Staged and critical views

With two exhibitions opening in parallel, the Berlinische Galerie will be offering insights into artistic positions worth seeing from July 11: Kuwaiti artist Monira Al Qadiri (*1983), who lives in Berlin, has been exploring the socio-cultural impact of the oil industry, its history and its future for over 10 years. She often develops her works from autobiographical experiences of her childhood and youth and takes a critical look at existing historical and political narratives, such as the establishment of oil as the most important fuel in the middle of the 20th century. For the exhibition, Al Qadiri is developing a site-specific installation consisting of a large-format mural, objects and sound that deals with the dark side of oil production. Monira Al Qadiri: Hero will be on display for over a year until August 17, 2026.

The second exhibition focuses on unconventional photographs from the 1920s: Marta Astfalck-Vietz (1901-1994) questions female role models in society in her still current images. The photographer often posed as a model herself and composed complex structures with many details and experimental approaches such as distortions, double exposures and surreal shadow plays. Around 140 works by Astfalck-Vietz are on display in the exhibition, and the Berlinische Galerie holds the majority of her artistic oeuvre. Most of her works were destroyed in the bombing raids on Berlin during the Second World War. Astfalck-Vietz took her last photograph in 1945. After the war, she made a name for herself as a plant painter and art teacher, and a dahlia and an orchid were named after her. It was only shortly before her death that she was rediscovered as a photographer. In 1982, she was awarded the Federal Cross of Merit for her socio-educational commitment. The exhibition Staging the Self. Marta Astfalck-Vietz ends on October 13.