T4b00

with
Anna Banout
Sven Bergelt
Rupert Enticknap
Takashi Kunimoto
Peng Li
Camila Rhodi

and a participatory installation of R Stein Wexler

Graphic: Viktor Schmidt/Nora Keilig

Exhibition

25/10/2024 – 23/2/2025

Curated by Vanessa Göppner and Janine Pauleck

»T4b00« is the fourth part of the annual programme KANTEN UND KNOTEN

Events

24/10/2024 from 6 pm
Opening

31/10/2024 7:30 pm
Halloween Special
Exhibition tour [in German language]

16/11/2024 2-3pm
Performance “We are five”
by Chryssa Tsampazi

25/11/2024 4-7 pm
Performance “Do you wanna talk about it?”
with Camila Rhodi

1/12/2024 2-4 pm
Neighborhood meeting
“Coffee, cake and taboo”

8/12/2024 4-8 pm
Performance “Do you wanna talk about it?”
with Camila Rhodi

14/12/2024 from 4:15 pm
Experimental open air cinema
“Crow Cinema”
by Lilli Kuschel

16/1/2025 7 pm
Exhibition tour [in English]

25.1 & 26/1/2025 each 3 – 4pm
“Taboo.talks”
with Celica Fitz and Marita Günther

22/2/2025 from 4 pm
Finissage

24/10/2024 from 6 pm

7 pm
Performance “CURE VIII” by Jena Jang

8:15 pm
DJane FunkyKid

On Thursday, 24 October 2024, Bärenzwinger warmly invites you to the opening of the exhibition “T4b00”.

Taboos are invisible lines that frame individuals and communities. They are deeply rooted in history, culturally shaped and influence our perception and understanding of identity. “T4b00”, the fourth exhibition in our annual programme KANTEN UND KNOTEN, explores the impact of taboos on individuals and society. Six artistic positions selected through an open call make taboos visible from different perspectives and create a dialogue-based space for reflection and a change of perspective.

The title “T4b00” plays with the visualisation and alienation of the term “taboo”. The deliberate coding of the word emphasises the hidden yet omnipresent nature of taboos – something that remains unspoken but is nevertheless present in the room.

In her sculptural work, Anna Banout explores the power of language and in particular the transformative power of names as carriers of identity and memory. Sven Bergelt’s video work visualises how deeply taboos affect us and determine our actions. Questions of inner and outer freedom are negotiated. In his work, Peng Li addresses the omnipresent censorship in China using the example of Winnie the Pooh and the ban on selected information and events during the coronavirus pandemic.

Takashi Kunimoto’s video work deals with the topic of intersexuality and questions normative notions of identity and gender. In their sound installation, Rupert Enticknap sheds light on taboo aspects of male identities, such as the expression of grief. Camila Rhodi deals with trauma and sexual violence in her video installation. With a focus on female perspectives, Rhodi invites the audience to reflect on the invisibility and taboo nature of (sexual) violence in our patriarchal society.

R Stein Wexler’s participatory installation invites the public to anonymously submit answers to the question “What would you think, say, or do if it weren’t taboo?”. Submissions here.

The exhibition is accompanied by a varied supporting programme that includes exhibition tours, performances, an experimental open-air cinema, workshops and other educational activities.

With the artists of the Open Call: Anna Banout, Sven Bergelt, Rupert Enticknap, Takashi Kunimoto, Peng Li, Camila Rhodi.
And with a participatory installation by R Stein Wexler.

Jena Jang’s performance CURE VIII is part of an ongoing series being developed since 2020 as part of their PhD programme in time-based media (Visual Communication). Inspired by the Japanese Butoh dance technique and the concept of the “body without organs”, Jang explores the embodiment of entities beyond the human ego. Themes such as superstition, shamanism, ancient ceremonies, spiritual practices and healing rituals are incorporated into their work to translate the cultural, anthropological and historical significance of these often overlooked practices into contemporary art and music. Jang’s performances recall those hidden aspects of existence that defy scientific explanation.

In CURE VIII, Jang aims to reconnect with the primal energy of nature. Magical song and dance create a ritualistic space that addresses the cultural roots and unity between humans and nature. The audience is invited to sit or stand in a circle around Jang, in an arrangement reminiscent of ancient gatherings. Everyone is free to join the dance.

Jena Jang, born in South Korea, lives and works as a vocalist, experimental musician and performance artist in Prague, Czech Republic. They combine powerful electronics, extended vocal techniques and hand-built modular synthesisers to create raw, energetic performances. Influenced by Buddhist chants, yogic breathing exercises and Korean music traditions such as Pansori and Samulnori, Jang combines physical forms of expression such as headbanging and crawling to transform trauma and negative memories into cathartic experiences. Dance, yoga and breathing techniques play a central role in their interdisciplinary practice.

