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Current exhibition

Hauntings

Exhibition

Furore
Nina Paszkowski
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

Artistic program

Akt 3
Nowhere will world be, but within.
October 16–18, 2026

Loosely drawing on Rainer Maria Rilke’s Duino Elegies (1922), the artistic program of the Bärenzwinger unfolds in a four-part dramaturgy between 15 May and 18 October. Written over the course of ten years, Rilke’s cycle of elegies traces a movement of searching that begins with an invocation of places, people, and things from the past, and gradually leads to the question of how to engage with what is missing. Within the tension between conservation and transformation, the Bärenzwinger monument becomes both setting and stage for an artistic exploration of how loss might be approached in the face of an uncertain future.

Rilke’s response is not a resolution but a movement: memories do not survive through preservation alone, but by entering new contexts and changing in the process—thus opening a path for what does not yet exist. While the elegies themselves offer no final closure, the program sets a trajectory toward the tenth anniversary of the Bärenzwinger as a municipal gallery in 2027.

Curated by Luise Haubenreiser, Philipp Hennch, Pauline Kling, Kaya Peters, Nicola Reißer, Niva Sann and Josephine Steffens

Artistic Research Project

Comming in October 2026

The artist Qusay Awad is invited to carry out an artistic research project to delve further into the annual theme Heimsuchungen/Hauntings. In view of the upcoming anniversary year 2027, the research project will aim to examine and reflect on the 10-year exhibition history in relation to the architecture and history of the Bärenzwinger. Throughout the year, interim updates of the research project will be presented and starting in October, the result of the project will be exhibited.

Curated by Alin Daghestani and Hannah van der Est

Upcoming program

Friday, 31 July 2026

7 PM: Guided tour and Talk
with Nina Paszkowski

8 PM: Ritual performance “DESCENT”
by Riley Davidson, with sound design by Juan Cernadas

“Furore” – Exhibition tour and conversation with Nina Paszkowski
Join artist Nina Paszkowski and the curators for a dialogue-based tour through the current exhibition “Furore”.

“Furore” is conceived as an evolving exhibition. Over the course of its duration, new works will be added, others removed, and the arrangement of the works within the space will change. On the occasion of the exhibition’s first transformation, this tour offers the opportunity to explore the next chapter of “Furore” together with the artist and curators. The conversation will focus on the conceptual foundations of the exhibition, the making of the works, and the ongoing development of their spatial arrangement.

In “Furore”, Nina Paszkowski engages with the figure of the Furies – mythological beings of vengeance who emerge from histories of violence, injustice, and unresolved conflicts. The exhibition considers rage not only as an emotion, but as a force that carries memories, demands recognition, and can initiate processes of transformation.

“DESCENT” – Ritual Performance by Riley Davidson with Juan Cernadas
“DESCENT” is a performance in which body, sound, and silence evoke memories beyond the realm of logic. A dancer sheds inherited myths, while a sound designer creates a live atmosphere through breath, noise, and sound.

Drawing on the myth of Inanna’s descent into the underworld – one of the oldest recorded texts in history from the Sumerian culture (c. 2100 BCE) – the performance explores descent as a necessary passage and a moment of transformation. At a time when we are collectively confronted with the collapse of established power structures, “DESCENT” asks which ideas and narratives we must leave behind in order to enable other forms of thinking and acting.

The performance becomes a space for wordless rage and grief, for engaging with inherited wounds and the entanglements of past generations. Because transformation begins with descent.

“DESCENT” marks the next chapter of the current exhibition “Furore” by Nina Paszkowski, following the integration of new works into the exhibition. The performance extends the exhibition’s engagement with themes of rage, transformation, and social power relations.

The Bärenzwinger – a historic site built for the display of the supposedly wild – becomes a point of departure for examining violence, spectacle, and the boundaries between self and other. At the same time, the performance reflects on contemporary forms of spectacle, asking how platforms such as social media shape our perception of violence and influence the relationship between witnessing and personal involvement.

SUNDAY ART MAKERS (SAM) – Your new creative Sunday at the Municipal Galleries Berlin-Mitte

Every first Sunday of the month
Free admission
No registration required
Languages: German and English


DATES, DURATION AND NOTES
2 August: with Theresa Sowka
6 September: Shadow Play
with Rezzan Gümgüm
4 October: Searching for Clues
with Cleo Wächter

Drop-in/drop-out workshops, 3 hours each: 2–5 PM
Open to everyone aged 6 to 15

Starting in May, 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.

2. August: Paper Paper Paper with Theresa Sowka

In this workshop, we will paint not on paper, but with paper. Inspired by the working methods of artist Nina Paszkowski, whose works are currently on view in the exhibition Furore at Bärenzwinger, participants will experiment with papermaking as an artistic medium.
Using coloured paper pulp, colours, shapes, and images can be applied onto a screen. The paper is then pressed, briefly ironed, and finally transformed into a handmade sheet that you can take home with you.
You will hardly get dirty—perhaps just a little wet.
Just drop by and get started!

No registration required. For children aged 6–12; adults are welcome to accompany them.

→To the entire exhibition program