NEWS

Thursday, 13/11/2025,
from 6 PM

7 PM: Sound Intervention “Acoustic Horizon” by Özcan Ertek

Free entry

The spaces we inhabit and encounter each other in are more than just our built environment. They are the result of our actions, decisions, and relationships – and, in turn, shape how and where we experience care, connection or exclusion and control. “Relations in Place” explores spaces as networks of relationships where social, political, and cultural tensions manifest.

Set against the historically charged backdrop of the former bear pit in the heart of Berlin, the exhibition focuses on the ambivalences of spatial practices: How and where are care and attention as well as power and control negotiated in space? What dynamics leave their marks on the architecture and use of space? The works on display engage with these questions across different spatial layers: from the transnational perspective of the diaspora through the urban landscape of Berlin to the specific context of the Bärenzwinger itself.

Vanessa Amoah Opoku & Joy Weinberger address belonging, responsibility and home within the diaspora. How can a home be built across borders and generations – particularly in the face of neo-colonial land dispossession? Özcan Ertek transforms the Bärenzwinger into a resonant space using soundscapes recorded in Berlin, in which visitors are invited to navigate between proximity and distance, control and autonomy. Zhenru Liang marks the threshold between cage and garden with an architecture of loosely stacked bricks, referencing the Bärenzwinger’s complex history as a place of confinement and encounter.

Sound Intervention “Acoustic Horizon” by Özcan Ertek:

This performance expands Özcan Ertek’s ongoing project “Acoustic Horizon”, which involves a rotating, funnel-shaped speaker responding to its acoustic and architectural environment. For the opening of “Relations in Place” at the Bärenzwinger, a site-specific version of the work will be created. The funnel will be live-activated, engaging in a dialogue with the space. The piece reflects the tensions between proximity and distance, body and space, autonomy and control, and invites visitors to reconsider their position within the social and spatial dynamics of the city.

Saturday, 15/11/2025

3–4:30 PM: “Traces of Care” – A Care Walk around the Bärenzwinger with the Feminist Spaces Collective

11 AM–5 PM: “In-Between. Listening as an Everyday Practice” – Public Intervention by Yun-Chu Liang

Free entry

“Traces of Care” – A Care Walk around the Bärenzwinger with the Feminist Spaces Collective

How can structures of neglect in the city be challenged? This “interactive Care Walk” around the Bärenzwinger explores visible and invisible forms of care in the urban environment. Even within a single city block, multiple traces of care – or its absence – can be found. By walking, observing and sharing, participants are invited to slow down the urban space, take a closer look and experience care as a social and spatial practice. What stories do these traces tell about our way of living together?

“In-Between. Listening as an Everyday Practice” – Public Intervention by Yun-Chu Liang

Visitors are invited to sit at the artist’s table, share a cup of tea, and tell a story. These small moments of encounter interrupt everyday routine and create space for mutual attention and care. The intervention invites people to engage with one another, exploring how shared care can generate a space conducive to exchange and connection.

Location to be announced.

Every first Sunday of the month

Free admission

No registration required

Languages: German and English

Starting in August, Berlin-Mitte will be bursting with colour and creativity! Every first Sunday of the month, visitors will have the opportunity to discover, try out and participate in contemporary art! The brand-new Sunday Art Makers (SAM) format will launch at the municipal galleries Kunst Raum Mitte, Bärenzwinger and Galerie Wedding. Together with experienced art educators and creative professionals, children, teenagers and adults can discover, experience and help shape contemporary art in new, interactive ways. The formats are organised in collaboration with the municipal galleries Berlin-Mitte and the MiK Youth Art School.

The gallery is transformed into a place full of possibilities – a space for imagination, curiosity and inspiration: Who organises an exhibition and what happens behind the scenes? Who decides what art is and where does it even begin? Where do the materials in an exhibition come from and how can you actually turn everyday objects into works of art yourself? Whether alone, with friends or the whole family – SAM is for everyone who wants to spend their Sunday being creative and active. Instead of the traditional Sunday rest, we focus on imaginative activities: painting, designing, writing, modelling, experiencing and experimenting. Participants can try out various forms of artistic expression – regardless of their previous knowledge. SAM invites you to discover your own creativity – in a relaxed atmosphere with plenty of room for your own ideas. We look forward to seeing you – let’s make some art! – and become a SUNDAY ART MAKER!

DATES, DURATION AND NOTES
Every first Sunday of the month, free admission
Drop-in/drop-out workshops, 3 hours each: 2–5 PM / no registration required
Open to everyone aged 6 to 15
Children, young people and families
Languages: German and English

NEXT DATES:

Since September 2017 the former bear pit of the heraldic animals of the city of Berlin has re-opened as a cultural venue for site-specific contemporary art in Berlin-Mitte.

A refurbishment is soon to expand its potential uses.