Exhibitions 2020
Otobong Nkanga: There’s No Such Thing as Solid Ground
10 July to 13 December 2020
Otobong Nkanga’s interest lies in the complex relationship between humans and land. In her works, she explores this relationship within the tension between exploitative extraction processes and structures of care and repair. Following her one-year stay 2019 at the Gropius Bau, the solo exhibition will offer insights into the central issues of her work.
11th Berlin Biennale for Contemporary Art
The Crack Begins Within
5 September to 1 November 2020
Since September 2019, the 11th Berlin Biennale for Contemporary Art has been unfolding as a process with “exp. 1”, “exp. 2”, and “exp. 3”. From 5 September to 1 November 2020, the upcoming exhibition, the epilogue, will bring together these experiences and the issues they raise in four locations, including the Gropius Bau.
Down to Earth
13 August to 13 September 2020
Down to Earth, our summer at the Gropius Bau: four weeks without electricity, loudspeakers, videos, screens, air travel or spotlights, but with daylight, heat, recycling, analogue music, dance and talks by experts on change, exhibits on the themes of the ocean, Gaia, puddles, the living earth, a sawn-up Porsche and modern rituals, in the spirit of Latour, Margulis, Lovelock and the Shipibo – 14 rooms and different overall every day.
Akinbode Akinbiyi: Six Songs, Swirling Gracefully in the Taut Air
7 February to 19 July 2020
The photography exhibition Six Songs, Swirling Gracefully in the Taut Air brings together works from various long-term series composed by Berlin-based Nigerian photographer Akinbode Akinbiyi, who has captured intimate scenes and communal life in cities such as Lagos, Berlin, Johannesburg, Bamako and Chicago, among many other locations.
Lee Mingwei: 禮 Li, Gifts and Rituals
27 March to 12 July 2020
Lee Mingwei’s artistic practice is primarily concerned with rituals of giving and receiving. Until 12 July 2020, the Gropius Bau will present a solo exhibition by the artist, showing his installations and performances from the last three decades. Central to the exhibition is an exploration of art’s potential to be a transformative gift.
Walking Through Walls
12 September 2019 to 19 January 2020
Walking Through Walls marks the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, one of the most symbolic events of the 20th century, interrogating the experience of vulnerability and anxiety caused by power structures that thrive on confinement and segregation.
Wu Tsang
There is no nonviolent way to look at somebody
4 September 2019 to 12 January 2020
Wu Tsang’s solo exhibition There is no nonviolent way to look at somebody presents films in dialogue with her sculptural practice, working with the interaction of glass, light and text, and including a new stained glass commission conceived for the Gropius Bau.
Masculinities: Liberation through Photography
16 October 2020 to 17 March 2021
Featuring works by Laurie Anderson, Richard Avedon, Rotimi Fani-Kayode, Isaac Julien and Annette Messager, a comprehensive group exhibition at the Gropius Bau titled Masculinities: Liberation through Photography explores the ways in which masculinity is experienced, performed and socially constructed from the 1960s to the present day.
