DIFFRACTIONS—Transforming at Kunst Raum Mitte / Berlin

Artist(s): Jesse Darling, Green Papaya Art Projects (Norberto Roldan & Joaquin Roldan), Robert Lippok, Minh Duc Pham, Katrin Steiger, Pam Virada
Curator: Natalie Keppler, Agnieszka Roguski
Art space: Kunst Raum Mitte
Address: Auguststraße 21, 10117 Berlin
Credits: Jannis Uffrecht

DIFFRACTIONS––Transforming
13 September 2024 – 5 January 2025
Opening on 12 September 2024, 6 – 9 pm

On September 12, Kunst Raum Mitte opens with the exhibition Transforming. It is part of the DIFFRACTIONS program, which uses various research processes to create new relationships between the history and building of the art space. The exhibition will be accompanied by performances and an open studio by artist Anna Zett.

With Jesse Darling, Green Papaya Art Projects (Norberto Roldan & Joaquin Roldan), Robert Lippok, Minh Duc Pham, Katrin Steiger, Pam Virada, Anna Zett (Research
Residency), exhibition display by Martha Schwindling. Curated by Natalie Keppler & Agnieszka Roguski (Artistic Directors Kunst Raum Mitte)

The program DIFFRACTIONS stages an “interference pattern” (Karen Barad) of the various layers of time and their compositions. Unlike reflection, which mirrors a specific counterpart, diffraction—the bending of waves around an obstacle—reveals the overlap of impulses. It transcends conventional linear and hierarchical orders. How is the history of a place written? And how do affects, materials and gatherings inscribe themselves into these stories?

The exhibition Transforming recontextualizes the spatial, material, and historical relationships of the place formerly known as the galerie weisser elefant. Founded in East Berlin in 1987, the municipal exhibition space was renamed Kunst Raum Mitte by the Department of Art, Culture and History in 2024 to look back on the history of the gallery with new perspectives and to link it with current debates in a pluralistic urban society. Transforming presents contemporary artistic positions and connects them with artistic and curatorial research processes, setting them in relation to one another.

The exhibition challenges the forces of commercialization and gentrification mechanisms of the present—particularly those in the Mitte district—by activating resistant and immaterial structures. It makes historical material accessible through an exhibition display developed by Martha Schwindling, including invitation cards, photos, posters, and documents. These materials reveal how the place was shaped by the move from Almstadtstraße to Auguststraße, as well as by the political regime of the GDR in the 1980s and the media and aesthetic conventions of that time. These historical and geopolitical components, in turn, create relationships with related contexts. By exploring deviant and invisible aspects, the exhibition opens up contemporary perspectives that question power structures, especially through implicit and everyday actions.

Contact: Annika Reketat
Tel. +49 30 28884455
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