FunkyKid is a Tunisian DJ/Producer based in Berlin. Her music is an extension of her fun, playful and silly personality featuring bouncy uplifting Techno and Trance at 150BPM.

Thursday, 31 October 2024, 7:30 pm

Free entry

No registration needed.

Language: German

This Halloween, dive into the depths of taboos with us! Join curators Vanessa Göppner and Janine Pauleck for a guided tour of „T4b00“ at the Bärenzwinger.
Taboos are the invisible lines that shape individuals and communities, woven deep into our history and culture.

They influence how we perceive and understand identity. Join us on a  journey into the heart of what we often keep silent as the exhibition tour unravels the effects of taboos on both individuals and society. Six artistic position will illuminate these hidden lines.

Saturday, 16 November 2024, 2 pm

by Chryssa Tsampazi

Free entry

The event will be held in German.

Performers: Konstantin Bez, Paolo Gallio, Francesca Locanto, Sylvia Schwarz, Loukas Sdrolias and Maya Vasila

The performance “Wir Sind Fünf” (‘We Are Five’) is based on the text ‘Gemeinschaft’ (‘Community’) by the writer Franz Kafka:

‘We are five friends, we once came out of a house one after the other […] Since then we have lived together, it would be a peaceful life if a sixth one didn’t keep interfering […]. He doesn’t do anything to us […]. We don’t know him and don’t want to take him in. The five of us didn’t know each other before, and if you like, we don’t know each other now either, but what is possible and tolerated with the five of us is not possible with the sixth […]. Besides, we are five and we don’t want to be six. […] But no matter how much we push him away, he will come back.’

(Franz Kafka – Gemeinschaft)

The community of the five friends has a special relationship with the sixth person. It only comes into being through the defence against the sixth person and draws its strength from this. Who are the five without the sixth? Is she not a friend? Is she a ghost? The work deals with the perception of reality between the ‘five’ and the ‘sixth’.

During the performance, the six participants speak parts of Kafka’s text, with the position and movement of the bodies as living sculptures adding further layers. The people move, stand still, speak a sentence, sometimes remain silent and change their position. They repeat themselves – sometimes thoughtfully, sometimes angrily. In this way, the group slowly becomes a time-shifted choir, which speaks of five, although six are present.

Bio:
Chryssa Tsampazi (born 1975 in Germany, grew up in Northern Greece) studied acting and theater in Athens and graduated with an MFA from the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC). Her artistic work explores the performance of language and the collective creative experience. The bodies of the artist and the participants function both as subjects and as mediating mechanisms of the works. Tsampazi’s works and performances have been shown internationally, including at Galerie im Turm; Sullivan Galleries, Chicago; IV. Moscow Biennial, Moscow; 4th Thessaloniki Biennale of Contemporary Art; Numismatic Museum, Athens; Kunstverein Tiergarten, Berlin; Alpha Nova/Galerie Futura, Berlin. In 2022 she received the Berlin Senate’s research grant and visual arts project funding. She lives and works in Berlin.

Monday, 25 November 2024, 4-7 pm

Sunday, 8 November 2024, 4-6 pm

with Camila Rhodi

Free entry

Languages: German, English, Portuguese

Please note: The performance only takes place between the artist and one other person. There may therefore be waiting times. There will be several rounds of the performance from 4 to 7 pm.

Content Warning: The performance contains content related to sexual violence. It may be disturbing and evoke strong emotional reactions.

In this intimate performance, the audience meets the artist in a secluded space where a very personal confrontation takes place. An audience member sits alone opposite the artist and enters into a direct dialogue in which the artist reveals her own story.

This autobiographical performance confronts the difficult subject of childhood sexual abuse, with the artist courageously sharing her own history of trauma. The encounter is intensely private, designed for just one spectator at a time, and lasts for a brief but powerful four minutes.

Do U Wanna Talk About It? challenges the boundaries between performer and audience, creating a moment of profound connection and reflection on the impact of trauma.

Bio:
Camila Rhodi (born 1978, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) is an interdisciplinary artist whose work includes theatre, video, performance, audio, drawing and installation. She studied Fine Arts at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna, Realistic Drawing and Painting at the Academy of Fine Arts Barcelona, Performance & Choreography at the Justus Liebig University Giessen, Aesthetics at UNIRIO in Rio de Janeiro and Drama at the Escola Estadual de Teatro Martins Penna. In her artistic practice, she explores sexual themes, examines the complexities of identity and touches on universal ideas such as love, desire, violence, loss, and grief. Her work has been shown internationally, including at the WRO Art and Media Biennale (Poland), Manifesta (Russia), Sophiensaele and Hebbel am Ufer (Berlin), Bienalsur and FIDBA (Buenos Aires), viennacontemporary and OI Futuro (Rio de Janeiro). She lives and works in Berlin.

