With the exhibition A Home for Something Unknown, Neuer Berliner Kunstverein (n.b.k.) and Haus am Lützowplatz present works by 27 international artists living in Berlin who were awarded the Berlin Senate 2023 visual arts work stipend. The twofold increase in the number of artists receiving this scholarship, as well as the heightened international representation of recipients compared to previous years, underscore Berlin’s deep commitment to fostering and celebrating the visual arts within its vibrant cultural landscape. For the first time, the group show is spread across two exhibition venues, offering a diverse range of individual approaches to social phenomena and providing insight into Berlin’s contemporary art scene. Working with mediums such as video, sound, painting, sculpture, installation and performance, the artists reflect on various forms of coexistence, examining the underlying structures and narratives.

The collection of traces and signs – employing poetic, documentary, or archive-based practices – stands out as one of the exhibition’s overarching themes. It illustrates a shared desire to reveal fissures, ambivalences, and power imbalances in everyday life. The question of self-image holds central importance, as artists take on the role of historian, archaeologist, or mediator, shaping their reference systems through diverse disciplines and perspectives. What unites these artistic contributions is their deliberate unveiling of suppressed forms of knowledge, overlooked places, or marginalized voices. As the title A Home for Something Unknown suggests, the term “home” represents less a division between inside and outside or familiarity and otherness, but rather a longing to discover a space for sensations and ideas that might otherwise remain unnoticed.

Exhibitions

Neuer Berliner Kunstverein

Chausseestraße 128/129, 10115 Berlin

Artists: Douglas Boatwright, Yvon Chabrowski, Beth Collar, Dina Khouri, Bob Kil, Bitsy Knox, Vera Lutz, Katharina Mercedes Marszewski, Christophe Ndabananiye, Lucas Odahara, Emeka Okereke, Mooni Perry, Shirin Sabahi, Romana Schmalisch & Robert Schlicht

Curators: Layla Burger-Lichtenstein, Susanne Mierzwiak

Curatorial Assistance: Daria Koehler

Haus am Lützowplatz

Lützowplatz 9, 10785 Berlin

Artists: Yalda Afsah, Taslima Ahmed, Rosanna Graf, Armin Lorenz Gerold, José Montealegre, Marcela Moraga, Mohammad Shawky Hassan, Line Skywalker Karlström, Mazen Kerbaj, Paola Yacoub, Bassem Yousri, Sati Zech

Curators: Ines Borchart, Katharina Schilling

www.hal-berlin.de

Discourse program

Friday, March, 1, 2024, 8 pm

Tourist

Performance by Bob Kil

Neuer Berliner Kunstverein, Chausseestraße 128/129, 10115 Berlin

Thursday, April 11, 2024, 7 pm

Cosmic Dialogues on Fiction Writing

Conversation with Charmaine Poh, Feng You, Park Hye-in and Yan Lin (Asian Feminist Studio for Art and Research)

In English

Neuer Berliner Kunstverein, Chausseestraße 128/129, 10115 Berlin

Thursday, April 18, 2024, 7 pm

Dilemma of a New Age. A Conversation Between Emeka Okereke & Alain Missala

With Emeka Okereke (artist and scholar, Berlin and Lagos) and Alain Missala (founder of Black Dads Germany as well as founder and CEO of ZULA, Berlin)

In English

Neuer Berliner Kunstverein, Chausseestraße 128/129, 10115 Berlin

Sunday, April 28, 2024, 2 pm

Künstlerinnengespräch mit Yalda Afsah und Sati Zech

Moderated by Julia Meyer-Brehm (art historian and cultural editor, Berlin)

In German

With a performance by Rozhina Rastgoo: When do you feel a stranger / Wann fühlen Sie sich fremd? A performative examination of the sculpture Behausung by Sati Zech

Haus am Lützowplatz, Lützowplatz 9, 10785 Berlin

Sunday, April 28, 2024, 4 pm

Tourist

Performance by Bob Kil

With Ewa Dziarnowska and Ashley Temba*

* Jeanna Serikbayeva performs in place of Ashley Temba.

Neuer Berliner Kunstverein, Chausseestraße 128/129, 10115 Berlin

Educational program

Visitors are invited to engage in immersive guided tours led by knowledgeable art educators at Neuer Berliner Kunstverein and Haus am Lützowplatz. Delving into the exhibition’s artistic inquiries and themes through interactive dialogue, the visitors’ perspectives, questions, and interests are actively incorporated.

Saturday, March 23, 2024

Returning to Life: Ecological thinking and pluralism in post-digital landscapes

Guided tour

In English

3 pm > Neuer Berliner Kunstverein, Chausseestraße 128/129, 10115 Berlin

5 pm > Haus am Lützowplatz, Lützowplatz 9, 10785 Berlin

Saturday, April 13, 2024

From A to B (to Z and back) or: Going into multiple perspectives at the same time

Guided tour

In German

3 pm > Neuer Berliner Kunstverein, Chausseestraße 128/129, 10115 Berlin

5 pm > Haus am Lützowplatz, Lützowplatz 9, 10785 Berlin

The guided tours last 60 minutes at each venue and can be attended without prior booking. Visitors can choose to attend both tours consecutively or participate in just one of the tours.

Free admission to all events

Publication

As part of the n.b.k. book series “Berlin”, a bilingual publication (German/English) is published by Walther und Franz König, Cologne, including a greeting by Joe Chialo, a preface by Marius Babias as well as texts by nes Borchart, Layla Burger-Lichtenstein, Susanne Mierzwiak, Katharina Schilling, a. o.