Bärenzwinger Berlin

The Bärenzwinger in Köllnischer Park is used as a cultural landmark and provides space for exhibitions and events in Berlin-Mitte. The curatorial program is organized by a rotating team of CAMPI-Fellows from the Department of Art, Culture, and History of BA Mitte.

Aktuelle Ausstellung

Furore

with
Nina Paszkowski

Graphic: Nora Keilig

Exhibition

5/6/2026 - 21/02/2027
Opening: 4/6/2026, from 6 PM

The solo exhibition by Nina Paszkowski, titled "Furore", refers to the spectacle that has long shaped the Bärenzwinger: the principle of display and staging—whether through living animals, ideologically charged urban identity, or contemporary art. "Furore" describes a form of public attention that moves between fascination and unease. What attracts and excites can also turn into indignation or anger. Paszkowski approaches this anger through mythological figures whose name resonates in the exhibition title: the Furies. In Greek mythology, they appear as furious avengers who, through an act of mercy, undergo a process of becoming human and transform into the benevolent Eumenides.

In "Furore", the Furies appear as larger-than-life guardians. Against the backdrop of the site’s history—where spectacle has long been intertwined with control and violence—it remains uncertain whether they will enact revenge or grant mercy here. In Paszkowski’s work, anger does not remain confined to destruction. Instead, it appears as a force capable of breaking open existing conditions and making new forms of coexistence imaginable. The transformation of the Furies is mirrored in a changing constellation of works within the Bärenzwinger itself: over the nine-month duration of the exhibition, anger erupts from the walls of the former bear enclosure in the form of ceramic proliferations, carving out new paths. What remains are open wounds that inscribe vulnerability into the space and raise questions about the persistence of violence and the possibility of healing.

Curated by Janine Pauleck, Annika Reketat and Tina Quednau

Events

Our events at the Bärenzwinger are free for everyone.

Workshop
06 Sep 14:00 – 17:00

Shadow Play with Rezzan Gümgüm (SAM)

Free Admission No registration required For children 7 – 10 / accompanying adults welcome Languages: English and Turkish With Rezzan Gümgüm, you’ll dive into a world of light and imagination: You’ll create your own shadow figures and see how light brings them to life. Shadows dance, grow, and tell their own stories on the walls […]
Tour
12 – 13 Sep 12:00 – 13:00

Open Heritage Day

As part of Open Heritage Day, we invite you to join Alice Lorenzon on a guided tour focusing on the history of the historic site in Köllnischer Park. For almost 80 years, the Bärenzwinger, which opened in 1939, was home to several generations of the so-called “Berlin City Bears”. Until the death of Schnute, in […]
Workshop
04 Oct 14:00 – 17:00

Scavenger Hunt with Cleo Wächter (SAM)

Our scavenger hunt invites you to discover the place with open eyes. The journey begins outside, leads past the Bärenzwinger through the greenery of Köllnischer Park, and finally into the building. You’ll receive your own clue-hunting booklet, which, like a little treasure chest, is waiting for you to open and fill it! Free Admission No […]