Wisrah C. V. da R. Celestino, Yara Mekawei, Axel Wieder, Annette Maechtel, Nils Fock/Cashmere Radio, Raoul Zöllner, Elisa R. Linn, and more
Autumn School | Stadt als Beute Revisited
Stadt als Beute [City as Prey] Revisited November 21–23, 2025
Contributors:Wisrah C. V. da R. Celestino (featured exhibiting artist), Nils Fock (DJ, Cashmere Radio), Elisa R. Linn (author, exhibition curator, and educator), Annette Maechtel (art historian and managing director of nGbK Berlin), Yara Mekawei (sound artist and electronic music composer), Axel Wieder (director of the Berlin Biennale and co-founder of Pro qm), Raoul Zöllner (associate art educator at KW Institute for Contemporary Art), and others
Participants: Ana Druwe, Bilge Dursun, Maxie Fischer, Manon Frugier, Olga Gaidash, Alba Molina, Levent Pinarci, Michał Podziewski, Andrea Popelka, Lars Preisser, Sunny Pudert, Maria Luiza Serafim, Paul Sonntag, Anke Westermann, Hye Young Sin
Participating venues and initiatives: ACUD, Cashmere Radio, Galerie Neu, Kunsthaus KuLe e.V., KW Institute for Contemporary Art, nGbK, pro qm, and others
Organized by Agnieszka Roguski & Natalie Keppler
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Public Programm
Friday, 21.11.2025
8 PM: Talk Temporal Conditions. Self-Organization in Berlin-Mitte after 1990 With: Axel Wieder & Annette Maechtel Moderation: Agnieszka Roguski Location: Stadtwerkstatt, Karl-Liebknecht-Straße 11 10178 Berlin Entry: 7:30 PM Language: English
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Saturday, 22.11.2025
6 PM: Talk & Screening Elisa R. Linn Location: Kunst Raum Mitte Language: English
8 PM: Screening Stadt als Beute (2005) Directors: Miriam Dehne, Esther Gronenborn, Irene von Alberti Based on the eponymous theater play by René Pollesch (2002) Location: Kunst Raum Mitte
9:30 PM: DJ Set Nils Fock (Cashmere Radio) Location: Kunst Raum Mitte
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Sunday, 23.11.2025
5 PM: Lecture Performance From Language Wisrah C. V. da R. Celestino Location: Kunsthaus KuLe, Auguststr. 10, 10117 Berlin Language: English
In November, the first three-day Autumn School will take place at Kunst Raum Mitte, marking the conclusion of the DISLOCATIONS annual program. Entitled Stadt als Beute [City as Prey] Revisited, it brings together artists and cultural professionals for discussions, site visits, and walks. The themes address the economies, speculations, and fictions that shape the urban space of Berlin-Mitte with its characteristic East-West history. In line with the concept of dislocation—the shifting and twisting of spatial orders—the Autumn School pursues an expanded idea of space: artists and cultural practitioners from Berlin and beyond were invited to apply to explore together a network of different people, places, institutions, and their stories in relation to the exhibition venue, the former galerie weisser elefant, founded in the GDR.
Once considered a sign of social decline and impending modernization in the GDR, the area surrounding Kunst Raum Mitte is now synonymous with luxuriously renovated old buildings, rapid gentrification, and commercial galleries. While the municipal gallery was regarded as a place for experimental, oppositional, and young art forms before reunification, the fall of the Berlin Wall raised the question of a new form of resistance: only a few independent spaces were able to survive in the wake of the growing power of the real estate and art markets. The temporary free spaces that emerged here through strategies of self-organization, occupation, and short-term use helped Berlin as a whole gain an image as a utopian space of possibility and a hot spot for international artists. Today, however, it is primarily the growing capital market that benefits from this, while cultural life—now labeled ‘post-cool’ in media discourse—is constrained by drastic budget cuts and restrictive policies.
The Autumn School takes its title from René Pollesch’s play Stadt als Beute [City as Prey], which in 2001 addressed the fictions and promises that were being transformed into neoliberal forms of exploitation. In the Autumn School, participants will explore the social fractures, movements, inclusions, and exclusions that have characterized Berlin-Mitte since the 1990s—and ask how the temporality of art projects is reflected spatially. Does it inevitably lead to a kind of exploitation, or does this “loot”—in German, Beute can mean both ‘prey’ and ‘loot,’ suggesting the city as something hunted as well as something exploited—repeatedly open up spaces for criticism and new perspectives? What contradictions, challenges, and opportunities exist? What stories underlie them? Who has the ability to write them? And what strategies can artists and cultural practitioners develop in response?
Based on the exhibition DISLOCATIONS—on the spot, the program of the Autumn School will focus on the following topics:
1. Situating: concrete localization in and of Berlin-Mitte 2. Shifting: temporary counter-publics and artistic forms of (self-)organization 3. Resonating: intersections with performance, bar culture, and sound
The Autumn School takes place in collaboration with artists, contemporary witnesses, researchers, curators, and actors from neighboring institutions and initiatives. In the evenings, the program will be complemented by public formats such as discussions, screenings, and performances.
