied film directing in Vienna and Paris. Facing growing censorship under the Shah’s regime, Saless left Iran permanently in the mid-1970s and emigrated to West Germany, where he lived until 1995. Many of the films he made in the Federal Republic focus on the experiences of people pushed to the margins of society. For the feature film In der Fremde, Saless worked primarily with non-professional migrant actors from Kreuzberg; only the lead role was played by the Iranian professional actor Parviz Sayyad. In der Fremde tells the story of Husseyin, a worker recruited from Turkey, who lives in a shared flat in Kreuzberg with fellow migrant workers and their families. His rigidly structured daily routine is shaped by monotonous factory work, racism and repeated failures to establish human connections. While depicting these experiences of social isolation, the film also highlights the hopes and aspirations that continue to drive him and those around him.

Evelyn Kuwertz

U-Bahnhof Gleisdreieck

Since the late 1970s, Berlin’s urban landscapes have been at the centre of Evelyn Kuwertz’s artistic focus. The artist is particularly interested in transportation networks and hubs where large numbers of people briefly cross paths every day. Her painting U-Bahnhof Gleisdreieck is part of a series dedicated to the subway line 1, which runs through Kreuzberg. Inside the carriage, which is crisscrossed by railings and partitions, people from different social groups come together. Kuwertz describes her works as “city portraits” and sensitively captures the mood of the people in Kreuzberg: the built environment reflects the exhaustion and quiet coexistence of those depicted.

Painting depicting people inside a subway train. Three people are seated while three others are standing.

Evelyn Kuwertz, U-Bahnhof Gleisdreieck, 1979

Ludmila Seefried-Matějková

Metro – Večer (U-Bahn)

Ludmila Seefried-Matějková arrived in West Berlin at the end of the 1960s to study art at the Hochschule für Bildende Künste. During this period, she began to engage with everyday situations in the style of Berlin Realism. Seefried-Matějková recalls: “I wanted to use my art to express myself in response to the stark contrast between poverty and wealth.” She sketched scenes that she had observed in Berlin, in places such as streets, parks, train stations and subways, and later translated these sketches into sculptures. Her piece Metro – Večer (U-Bahn) shows a group of random passengers on public transport. It highlights the diversity of people sharing public spaces in Berlin while at the same time emphasising their isolation from one another.

Sculpture group of six seated people in clothing on a bench, painting on the wall.

Kreuzberg: Kunst und Migration seit 1960, installation view, Gropius Bau, 2026