The Neue Nationalgalerie is launching two new special presentations as part of this year’s Gallery Weekend Berlin with Fujiko Nakaya and Christoph Schlingensief. With the “Gallery Weekend Art Talks”, a diverse program of talks with international guests will take place in the upper hall of the Neue Nationalgalerie over the entire weekend from Friday, 2 May to Sunday, 4 May 2025.
Image above: Yoko Ono and John Lennon, Bed-In for Peace, 1969, Amsterdam, Photograph by Ruud Hoff.
EXHIBITIONS
Fujiko Nakaya
May 2 – September 14, 2025
A special exhibition of the Neue Nationalgalerie – Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz
In its sculpture garden, the Neue Nationalgalerie presents a new site-specific fog sculpture by Japanese artist Fujiko Nakaya, which plays monumentally and ephemerally around the iconic architecture of Mies van der Rohe. Born in Sapporo, Japan in 1933, Nakaya achieved international fame in 1970 for her immersive fog sculptures, which she creates using a system of pure water mist. Since then, she has had important solo exhibitions, most recently at the Guggenheim Bilbao (2019), Haus der Kunst, Munich (2022) and the Fondation Beyeler (2024). For the Neue Nationalgalerie, Nakaya has developed a new installation that encompasses the entire sculpture garden and opens up new perspectives on the architecture of Mies van der Rohe’s Neue Nationalgalerie.
Christoph Schlingensief. Deutschlandsuche ´99
May 2, 2025 – until further notice
A special presentation of the Neue Nationalgalerie – Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz
The Neue Nationalgalerie is dedicating its current collection presentation “Zerreißprobe. Art between politics and society. Collection of the Nationalgalerie 1945 – 2000”. At the center is the work “Deutschland versenken” from 1999, which is part of his project “Deutschlandsuche ’99”. The Neue Nationalgalerie is particularly pleased that this work will now become a permanent part of its collection thanks to the generous donation from Aino Laberenz, who manages Christoph Schlingensief’s estate.
YOKO ONO: DREAM TOGETHER
until September 14, 2025
A special exhibition of the Neue Nationalgalerie – Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz
“YOKO ONO: DREAM TOGETHER” is an exhibition of works from all phases of Yoko Ono’s groundbreaking artistic career, all of which aim to bring about peace together. The exhibition invites the audience to actively participate beyond mere contemplation – both physically and mentally. The actions often begin on an individual level and then develop into broader, collective actions, demonstrating the transformative power of collective action for peace and imagining a better world. Ono’s works call for collective action: Repairing, restoring, cleaning, wishing, imagining, dreaming.
The lower collection floor of the Neue Nationalgalerie also houses the collection presentation “Zerreißprobe. Art between Politics and Society. Collection of the Nationalgalerie 1945 – 2000“ and the exhibition ”Gerhard Richter. 100 Works for Berlin”.
GALLERY WEEKEND ART TALKS
Friday, May 2, 2025, 11 – 11:45 am
The Legacy of Christoph Schlingensief’s “Deutschlandsuche ’99”
with Matthias Lilienthal and Klaus Biesenbach
The talk will be held in English
Limited number of participants, free admission, no registration required
Friday, May 2, 2025, noon – 1 pm
BMW Art Talk: Why and How to Support Art
with Karen Boros (Boros Collection), Eva Leinemann (Eva Leinemann Art Foundation) and Azu Nwagbogu (African Artists’ Foundation)
Moderation: Thomas Girst (BMW Group)
The talk will be held in English
Limited number of participants, free admission, no registration required
Friday, May 2, 2025, 1 – 2 pm
Immersion, Fear, and Speculative Worldbuilding: An Artist Talk with Danielle Braithwaite-Shirley
Danielle Brathwaite-Shirley in conversation with Sheldon Gooch (MoMA PS1)
The talk will be held in English
Limited number of participants, free admission, no registration required
Friday, May 2, 2025, 4 – 5 pm
Rupturing Time and Memory: An Artist Talk with Diane Severin Nguyen
Diane Severin Nguyen in conversation with Marcela Guerrero (Whitney Museum of American Art)
The talk will be held in English
Limited number of participants, free admission, no registration required
Saturday, May 3, 2025, 11 – 11:45 am
Hyperreal Worlds and Pleasurable Artifice: An Artist Talk with Sun Yitian
Sun Yitian in conversation with Lisa Botti (Neue Nationalgalerie)
The talk will be held in English
Limited number of participants, free admission, no registration required
Saturday, May 3, 2025, noon – 1 pm
How to Start Collecting Art in a Changing Market
with Filip Dames, Robert Ramsauer and Christine Würfel-Stauss
Moderation: Kate Brown (Artnet News)
The talk will be held in English
Limited number of participants, free admission, no registration required
Saturday, May 3, 2025, 3 – 4 pm
The Future of Museums
with Jordan Carter (Dia Art Foundation), Carson Chan (MoMA) and Ellen Drude Langvold (ARoS)
Moderated by Kimberly Bradley
The talk will be held in English
Limited number of participants, free admission, no registration required
Saturday, May 3, 2025, 5 – 6 pm
Questioning Mechanisms of Political Power: An Artist Talk with Zuzanna Czebatul
Zuzanna Czebatul in conversation with Jean-Marie Gallais (Pinault Collection)
The talk will be held in English
Limited number of participants, free admission, no registration required
Sunday, May 4, 2025, 12 – 1 pm
Photography Today: An Artist Talk with Thomas Struth
Thomas Struth in conversation with Joachim Jäger (Neue Nationalgalerie)
The talk will be held in German
Limited number of participants, free admission, no registration required
Sunday, May 4, 2025, 3 – 3:45 pm
Rethinking Growth and Advancement through Abstraction: An Artist Talk with Leelee Chan
Leelee Chan in conversation with Teresa Retzer
The talk will be held in English
Limited number of participants, free admission, no registration required
Sunday, May 4, 2025, 4 – 5 pm
The Body as a Site of Transformation: An Artist Talk with Marianna Simnett
Marianna Simnett in conversation with Sam Ozer (TONO)
The talk will be held in English
Limited number of participants, free admission, no registration required
WHEN?
Friday, 2. May until Sunday, 4. May 2025
WHERE?
Neue Nationalgalerie
Potsdamer Straße 50
D-10785 Berlin