The participation in the program is free.
The project is funded by the State of Berlin’s program for the preservation and development of cultural infrastructure in the districts (Bezirkskulturfonds).
Stadt als Beute [City as Prey] Revisited November 21–23, 2025
Contributors:Wisrah C. V. da R. Celestino (featured exhibiting artist), Nils Fock (DJ, Cashmere Radio), Elisa R. Linn (author, exhibition curator, and educator), Annette Maechtel (art historian and managing director of nGbK Berlin), Yara Mekawei (sound artist and electronic music composer), Axel Wieder (director of the Berlin Biennale and co-founder of Pro qm), Raoul Zöllner (associate art educator at KW Institute for Contemporary Art), and others
Participants: Ana Druwe, Bilge Dursun, Maxie Fischer, Manon Frugier, Olga Gaidash, Alba Molina, Levent Pinarci, Michał Podziewski, Andrea Popelka, Lars Preisser, Sunny Pudert, Maria Luiza Serafim, Paul Sonntag, Anke Westermann, Hye Young Sin
Participating venues and initiatives: ACUD, Cashmere Radio, Galerie Neu, Kunsthaus KuLe e.V., KW Institute for Contemporary Art, nGbK, pro qm, and others
Organized by Agnieszka Roguski & Natalie Keppler
.
Public Programm
Friday, 21.11.2025
8 PM: Talk Temporal Conditions. Self-Organization in Berlin-Mitte after 1990 With: Axel Wieder & Annette Maechtel Moderation: Agnieszka Roguski Location: Stadtwerkstatt, Karl-Liebknecht-Straße 11 10178 Berlin Entry: 7:30 PM Language: English
.
Saturday, 22.11.2025
6 PM: Talk & Screening Elisa R. Linn Location: Kunst Raum Mitte Language: English
8 PM: Screening Stadt als Beute (2005) Directors: Miriam Dehne, Esther Gronenborn, Irene von Alberti Based on the eponymous theater play by René Pollesch (2002) Location: Kunst Raum Mitte
9:30 PM: DJ Set Nils Fock (Cashmere Radio) Location: Kunst Raum Mitte
.
Sunday, 23.11.2025
5 PM: Lecture Performance From Language Wisrah C. V. da R. Celestino Location: Kunsthaus KuLe, Auguststr. 10, 10117 Berlin Language: English
In November, the first three-day Autumn School will take place at Kunst Raum Mitte, marking the conclusion of the DISLOCATIONS annual program. Entitled Stadt als Beute [City as Prey] Revisited, it brings together artists and cultural professionals for discussions, site visits, and walks. The themes address the economies, speculations, and fictions that shape the urban space of Berlin-Mitte with its characteristic East-West history. In line with the concept of dislocation—the shifting and twisting of spatial orders—the Autumn School pursues an expanded idea of space: artists and cultural practitioners from Berlin and beyond were invited to apply to explore together a network of different people, places, institutions, and their stories in relation to the exhibition venue, the former galerie weisser elefant, founded in the GDR.
Once considered a sign of social decline and impending modernization in the GDR, the area surrounding Kunst Raum Mitte is now synonymous with luxuriously renovated old buildings, rapid gentrification, and commercial galleries. While the municipal gallery was regarded as a place for experimental, oppositional, and young art forms before reunification, the fall of the Berlin Wall raised the question of a new form of resistance: only a few independent spaces were able to survive in the wake of the growing power of the real estate and art markets. The temporary free spaces that emerged here through strategies of self-organization, occupation, and short-term use helped Berlin as a whole gain an image as a utopian space of possibility and a hot spot for international artists. Today, however, it is primarily the growing capital market that benefits from this, while cultural life—now labeled ‘post-cool’ in media discourse—is constrained by drastic budget cuts and restrictive policies.
The Autumn School takes its title from René Pollesch’s play Stadt als Beute [City as Prey], which in 2001 addressed the fictions and promises that were being transformed into neoliberal forms of exploitation. In the Autumn School, participants will explore the social fractures, movements, inclusions, and exclusions that have characterized Berlin-Mitte since the 1990s—and ask how the temporality of art projects is reflected spatially. Does it inevitably lead to a kind of exploitation, or does this “loot”—in German, Beute can mean both ‘prey’ and ‘loot,’ suggesting the city as something hunted as well as something exploited—repeatedly open up spaces for criticism and new perspectives? What contradictions, challenges, and opportunities exist? What stories underlie them? Who has the ability to write them? And what strategies can artists and cultural practitioners develop in response?
Based on the exhibition DISLOCATIONS—on the spot, the program of the Autumn School will focus on the following topics:
1. Situating: concrete localization in and of Berlin-Mitte 2. Shifting: temporary counter-publics and artistic forms of (self-)organization 3. Resonating: intersections with performance, bar culture, and sound
The Autumn School takes place in collaboration with artists, contemporary witnesses, researchers, curators, and actors from neighboring institutions and initiatives. In the evenings, the program will be complemented by public formats such as discussions, screenings, and performances.
The participation in the program is free.