International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women
The performance of Do U Wanna Talk About It? will take place on 25 November, the International Day against Violence against Women. The Bärenzwinger Berlin, normally closed on Mondays, is deliberately opening its doors on this day to give space to this important topic. The performance draws attention to the issue of sexual abuse and gives those affected a voice. By sharing her own experiences, the artist makes the often invisible reality of sexual violence visible and encourages the audience to reflect on patriarchal social structures and the urgency of protecting women and girls from violence.

International Human Rights Day
On 10 December is International Human Rights Day. In this context Do U Wanna Talk About It? addresses on Sunday, 8 December the fundamental importance of protection and dignity for all people. The performance reminds us that protection from violence is an inalienable human right and highlights how essential it is that traumatic experiences are not concealed, but dealt with and recognised. It calls on the audience to reflect on the collective responsibility for safeguarding human rights and to show solidarity with those affected.

1 December 2024
from 2 pm to 4 pm

Free entry

The Bärenzwinger invites all neighbours and interested visitors to a Sunday afternoon with coffee, cake and playing taboo together. Under the motto ‘Coffee, cake and …’, the Bärenzwinger opens its doors one day per exhibition for a cosy get-together of the neighbourhood. While we enjoy coffee and homemade cake, we also have the opportunity to chat about art and culture in an informal setting. We look forward to hearing your perspectives.

This neighbourhood meeting is taking place as part of the current exhibition ‘T4b00’. This is the fourth exhibition in the 2024 Edges and Knots annual programme. Six artistic positions make taboos visible from different perspectives and create a dialogue-based space for reflection and a change of perspective.

We invite you to come together on Neighbourhood Sunday to take part in a modified version of the parlour game ‘Taboo’. Please send us taboo terms in advance and we will incorporate them into our game! Together we will playfully explore what it means to confront linguistic and social boundaries.
 
The taboo terms can either be sent by email to visit@baerenzwinger.berlin or as a DM via Instagram.

Warmly
your team from Bärenzwinger

Saturday, 14.12.2024
4:15 pm

Free entry

Location: Märkisches Ufer

In case of light rain and snow there will be pavilions, in case of bad weather the film will be shown under a roof in the Bärenzwinger Gallery Berlin.

Accessibility: The dialogue- and music-free film also works as a silent film and is conceived as a ‘relaxed performance’

The experimental open-air cinema ‘Crow Cinema’ invites people and birds to discover new perspectives on non-human life in the city. Against the backdrop of urbanisation and its impact on biodiversity, the focus is on crows that successfully adapt to urban conditions. Thousands of these birds gather at Alexanderplatz every winter and fly to their roosts on the Spree at nightfall – a seasonal spectacle that visualises the special dynamics of urban nature.

In this context, the Bärenzwinger presents the experimental film ‘Neighbors: non-human city life’ by Lilli Kuschel. In this film, documented over five years, Kuschel explores the question of how crows and humans interact with each other in Berlin and what place they occupy in the city. The screening takes place on Märkisches Ufer, where the rhythm of the crows seasonally transforms the space between the riverbank and the Bärenzwinger into an area shared by people and birds. This special form of cohabitation prompts us to ask the question: Who is part of the city, who owns it, and how is it shaped by different actors?

The film questions common stereotypes of nature and undermines the traditional opposition between nature and culture. The city is understood as a heterotopic biotope in which the coexistence of humans and animals manifests itself in new forms.

The screening will be followed by a discussion with Lilli Kuschel and the biologist and philosopher Cord Riechelmann, which will focus on urban ecologies and speculative visions for a solidary coexistence of humans and animals in the city. The Bärenzwinger – a former bear enclosure – and the neighbouring Märkisches Ufer are the ideal location for a reflection on cohabitation and the relationship between nature and the city.

We cordially invite you to experience this interdisciplinary perspective on urban life and to reflect on the role of animals as active agents.

Bio:
Lilli Kuschel is an artist and filmmaker, as well as a lecturer and researcher at the Berlin University of the Arts. She works with documentary forms in time-based media, film and installations and conducts artistic research on the topics of urban ecologies, architecture, cohabitation and urban nature. Her experimental film series Neighbors: non-human city life explores the life and culture of crows in cities around the world.

