Program 2020

KW Institute for Contemporary Art is pleased to announce its artistic program for 2020. Operating under the influences of Surrealism, in which the body as environment is being explored, the upcoming program focuses on the representation of biography and (dis-)placement spearheaded by the works of Hassan Sharif, Amelie von Wulffen, and Leonilson. 

Pause: 
Broken Sounds / Remote Music—Prepared Pianos from the Archivio Conz Collection
January 16–19, 2020
Curators: Gigiotto Del Vecchio, Stefania Palumbo

In collaboration with KW, Archivio Conz presents a five-day event with more than 20 prepared pianos by artists such as Ay-O, Dorothy Iannone, Carolee Schneemann, Nam June Paik, and Ben Patterson from Francesco Conz’s collection to create a poetical environment, a possible architecture in which a number of performances will take place. More

Hassan Sharif
I Am The Single Work Artist
February 29–May 3, 2020
Curators: Hoor Al Qasimi​, Krist Gruijthuijsen

In collaboration with Sharjah Art Foundation and Malmö Konsthall, KW presents the first retrospective of the United Arab Emirates artist Hassan Sharif in Europe. Sharif was one of the most influential artists of the 20th century from the Middle East. He is discussed as a leading force in the field of Conceptual Art, which rethought a conventional understanding of time, space, form, and social interactions. More

Kris Lemsalu Malone & Kyp Malone Lemsalu
Love Song Sing-Along
February 29–May 3, 2020
Curator: Cathrin Mayer

Estonian artist Kris Lemsalu creates sculptures, installations and performances that fuse the animal kingdom with humankind, nature with the artificial, beauty with repulsion, lightness with gravity, and life with death. At KW, Lemsalu collaborates with artist and multi-instrumentalist Kyp Malone to present a newly conceived large-scale installation. More

Mophradat’s Consortium Commissions:
Jasmina Metwaly & Yazan Khalili
March 14–April 19, 2020
Curator: Tirdad Zolghadr

A pioneering model for co-commissioning ambitious new work initiated by Mophradat, the Consortium Commissions exemplify the organization's inventive approach to supporting artists from the Arab world. KW and Mophradat present two solo exhibitions by Jasmina Metwaly and Yazan Khalili. More

Pause:
Kunsthalle for Music
April 30–May 3, 2020
Curator: Krist Gruijthuijsen

Initiated by Ari Benjamin Meyers in 2018, Kunsthalle for Music is dedicated to the presentation of music within the histories and environments of the visual arts. Kunsthalle for Music will transform KW into a space for live performances, eluding the barriers between rehearsal, performance, performers, and audience. More

11th Berlin Biennale for Contemporary Art
June 13–September 13, 2020
Curators: María Berríos, Renata Cervetto, Lisette Lagnado, Agustín Pérez Rubio

The curators of the 11th Berlin Biennale envision the forthcoming edition as a series of lived experiences. The process unfolds through three sequential moments—exp. 1, exp. 2, and exp. 3—and started in Autumn 2019. From June 13 to September 13, 2020, the 11th Berlin Biennale will bring forth all experiences at various venues throughout the city. More

KW on Location
During the 11th Berlin Biennale, KW continues exploring other venues and collaborations across the city and around the globe. 

Two Years with: 
The Group of Casablanca
May 2020–May 2022
Curators: Krist Gruijthuijsen, Inka Gressel, Salma Lahlou, Alya Sebti

In collaboration with Goethe-Institut Marokko and Sharjah Art Foundation, KW has initiated a research residency evolving around The Group of Casablanca—a group of Moroccan artists that came together during the 1960s in the midst of the post-colonial artistic and cultural renewal and pioneered innovative teaching and exhibition strategies that rejected the Western academic legacies. More

Michele Rizzo
REACHING
May 2020 
Curator: Léon Kruijswijk

In collaboration with Berghain and Julia Stoschek Collection, KW presents a newly commissioned performance by choreographer Michele Rizzo. Rizzo investigates the experience of the raver, dance culture, and the significance of the club as a microcosm in which the human explores the relationship with the self, with the other and with time and space. More

Pogo Bar goes Pickle Bar:
Slavs and Tatars’ Pickle Bar 
Summer 2020 
Curator: Kathrin Bentele

KW invites Slavs and Tatars to present Pickle Bar next door to the collective’s new studio space. The Pickle Bar forms a temporary communal space that offers fermented juices and bites with spirits, a Slavic take on the aperitivo bar, exploring the potentialities and limits of comedy in an age of increasing cultural and political polarization. More

KW Production Series 2020:
Onyeka Igwe & Lin+Lam
Fall 2020
Curator: Mason Leaver-Yap

For its third year of commissioning, KW Production Series engages the work of artist and researcher Onyeka Igwe and the collaborative duo Lin+Lam (Lana Lin and H. Lan Thao Lam). Already in development, these new moving image works will be premiered in the Fall of 2020. More

Pause: 
The Noa Eshkol Chamber Dance Group
September 25–27, 2020
Curator: Krist Gruijthuijsen

In the 1950s, Noa Eshkol developed a notational system for movement, using a combination of symbols and numbers to define the motion of any limb around its joint. At KW, The Noa Eshkol Chamber Dance Group presents a selection of performances. More

Amelie von Wulffen
October 17, 2020–January 10, 2021
Curator: Anna Gritz

Berlin-based artist Amelie von Wulffen has established herself internationally as one of Germany’s most important painters. Since the 1990s, she has developed a distinctly unique artistic practice and has created a complex and productive body of work that inquires into the social, economic, and political conditions of painting. At KW, Amelie von Wulffen presents a new series of paintings and sculptures. More

Leonilson
Drawn: 1975–1993
October 17, 2020–January 10, 2021
Curator: Krist Gruijthuijsen

The late Brazilian artist José Leonilson is recognized for his poetic vision during a period of social upheaval within his home country. His work is characterized by a turn to subjectivity, eschewing the rationality of Conceptual Art predominant in the 1970s and rediscovering a “joy of painting” in the years following the end of Brazil’s dictatorship. The exhibition at KW is the first retrospective of the artist’s work in Europe. More

Click here for full program 2020.

Press Contact
Karoline Köber
T +49 30 243459 41
press@kw-berlin.de

KW Institute for Contemporary Art is institutionally supported by the Senate Department for Culture and Europe.

KW’s program 2020 is funded by and/or in collaboration with: