Life Across. Art and Migration in Berlin

The exhibition features artistic works from the 1970s to the present. Rarely seen works from the Berlin Museum’s collection and selected loans tell stories of exile, everyday life, and self-empowerment. Archival materials and audio interviews with the artists complement the works and open up transnational perspectives on Berlin’s history.

The paths of the participating artists are as diverse as their artistic works. For many, Berlin becomes their new home—the city where they study and pursue their artistic work, as well as a place of refuge in political exile. The exhibition explores the traces that migration and exile have left on Berlin’s art scene and the differences that emerge between East and West Berlin. It also highlights the role that networks, collective spaces, and self-organized structures play in artistic practice.

On view are works in painting, printmaking, film, and sculpture by Cecilia Boisier, Santos Chávez, Ximena Ferrer Pizarro, Evelyn Kuwertz, Ertekin Özcan, Minh Duc Pham, Núria Quevedo, Chetna Vora, and Hanefi Yeter.

An accompanying program featuring curator-led tours, creative workshops, and a storytelling salon explores the exhibition’s themes in greater depth.

In parallel with ›Life Across: Art and Migration in Berlin,‹ the Gropius Bau is presenting the exhibition ›Kreuzberg: Art and Migration since 1960,‹ which explores artistic production in the context of labor migration in the neighborhood of the same name.

Curated by Christine Heidemann and Aurora Rodonò, in collaboration with Pia Dressler and Antonia Welch Guerra (Berlin Museum)

Supported by the Julius Bötzow Foundation