Bio:
Cord Riechelmann is a biologist, philosopher, author and lecturer at the Berlin University of the Arts, where he teaches in the Studium Generale programme. His research and teaching activities include the social behaviour of primates and the history of biological research. He writes regularly for various newspapers and magazines, including the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, taz and Süddeutsche Zeitung. His books include Krähen (2013), which is part of the Naturkunden series, and the novel Wilde Tiere in der Großstadt (2013). His works deal with the coexistence of humans and animals in urban environments and philosophical questions of nature perception.

Thursday, 16.1.2025
7 pm

Free entry

Language: English

On 16 January, we invite you to an exclusive tour of the ‘T4b00’ exhibition in the Bärenzwinger. Together with the curators Vanessa Göppner and Janine Pauleck, you will learn more about the multi-layered themes of the exhibition, which deals with the ambivalence of taboos and their influence on individual and collective identities. The exhibition sheds light on social, cultural and personal taboos and examines how these are reflected and scrutinised in the six artistic positions.

The tour offers a valuable opportunity to gain deeper insights into the works and to discover the artistic approaches in the context of breaking taboos and social norms.

With works by Anna Banout, Sven Bergelt, Rupert Enticknap, Takashi Kunimoto, Peng Li, Camila Rhodi

and a participatory installation by R Stein Wexler

25.1 & 26.1.2025
each 3 – 4 pm

with Celica Fitz and Marita Günther

Free entry

Language: German

What is a taboo? Who decides what should not be talked about and what should not be done? In the TABOO.TALKS we ask when a taboo covers something up, when it restricts something or when it tries to protect something. In doing so, we lift the cloak of what is socially rejected and look at what unspeakable or unspoken practices and secret knowledge are hidden underneath.
A taboo not only defines the excluded. As the marking of a boundary and the perpetual circumvention of this boundary, the taboo also inscribes itself into everyday behavioural practices, social interaction and bodies. The taboo itself is usually not visible, and yet it shapes its standardised counter-image. How do we look at the taboo today and can a reflected view of its structure in theory help us to recognise taboos in everyday life?

Along the question of the taboo, the TABOO.TALKS format focuses on practices of inclusion and exclusion of knowledge as well as norms and gender images in the two events TABU + KÖRPER and TABU + WISSEN. Social processes of recognition and exclusion that are inscribed in everyday life are thematised. The format aims to convey current scientific theories and theories and to discuss them with the guests. Each TABOO.TALK combines a substantive impulse with a dialogue-based guided tour of selected artistic works.
The format is aimed primarily at young people aged 16 and over and adults. This is because it also addresses sexuality and physical and psychological violence in line with the exhibition themes and artistic works.

TABOO.TALKS I: TABOO + BODY
Impulse and dialogue in the exhibition with Marita Günther and Celica Fitz
How do taboos inscribe themselves on our bodies? Using selected works from the exhibition, we will explore how taboos are located and embodied, thereby shaping images of gender, society and accessibility.

TABOO.TALKS II: TABOO + KNOWLEDGE
Impulse and dialogue in the exhibition with Marita Günther and Celica Fitz
What are we allowed to know, what remains hidden from us? Which stories do we not remember and what role does not-knowing play in processes of tabooing? We will explore narratives of the secret, the concealed and the unspeakable in selected works from the exhibition.

Marita Günther
For the TABOO-TALKS, Marita provides insights into her research on how taboos are inscribed in social gender images and body practices and shows dynamics between resistance and standardisation. Marita is a gender theorist and cultural and religious studies scholar. She is a doctoral candidate and teaches cultural and religious studies and social sciences as a lecturer at the University of Marburg, Merseburg University of Applied Sciences and the Baden-Württemberg Cooperative State University. As a freelance researcher and speaker, she communicates current theories on gender constructions using practical examples in contemporary cultures and art.

Celica Fitz
In the TABOO.TALKS, Celica brings the impulses around dynamics of recognition and exclusion into the exhibition in dialogue with the guests. She conveys cultural studies perspectives on contemporary art and conceptualises the format. Celica is a doctoral candidate in museology and art history (Université de Neuchâtel) and religious studies (University of Marburg). As a freelance curator and researcher, she develops formats for curating contemporary art informed by cultural studies for cultural and art institutions and universities. She is currently working on special exhibitions and outreach for the Museum Angewandte Kunst in Frankfurt a. M., Ikonenmuseum Frankfurt and as a researcher on women artists of modernism at the University of Marburg.

22 February, 4-7 pm

Free entry

At the end of the exhibition, we warmly invite you to a slow finissage. In a cosy atmosphere, there will be free coffee and cake, accompanied by a joint board game of the iconic ‘Tabu’.

