Matters of Perspective brings together artistic practice, inclusion, and social participation. The exhibition features works by around 20 artists who work in supportive studio settings in Berlin and London and who, due to discriminatory structures, rarely have access to studios, exhibition spaces, or professional networks.

Most of the participating artists work at the Kunstwerkstatt Kreuzberg, which was founded in 1993 as an initiative of the assisted living program Lebenshilfe Berlin (Life Aid Berlin). These works are complemented by collaborations with Berlin’s Thikwa Workshop for Theater and Dance, where 42 artists work full-time to develop their artistic skills, as well as with the organization Outward, which operates in ten London boroughs to support people in leading dignified and meaningful lives. All of the artists are considered intellectually disabled – a reductionist label that quickly proves entirely inadequate for describing their individual personalities and lives. It fails to capture their individual abilities, limitations, illnesses, life paths, and strategies for dealing with life’s challenges. Accordingly, the exhibition views inclusion not as an add-on, but as a fundamental approach. It was developed, curated, and designed in collaboration with the artists.

The participating artists are looking forward to engaging with the audience. For it is not the “special” inclusive program that allows them to participate in a venue like nGbK, but rather the idea of working from within an established art institution to reposition themselves as artists with disabilities from a self-determined perspective. In this way, the exhibition not only carries political weight but also holds transformative potential for the institution itself.

Artists: Angelika Bartel, Sarah al Darwich, Rainer von Dziegielewski, Heidi Fassott, Wolfgang Fassott, Hannelore Gerdes-Kopal, Tim Hartung, Harald Krainer, Lutz Marx, Herbert Meyer, Veronika Patzuda, Pooja, Hildegard Wittur

Additional contributors: Nak Nak Kunstlabor (Cologne), GoGo Trash (Berlin), Kirsten Schmidt and The Outward Group (London), Thikwa Werkstatt für Theater und Kunst (Berlin), Sandra Merseburger, Gabor Scenzi, Li Li Dinh Thi, Maren Haupt

nGbK work group: Sylvie Lazzarini, David Permantier, Susann Pönisch, Gisa Schraml and Eva Zulauf

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