Art in the Underground 2024/25: flexen, flirren, fantasieren – mapping the queer city
Adrian M. Blount: „Basics of Care“
Ipek Burçak: „In Berlin Nichts Neues“
Lola von der Gracht: „We Are Everywhere“
Franziska Pierwoss & Siska: „Soundtrax for a Bazaar“
Nadin Reschke: „Lila Fetzen“
For this year’s edition of Art in the Underground 2024/25: flexen, flirren, fantasieren – mapping the queer city, artists were invited to propose new works for urban space exploring the freedom of movement of different populations, and to suggest artistic interventions that reflect current socio-political developments. Western European cities were built with specific subjects in mind, even though our city and its inhabitants are diverse and multifaceted. People have different needs and, therefore, different strategies for using public space. How do women, people of color (POC), queer and postmigrant people, workers, children, senior citizens, and people with disabilities experience and shape their city? How do they adapt to structures and architectures that were not designed for them?
The selected works can be seen above and below ground at the Nollendorfplatz, Bülowstraße and Schönhauser Allee subway stations along the U2 line from June to September 2025.
This year’s edition of Art in the Underground is the first to be accompanied by an online magazine that brings together different perspectives, addressing urban space in a range of ways. The magazine features new and existing texts, videos, and audio works, inviting a succession of artists, writers, and activists to share their viewpoints over the duration of the project. This artistic content will be joined by historical and sociopolitical analyses that underline the intersectional character of the project. The magazine links historical perspectives from East and West Berlin with current issues—especially in the context of the three subway stations along the U2 subway line, which was interrupted during the period when Berlin was a divided city.
Artists: Adrian Marie Blount, Ipek Burçak, Lola von der Gracht, Franziska Pierwoss & Siska, Nadin Reschke
Online magazine with content by: Sara Ahmed, Gürsoy Doğtaş, Mia Göhring, Paul B. Preciado, Gabriele Stötzer, Poligonal, Anh Trieu et al.
Program of events curated by: Marenka Krasomil, Sandra Teitge and Franziska Zahl with Bella Bram and Letícia Oehlgardt
About the works
With “Basics of Care”, Adrian M. Blount aims to depict loving moments between Black people and place them at the center of attention, at least for the duration of a performance. The project “In Berlin Nichts Neues” by artist Ipek Burçak takes (post-)migrant and other anti-capitalist magazines from the 1990s as a starting point to depict and honor the voices they represent at and around the Bülowstraße subway station. The project “We Are Everywhere” by Lola von der Gracht aims to create visibility and appreciation for the history and present of transgender people in Germany and to address the challenges faced by trans people in public spaces. “Soundtrax for a Bazaar” by Franziska Pierwoss & Siska is a tribute to the Turkish Bazaar live music restaurant that flourished at Bülowstraße subway station between 1978 and 1991 and shaped the dynamic music scene on Potsdamer Straße. Performances by contemporary underground musicians are intended to reflect the diversity, vibrancy and community spirit of the original bazaar. 35 years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, Nadin Reschke’s “Lila Fetzen” recalls the officially unrecognized East German women’s* movements, especially the Lila Offensive, which was founded in Prenzlauer Berg in the late 1980s, and uses historical photographs to search for gestures of solidarity, resistance and the visibility of queer life today.
On Art in the Underground
Originally called Art Instead of Advertising, the competition was first held in East Berlin in 1958, with entrants asked to submit posters for peace. The works were shown on platform billboards at Alexanderplatz underground station. Whereas many East German institutions were dissolved or renamed after 1989, this competition survived in its original form. Since the early 1990s, neue Gesellschaft für bildende Kunst (nGbK) has been realizing projects in cooperation with Berlin’s Senate Office for Culture under the title Art in the Underground with artworks in or near underground stations.
nGbK work group: Yeşim Duman, Lorena Juan, Marenka Krasomil, Sandra Teitge, Franziska Zahl
Supported by the Senate Department for Culture and Social Cohesion and financed from the city’s “Artistic Design in Urban Space” funds on the recommendation of the Art Advisory Board (BAK).