The event will be a space for sharing and reflection, accompanied by a carefully curated playlist to round off the afternoon.

Come along, we look forward to seeing you!

Anna Banout (born 1992) is a Syrian-Polish experimental designer and artist. She studied product design, creative coding and basketry at the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw. In her research-based work, she weaves a rich tapestry of design processes combined with cultural narratives. Her diverse background profoundly influences her work and drives her to explore and challenge the intricate relationships between people and objects.

Banout‘s work has been shown in solo and group exhibitions internationally, including at the Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe (Hamburg), Centre Pompidou (Paris), Radialsystem V (Berlin) and Station Gallery (Beirut). She has taken part in various design festivals, such as the Gdynia Design Days, the Łódź Design Festival, Ambiente Frankfurt and Maison&Objet Paris.

She has received several awards and scholarships, including the International Diploma Selection (Designblok, Prague), Adam Mickiewicz Institute and Feldfünf Berlin. She currently lives and works in Pszów, Poland.

Sven Bergelt (born in Leipzig) studied at the Muthesius Academy of Fine Arts Kiel and the Academy of Visual Arts Leipzig. In his artistic practice, he works in the fields of installation, conceptual art and artistic research. His research-based, site-specific projects deal with spaces, architecture and the social and historical structures anchored in them.

He is particularly interested in questions of a contemporary culture of remembrance, the transformation of communication through digital technologies and political and social crises. Bergelt‘s works have been exhibited internationally, including at HALLE 14 (Leipzig), the Kunstverein Ebersberg and the National Theatre Mannheim.

He is co-founder of the artist collective Situation Room and has been teaching at the Institute for Theory at the HGB Leipzig since 2013. He lives and works in Leipzig.

Rupert Enticknap (born in the UK) studied at King’s College London, the Royal College of Music London and UAL Central Saint Martins. Their trans-disciplinary practice oscillates between and within music, choreography and installation. Enticknap is engaged in a performative exploration of the body. With a focus on the voice as a means of expression, Rupert examines the role of the body and voice in social and political discourse.

Their current research interests include the concepts of failure, masculinities, the body as an archive, and English folk dance. They have performed internationally, including at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, the Bavarian State Opera, the Berlin State Opera and the Theater an der Wien.

As a performer and dancer, they have appeared at the Volksbühne Berlin, Sophiensaele Berlin and Nowy Teatr Warsaw, among others. Enticknap’s most recent works have been supported by Fonds Daku, the Goethe-Institut and INM e.V. They live and work in Berlin.

Takashi Kunimoto (born in Japan) grew up in Japan and studied sociology at Hitotsubashi University in Tokyo, where he was particularly interested in documentary films. After the accident at the Fukushima nuclear power plant, Kunimoto moved to Germany in 2012 and began studying fine arts at the Braunschweig University of Art.

Kunimoto’s artistic practice includes installations and films that have been shown in Germany and Japan, including at the International Short Film Festival Oberhausen, the European Media Art Festival and the Image Forum Festival.

His film “Robert” was awarded the Förderpreis der Stadt Karlsruhe at the dokKA-Festival 11 (2024). In addition to media production, he has organised various media education projects with young people. Kunimoto lives and works in Braunschweig.

Peng Li (born 1986, Hunan, China) studied Fine Arts, Painting and Graphics at the South China University of Technology and at the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich. He works with a diverse range of media, continuously expanding the boundaries of his practice.

Over the past few years, his profound interest in materials, the creative process, and the social context has shaped every aspect of his artistic practice. His works combine personal memories with collective memories and traumatic experiences from the past and present.

His work has been presented internationally, including at Lenbach Palais (Munich), Canal Street Research Association (New York City, USA), and Haus am Lützowplatz (Berlin). He currently lives and works in Munich.

Camila Rhodi (born 1978, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) is an interdisciplinary artist whose work includes theatre, video, performance, audio, drawing and installation. She studied Fine Arts at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna, Realistic Drawing and Painting at the Academy of Fine Arts Barcelona, Performance & Choreography at the Justus Liebig University Giessen,

Aesthetics at UNIRIO in Rio de Janeiro and Drama at the Escola Estadual de Teatro Martins Penna. In her artistic practice, she explores sexual themes, examines the complexities of identity and touches on universal ideas such as love, desire, violence, loss, and grief.

Her work has been shown internationally, including at the WRO Art and Media Biennale (Poland), Manifesta (Russia), Sophiensaele and Hebbel am Ufer (Berlin), Bienalsur and FIDBA (Buenos Aires), viennacontemporary and OI Futuro (Rio de Janeiro). She lives and works in Berlin.