Rauschen: Echoes of an Institution

The comprehensive research project Making Public examines the work and legacy of the Centre for Art Exhibitions of the GDR (Zentrum für Kunstausstellungen der DDR or ZfK). In the exhibition, Rauschen (noise or static) stands for the faint background sounds that become audible behind an institution’s official narratives. For media theorist Friedrich Kittler, it denotes the moment in which a medium itself becomes visible—no longer merely as a transparent carrier of messages, but as a structure. The diverse voices found in archival materials, eyewitness accounts and artistic positions coalesce into a multi-layered picture that reflects the work of the ZfK. Through a chronological narrative, the exhibition reconstructs selected aspects of a chapter of international art history that has so far received little attention. 

Alongside works from the collections of the ZfK and the ifa, contemporary artistic positions open up new approaches to the history of the ZfK. Nadja Abt and Katharina Marszewski focus on Robert Rauschenberg’s ROCI exhibition, combining historical documents with their own artistic perspective. In her new production Vagant Orient, Anna Bromley explores the intertwining cultural and trade relations between the GDR and Syria. Whilst Suse Weber focuses on the oeuvre of Werner Schinko and his widely circulated illustrations for school and children’s books in the GDR, David Polzin’s posters examines social possibilities after 1990. 

With works by Nadja Abt, Gerhard Altenbourg, Alfred Beier-Red, Henryk Berg, Anna Bromley, Hermann Glöckner, Gotthard Graubner, HAP Grieshaber, Heidrun Hegewald, Irmgard Horlbeck-Kappler, Katharina Mercedes Marszewski, Karl Erich Müller, Uwe Pfeifer, Sigmar Polke, David Polzin, Nuria Quevedo, Robert Rauschenberg, Hans Theo Richter, Werner Schinko, Emil Stumpp, Günther Uecker, Suse Weber, Karla Woisnitza  

Curated by Susanne Weiß in collaboration with Nadja Abt, Swantje Greve, and Petronela Soltesz; Scenography: Eran Schaerf in collaboration with Flo Gaertner.

The exhibition at the ifa Gallery Berlin marks the launch of the ifa exhibition series Making Public—On the Work and Legacy of the Centre for Art Exhibitions of the GDR in Berlin. The project is organised in cooperation with the Wüstenrot Foundation and is supported by the Hauptstadtkulturfonds (HKF). In collaboration with Schloss Biesdorf, KVOST—Kunstverein Ost, Prater Galerie and Galerie im Turm, as well as the Kunsthaus Dresden.

Future exhibitions in Berlin:
Schloss Biesdorf Cosmos: Agendas, Networks, Friendships, June 29–September 27, 2026  
KVOST Coda: Reenacting an Exhibition, July  4– August 30, 2026
Prater Galerie Courage: Sisters in Spirit, September 4–November 15, 2026
Galerie im Turm Dreaming: Annemirl Bauer and Bärbel Bohley, September 24–november 8, 2026

Exhibition in Dresden:
Kunsthaus Dresden Productive Unrest, May 21–July 26, 2026