Enrico Pietracci, Religion to go, 2021, Photography, 140 cm x 100 cm (Photo: Courtesy the Artist)
The exhibition Beyond Belief at HAUS KUNST MITTE deals with the boom of modern spirituality and shows both critical and sensual explorations through sculptures, photographs, paintings, installations and video works by 44 artists from 17 countries. On 500 square metres, the paintings, sculptures, photographs and installations show a sensual, critical or interactive artistic examination of the forms of contemporary and earlier waves of spirituality and question what spirituality means today beyond faith. The exhibition is curated by Britta Adler.
In the exhibition venue near the main train station, Beyond Belief shows works by 44 artists, including Joseph Beuys, Pipilotti Rist and Mary Bauermeister, on around 500 square metres. The works deal with spirituality from all angles – whether as criticism, sensual confrontation or as a witch’s room staging. The artworks from 17 countries such as Israel, the Arab Emirates, Iran, Italy and Germany combine different faith approaches and perspectives to find an approach that goes beyond faith, overcomes rigid doctrines and thereby possibly even promotes peace and tolerance.
Photo: Courtesy of the Artist
Mindfulness, astrology, tarot cards – former niche phenomena now seem to be everywhere. The trend towards esotericism appeals to religiously alienated people and has even found its way into the business world. “Spiritual but not religious” is especially popular among millennials worldwide, making spirituality now highly Instagram-able.
Photo: Courtesy of the Artist
From appropriation and obsession through popular culture to the rediscovery of ancient practices from witchcraft to mandala, spirituality has many faces in the modern world. Beyond Belief highlights, among others, early waves of spiritual interest with works by Georges Braque, Joseph Beuys, Georg Baselitz, Antoni Tàpies and Mary Bauermeister and juxtaposes these with young, emerging positions by, for example, the Druze painter Fatma Shanan or the queer feminist activist Sadie Lune. Other artists such as Saralisa Volm and Cornelia Renz question and criticise modern spirituality as a consumer product in interactive installations and mixed media works.
Photo: Courtesy of Karl Oskar Gallery
Overall, the exhibition brings together both occult works and artistic voices with Jewish, Christian and Muslim roots, such as Zoulikha Bouabdellah (AL), Pipilotti Rist (CH) and Ayelet Carmi & Meirav Heiman (ISR). The show stimulates conversations about whether spirituality, with its fluid ideas, has the potential to go beyond faith, overcome rigid doctrines and thereby promote a more tolerant society – with encounters instead of polarising confrontation.
Photo: Courtesy of the Artist
Participating artist
Sarah Abu Abdallah (SA)
Lara Azul (DE)
Georg Baselitz (DE)
Mary Bauermeister (DE)
Orit Bertini Shavit (ISR)
Joseph Beuys (DE)
Steffen Blunk (DE)
Zoulikha Bouabdellah (DZ/FR)
Georges Braque (FR)
Ayelet Carmi &
Meirav Heiman (ISR)
Amrita Dhillon (IND)
Eyal Dinar (ISR/DE)
Norma Drimmer (DE)
Edelweiss Fördbund
Stockholm (SE)
Joachim Elzmann (DE)
Mikhal Gamzou (ISR/DE)
GODsDOGs (DE)
Kerstin Grimm (DE)
Hassan Hashemi (IRN)
Jacqueline Heer (CH/USA)
Halina Hildebrand (DE/ISR)
Aisha Juma (AE)
Thomas Klingenstein (DE)
Susanne Kraißer (DE)
Miriam Lenk (DE)
Sadie Lune (USA)
Rune Mields (DE)
Cesare Mirabella (IT)
Gabriele Oelschläger (DE)
Adi Oz-Ari (ISR)
Rüdiger Pelikan (DE)
Enrico Pietracci (IT)
Richard Rabensaat (DE)
Cornelia Rapp (DE)
Cornelia Renz (DE)
Pipilotti Rist (CH)
Römer + Römer (DE)
Fatma Shanan (ISR)
Semra Sevin (DE/TUR)
Antoni Tàpies (ES)
Saralisa Volm (DE)
Monica von Rosen (SE/CH)
Peter Wilde (CAN)
Beatrijs Wind (NL)
Avital Yomdin (ISR)
HAUS KUNST MITTE is an exhibition space for national and international contemporary art in the centre of Berlin, located in the former gallery district of Heidestraße, close to the Hamburger Bahnhof museum and the main railway station. A decade ago a hotspot for international exhibitions and gallery openings, the area is now dominated by construction cranes and new buildings. The current, ongoing transformation of the area into Europacity has displaced many galleries and artists over the years. HAUS KUNST MITTE, the last bastion of art in the new Heidestraße, is currently being reoriented as an artistic institution by the Asyl für Kunst Stiftung after years of exhibition activity.
Photo: Courtesy of the Artist
Beyond Belief cooperates with international partners and has gained an important cultural partner in the Arabic-speaking world with the 2022 Abu Dhabi Festival, which supports the exhibition and facilitates the in-depth programme of events and creative workshops for children and young people. Through this cooperation, Beyond Belief is being discussed to be shown as a travelling exhibition in European cities and possibly also in Abu Dhabi.
Curator Britta Adler has been curating larger group exhibitions since 2015. In addition to artistic quality, the diversity of artists and works is important to her. She is passionate about bringing socially relevant themes into the artistic discourse. Her well-known exhibitions bitch MATERial & bOObs, co-curated with Saralisa Volm, were shown in Berlin and Hamburg and met with great response in the press. For her curatorial work in the exhibition series, Britta Adler was recently awarded the first prize of the Hatun-Sürücü-Prize of the Green Group Berlin.
Beyond Belief – HAUS KUNST MITTE
WHEN?
Saturday, 18 September – Thursday, 25 November 2021
Thu 2-8 pm
Fri – Sun noon-7 pm
and by arrangement
New opening hours:
Fri + Sat 3 – 7 pm
Sun noon – 6 pm
and by arrangement (https://beyondbelief-art.com/kontakt/)
COSTS?
7 EUR grwon ups, 5 EUR reduced
Children & youths up to 18 years: free admission
OPENING (Admission free)
Saturday, 18 September 2021, 2 – 8 pm
with curatorial guided tours (3, 5 & 7 pm)
Cello concert by Helke Menter (from 4 pm)
FINISSAGE
Thursday, 25 November 2021
WHERE?
Haus Kunst Mitte
Forum für Gegenwartskunst
Heidestraße 54
10557 Berlin-Mitte
Read more under: www.beyondbelief-art.com
