At the 13th Berlin Biennale, subtly revolutionary works can be found alongside poetically unambiguous ones. “passing the fugitive on” is the title of the 13th Berlin Biennale for Contemporary Art, which finally opened last Friday (13.06.2025). A fitting title for the international exhibition, which is taking place at four main venues and just as many sister venues throughout the city, and is showing art of an exceptionally high political and poetic density. Almost all the works on display are united by revolutionary curiosity. Curator Zasha Colah took her cue from the urban fox — the very animal that moves fleetingly through Berlin. In the buildings of KW, the former margarine factory in Auguststrasse, visitors are led down into a room in which sandstone blocks are stacked to form a staircase. Margherita Moscardininumbers each stone, provides it with a certificate of authenticity, and thus questions ownership as a construction. Nearby, in the Sophiensælen, charcoal drawings scrape away at the history of the place, while right-wing slogans sound from a radio by Amol K. Patil until they silently disappear in smoke. Meanwhile, glowing chalk paintings by Larissa Araz hang in the Hamburger Bahnhof, and a fiery red banner by Gabriel Alarcón throws colonial power relations back onto the present.

In the vacant Moabit courthouse, there is not only art to discover, but also an unusual exhibition space. Among other things, a sarcastic cooking video by Helena Uambembe flickers there, kneading mud instead of dough, and discussing nation, origin, and memory. Much remains incidental. The exhibition wins the hearts of viewers through gentle restraint. In this spirit, the curator largely dispenses with big international names and focuses on the works themselves (even if art connoisseurs find many positions they are familiar with, such as the Berlin-based Hannah Höch or Gernot Wieland and the award-winning international star Steve McQueen). The supporting program includes readings, walks, and discussions that complement the overall artistic approach. It’s all about what you take away with you. Or what you pass on. And that is worthwhile.

Text: Hilka Dirks / Credits: Anawana Haloba, Looking for Mukamusaba – An Experimental Opera, 2024/25, installation view, 13. Berlin Biennale, KW Institute for Contemporary Art, 2025. Courtesy Anawana Haloba, Sammlung / Collection Hartwig Art Foundation, Photo: Marvin Systermans; Fredj Moussa, بلاد البربر , 2025; Jane Jin Kaisen, Wreckage, 2024.

13. Berlin Biennale
14.06.–14.09.2025. Find the full program here. 

KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Auguststr.69, 10117 Berlin–Mitte; map

Sophiensæle, Sophienstr.18, 10178 Berlin–Mitte; map

Hamburger Bahnhof – Nationalgalerie der Gegenwart, Invalidenstr.50, 10557 Berlin–Moabit; map

Ehemaliges Gerichtsgebäude Lehrter Straße, Lehrter Str.60, 10557 Berlin–Moabit; map

@berlinbiennale

How does closeness sound? What happens when music is not just played, but shared between musicians and audience, between past and present? With Somehow We Can, the Solistenensemble Kaleidoskop opens up a space for connection at the Radialsystem. Not a classical concert, it’s curated by composer Ethan Braun, uniting eleven compositions and twelve performers who further the string quartet genre as a living network of relationships, as a collective expression of art and society. The program moves between tonal delicacy, formal deconstruction, and political relevance. It allows marginalized voices to be heard in the canon of new music (such as BiPoC and LGBTQ+ composers), where the quartet is a place where differences are celebrated, not squashed. Alvin Singleton explores coexistence without the pressure for harmony, Yuri Umemoto brings pop-cultural references, and Sarah Davachi transforms microtonality into a sensual experience. Together, they show how new music can be polyphonic, political, and accessible. Listen, it resonates — a space of possibility.

Text: Inga Krumme / Photos: Julian Blum, Romanos Lioutas, Sonja Müller

Radialsystem, Holzmarktstr.33, 10243 Berlin–Friedrichshain; map
Somehow We Can – 11 String Quartets. Tickets (pay what you can) can be purchased here.

@radialsystem_berlin
@solistenensemble.kaleidoskop