The project is funded by the State of Berlin’s program for the preservation and development of cultural infrastructure in the districts (Bezirkskulturfonds).
Stadt als Beute [City as Prey] Revisited November 21–23, 2025
Contributors:Wisrah C. V. da R. Celestino (featured exhibiting artist), Nils Fock (DJ, Cashmere Radio), Elisa R. Linn (author, exhibition curator, and educator), Annette Maechtel (art historian and managing director of nGbK Berlin), Yara Mekawei (sound artist and electronic music composer), Axel Wieder (director of the Berlin Biennale and co-founder of Pro qm), Raoul Zöllner (associate art educator at KW Institute for Contemporary Art), and others
Participants: Ana Druwe, Bilge Dursun, Maxie Fischer, Manon Frugier, Olga Gaidash, Alba Molina, Levent Pinarci, Michał Podziewski, Andrea Popelka, Lars Preisser, Sunny Pudert, Maria Luiza Serafim, Paul Sonntag, Anke Westermann, Hye Young Sin
Participating venues and initiatives: ACUD, Cashmere Radio, Galerie Neu, Kunsthaus KuLe e.V., KW Institute for Contemporary Art, nGbK, pro qm, and others
Organized by Agnieszka Roguski & Natalie Keppler
.
Public Programm
Friday, 21.11.2025
8 PM: Talk Temporal Conditions. Self-Organization in Berlin-Mitte after 1990 With: Axel Wieder & Annette Maechtel Moderation: Agnieszka Roguski Location: Stadtwerkstatt, Karl-Liebknecht-Straße 11 10178 Berlin Entry: 7:30 PM Language: English
.
Saturday, 22.11.2025
6 PM: Talk & Screening Elisa R. Linn Location: Kunst Raum Mitte Language: English
8 PM: Screening Stadt als Beute (2005) Directors: Miriam Dehne, Esther Gronenborn, Irene von Alberti Based on the eponymous theater play by René Pollesch (2002) Location: Kunst Raum Mitte
9:30 PM: DJ Set Nils Fock (Cashmere Radio) Location: Kunst Raum Mitte
.
Sunday, 23.11.2025
5 PM: Lecture Performance From Language Wisrah C. V. da R. Celestino Location: Kunsthaus KuLe, Auguststr. 10, 10117 Berlin Language: English
In November, the first three-day Autumn School will take place at Kunst Raum Mitte, marking the conclusion of the DISLOCATIONS annual program. Entitled Stadt als Beute [City as Prey] Revisited, it brings together artists and cultural professionals for discussions, site visits, and walks. The themes address the economies, speculations, and fictions that shape the urban space of Berlin-Mitte with its characteristic East-West history. In line with the concept of dislocation—the shifting and twisting of spatial orders—the Autumn School pursues an expanded idea of space: artists and cultural practitioners from Berlin and beyond were invited to apply to explore together a network of different people, places, institutions, and their stories in relation to the exhibition venue, the former galerie weisser elefant, founded in the GDR.
Once considered a sign of social decline and impending modernization in the GDR, the area surrounding Kunst Raum Mitte is now synonymous with luxuriously renovated old buildings, rapid gentrification, and commercial galleries. While the municipal gallery was regarded as a place for experimental, oppositional, and young art forms before reunification, the fall of the Berlin Wall raised the question of a new form of resistance: only a few independent spaces were able to survive in the wake of the growing power of the real estate and art markets. The temporary free spaces that emerged here through strategies of self-organization, occupation, and short-term use helped Berlin as a whole gain an image as a utopian space of possibility and a hot spot for international artists. Today, however, it is primarily the growing capital market that benefits from this, while cultural life—now labeled ‘post-cool’ in media discourse—is constrained by drastic budget cuts and restrictive policies.
The Autumn School takes its title from René Pollesch’s play Stadt als Beute [City as Prey], which in 2001 addressed the fictions and promises that were being transformed into neoliberal forms of exploitation. In the Autumn School, participants will explore the social fractures, movements, inclusions, and exclusions that have characterized Berlin-Mitte since the 1990s—and ask how the temporality of art projects is reflected spatially. Does it inevitably lead to a kind of exploitation, or does this “loot”—in German, Beute can mean both ‘prey’ and ‘loot,’ suggesting the city as something hunted as well as something exploited—repeatedly open up spaces for criticism and new perspectives? What contradictions, challenges, and opportunities exist? What stories underlie them? Who has the ability to write them? And what strategies can artists and cultural practitioners develop in response?
Based on the exhibition DISLOCATIONS—on the spot, the program of the Autumn School will focus on the following topics:
1. Situating: concrete localization in and of Berlin-Mitte 2. Shifting: temporary counter-publics and artistic forms of (self-)organization 3. Resonating: intersections with performance, bar culture, and sound
The Autumn School takes place in collaboration with artists, contemporary witnesses, researchers, curators, and actors from neighboring institutions and initiatives. In the evenings, the program will be complemented by public formats such as discussions, screenings, and performances.
The participation in the program is free.
The project is funded by the State of Berlin’s program for the preservation and development of cultural infrastructure in the districts (Bezirkskulturfonds).
