The 12th Berlin Biennale has opened its doors.
Artist-curator Kader Attia has given the event the title “Still Present,” promising that his selection of 82 artists offers an overview of “more than two decades of de-colonial engagement.”
The resulting show is particularly heavy on art that serves as illustrated lecture or data dump, with an emphasis on “forensic aesthetics.” Early reviews have called it “relentlessly grim,” which may be true—though, as with Attia’s artistic practice, journalistic critiques of injustice are leavened by moments of poetry.
The show spans traditional marquee art venues like the KW Institute for Contemporary Art and the Hamburger Bahnhof, but also has works into the Stasi Museum, a research and memorial center about the East German secret police, and elsewhere.
Below, see works featured in “Still Present.”
KW Institute for Contemporary Art
Nil Yalter, Estranged Doors (1983) and Exile Is a Hard Job (1983/2022). Photo by Ben Davis.
Mathieu Pernot, The Gorgans (1995–2015). Photo by Ben Davis.
Mathieu Pernot, Dikhav—The Banks of the River (2017). Photo by Ben Davis.
Nil Yalter, Judy Blum, and Nicole Croiset, La Roquette, Frauengefängnis Women’s Prison (1974–75). Photo by Ben Davis.
Jeneen Frei Njootli, Thunderstruck (2013/2022) and Alex Prager. Photo by Ben Davis.
Susan Schuppli, Icebox Detention Along the U.S.-Mexico Border (2021-2022). Photo by Ben Davis.
Mayuri Chari, I Was Not Created for Pleasure (2022). Photo by Ben Davis.
Simone Fattal, In Our Lands of Drought the Rain Forever Is Made of Bullets (2006). Photo by Ben Davis.
Deneth Piumakshi Veda Arachchige, Self-Portrait as Restitution—from a feminist point of view (2020). Photo by Ben Davis.
Antonio Recalcati, Enrico Baj, Erro, Gianni Dova, Jean-Jacques Lebel, and Roberto Crippa, Large Collective Anti-Fascist Painting (1960). Photo by Ben Davis.
Ariella Aïsha Azoulay, The Natural History of Rape (2017/2022). Photo by Ben Davis.
João Polido, Replica Song (2022). Photo by Ben Davis.
Zuzanna Hertzberg, Individual and Collective Resistance of Women During the Shoah (2019). Photo by Ben Davis.
Zuzanna Hertzberg, Shibboleth Ż (2019). Photo by Ben Davis.
Myriam El Haïk, Please Patterns (2022). Photo by Ben Davis.
Christine Safatly, Piece 1 (2019), Piece 2 (2019), and Unknown Body (2020). Photo by Ben Davis.
Mila Turajlić, Screen/Solidarity/Silence – Debris from the Labudović Reels (2022). Photo by Ben Davis.
Detail of Mila Turajlić, Screen/Solidarity/Silence – Debris from the Labudović Reels (2022
Mónica de Miranda, Path to the Stars (2022). Photo by Ben Davis.
Works by Etinosa Yvonne. Photo by Ben Davis.
Mai Nguyen-Long, Vomit Girl (Berlin Cluster) (2022). Photo by Ben Davis.
Amal Kenawy, The Purple Artificial Flower (2005). Photo by Ben Davis.
Maithu Bùi, Mathuật – MMRBX (2022) Photo by Ben Davis.
Binta Diaw, Dïà spora (2022). Photo by Ben Davis.
Taysir Batniji, Suspended Time (2016). Photo by Ben Davis.
Tejswini Narayan Sonawane, Femininity I (2015). Photo by Ben Davis.
Taysir Batniji, The Sky Over Gaza #2 (2001-2004). Photo by Ben Davis.
Marta Popivoda/Ana Vujanović, Moss Does It Better (2022). Photo by Ben Davis.
Asim Abdulaziz, 1941 (2021). Photo by Ben Davis.
Hamburger Bahnhof
Lawrence Abu Hamdan, Air Conditioning (2022). Photp by Ben Davis.
Driss Ouadahi, Aerohabitat (2022). Photo by Ben Davis.
Basel Abbas and Ruanne Abou-Rahme, Oh Shining Star Testify (2019/2022). Photo by Ben Davis.
David Chevalarias, Shifting Collectives (2022). Photo by Ben Davis.
Detail of David Chevalarias. Photo by Ben Davis.
Alex Prager, Crowd #4 (New Haven) (2013/2022). Photo by Ben Davis.
Birendir Yadev, Walking on the Roof of Hell (2016). Photo by Ben Davis.
Forensic Architecture, Airstrike on Babyn Yar (2022). Photo by Ben Davis.
Amal Kenawy, Silence of Sleep (2010). Photo by Ben Davis.
Elske Rosenfeld, Circling (Another Round) (2012/2022). Photo by Ben Davis.
Layth Kareem, The City Limits (2014). Photo by Ben Davis.
PEROU, Considering That It Is Possible That Such Events May Occur Again (2015). Photo by Ben Davis.
Praneet Soi, Paraphernalia (2022). Photo by Ben Davis.
Works by Tammy Nguyen. Photo by Ben Davis.
Noel W Anderson, Line Up (2016-2020). Photo by Ben Davis.
Raed Mutar, Untitled (2012). Photo by Ben Davis.
Jean-Jacques Lebel, Besatzung in Bagdad Soluble poison: Scenes from the American occupation in Baghdad (2013) and Sajjad Abbas, I can see you (2013). Photo by Ben Davis.
Zach Blas, Profundior (Lachryphagic Transmutation Deus-Motus-Data Network) (2022). Photo by Ben Davis.
Tuan Andrew Nguyen, The Specter of Ancestors Becoming (2019). Photo by Ben Davis.
Works by Calida Garcia Rawles. Photo by Ben Davis.
Thuy-Han Nguyen-Chi, This undreamt of sail is watered by the white wind of the abyss
Akademie der Künste, Pariser Platz
Work by Sajjad Abbas on the facade of the Akademie der Künste, Pariser Platz. Photo by Ben Davis.
Elske Rosenfeld, Interrupting (A Bit of a Complex Situation) (2014). Photo by Ben Davis.
Works by Moses März. Photo by Ben Davis.
Jihan El-Tahri, Complexifying Restitution (2022). Photo by Ben Davis.
Display of crucifixes. Photo by Ben Davis.
Prabhakar Kamble, Broken Foot (2020). Photo by Ben Davis.
The School of Mutants (Boris Raux, Hamedine Kane, Lou Mo, Stéphane Verlet-Bottéro, Valérie Osouf), All fragments of the word will come back here to mend each other (2022). Photo by Ben Davis.
Taloi Havini, Beroana (Shell Money) IV (2016). Photo by Ben Davis.
Works by Prabhakar Kamble. Photo by Ben Davis.
Uriel Orlow, Reading Wood (Backwards) (2022). Photo by Ben Davis.
Dubréus Lhérisson, Untitled (2015). Photo by Ben Davis.
Prabhakar Kamble, Chandelier (2022). Photo by Ben Davis.
Khandakar Ohida, Dream Your Museum (2022). Photo by Ben Davis.
Akademie der Künste, Hanseatenweg
Akademie der Künste, Hanseatenweg. Photo by Ben Davis.
Sammy Baloji, …and to those North Sea waves whispering sunken stories (II) (2021). Photo by Ben Davis.
Temitayo Ogunbiyi, You will order taxonomies according to your days (2021-2022). Photo by Ben Davis.
Yuyan Wang, The Moon Also Rises (2022). Photo by Ben Davis.
Imani Jacqueline Brown, What remains at the end of the earth? (2022). Photo by Ben Davis.
Ammar Bouras, 24°3′55″N 5°3′23″E (2012/22). Photo by Ben Davis.
Mai Nguyễn-Long, Specimen (Permeate) (2022). Photo by Ben Davis.
Lamia Joreige, After the River (2016). Photo by Ben Davis.
Susan Schuppli, Cold Rights (2021-2022) and Weaponizing Water Against Water Protectors (2021-2022). Photo by Ben Davis.
Đào Châu Hải, Ballad of the East Sea (2022). Photo by Ben Davis.
Dana Levy, Erasing the Green (2021/2022). Photo by Ben Davis.
Forensic Architecture, Cloud Studies (2021). Photo by Ben Davis.
Florian Sông Nguyễn, les chiens errants (2022). Photo by Ben Davis.
DAAR, Entity of Decolonization – Borgo Rizza (2022). Photo by Ben Davis.
Works by Tejswini Narayan Sonawane. Photo by Ben Davis.
Tuan Andrew Nguyen, My Ailing Beliefs Can Cure Your Wretched Desires (2017). Photo by Ben Davis.
Sven Johne, Medicinal Plants in the Death Strip, Germany (2021). Photo by Ben Davis.
Clément Cogitore, Lascaux (2017). Photo by Ben Davis.
Dana Levy, History Lessons (2022). Photo by Ben Davis.
Paintings by Tammy Nguyen. Photo by Ben Davis.
Stasi-Zentrale. Campus für Demokratie
Exterior of the Stasi Museum. Photo by Ben Davis.
Ngô Thành Bắc, Trồng Cây Chuối – Headstand (2007/2022) installed at the Stasi Museum. Photo by Ben Davis.
Two works show Ngô Thành Bắc’s Trồng Cây Chuối – Headstand performances (2007/2022). Photo by Ben Davis.
Omer Fast, A Place Which Is Ripe (2020). Photo by Ben Davis.Omer Fast, A Place Which Is Ripe (2020) installed at the Stasi Museum. Photo by Ben Davis.
Omer Fast, A Place Which Is Ripe (2020). Photo by Ben Davis.
Haig Aivazian, They May Own the Lanterns But We Have the Light, Episode 1: Home Alone (2022). Photo by Ben Davis.
Susan Schuppli, Freezing Deaths & Abandonment Across Canada (2021-2022). Photo by Ben Davis.
Hasan Özgür Top, The Fall of a Hero (2020). Photo by Ben Davis.
Selection of Zach Blas’s “Fag Face Masks.” Photo by Ben Davis.
Zach Blas, Facial Weaponization Communiqué: Fag Face (2012). Photo by Ben Davis.
The School of Mutants (Valérie Osouf), Ziheng Jie (2022). Photo by Ben Davis.
Dekoloniale Erinnerungskultur in der Stadt
Work by Nil Yalter. Photo by Ben Davis.
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