HOUSE TOUR #7, May 2024
Walkabout
BRÜCHE in Berlin Exile: Arrival – Artistic Perspectives on New Realities of Life
With the seventh edition of our HOUSE TOURS series, we conclude the three-part program accompanying the exhibition “BRÜCHE – Artists in Berlin Exile,” which took place from January to May 2024 at Haus Kunst Mitte. Following the themes of flight, courage, and responsibility, this final chapter focuses on the experience of arrival in the new living environment of Berlin.
Shirin Ashkari, Winter Berlin, 2022 – 2024, Mixed media on canvas, Courtesy of the artist © Michael Lüder
Shirin Ashkari explored the motif of Berlin’s grey sky in her oil paintings of varying sizes. Her series powerfully reflects the process of letting go of memories and opening up to the present. Ashkari describes Berlin as a city that does not abandon you, generously offering endless grey and dark days—cold, damp, and colorless. Her works make the emotional weight of new beginnings visible and poetically portray the transition from past to present.
Ramin Parvin, Undercurrent, 2021, End of the Feast, 2023, Echo and Narcissus, 2023, Reasons for Rhyme, 2024, Acryl on canvas, Courtesy of the artist © Michael Lüder
Ramin Parvin delved into the depth of human existence in his paintings. His dramatically lit, yet uninhabited interiors serve as metaphors for his inner world. As a queer artist with a migration background, Parvin emphasizes that his art creates space for self-reflection. Through this introspective journey, he resists the pressure of emotional commodification, bringing attention to universal human emotions and our shared humanity.
Katharyna Turenko, Aliona, Dana, Natasha, Berlin, November-Dezember, 2022, Digital Print, Video Installation, Courtesy of the artist © Michael Lüder
In Kateryna Turenko’s photographs, the sense of arrival in the present becomes tangibly real. During the first months after fleeing Ukraine, she focused her lens on familiar paths in Berlin and on people close to her. Using a technique of double exposure, she created visual tension between homeland and foreign land, inside and outside, past and present. Her photographic works open a poetic window into the new everyday life.
Rula, Ali, My language is not my daughter’s language, 2024, Fabric and furniture, Courtesy of the artist © Michael Lüder
Rula Ali’s installation, composed of fabric strips printed with German words in Arabic phonetic transcription, centered on the theme of language acquisition and cultural integration. The work underscores language as a vital tool for communication and a key to overcoming misunderstandings in a new cultural context. Ali’s installation clearly highlights the essential role of language in enabling inclusion and participation.
Azar Pajuhandé, 500 Bathers, 2021, 360 drawings, Ink and pigment on cloth, Courtesy of the artist © Michael Lüder
With 360 small-scale ink drawings of nude female bodies, Azar Pajuhandé engaged with the visual legacy of bath scenes in Western art history. Her immersive installation questioned the construction of femininity, cultural identity, and the power dynamics embedded in the depiction of women. Pajuhandé’s work created space for a critical reflection on gender images in contemporary art.
aaajiao, 放心 integriert / 一般 qualifiziert / 不放心 nicht integriert / 放心 integrated / 一般 qualified / 不放心 not integrated, 2024, Transfer sticker, Courtesy of the artist © Michael Lüder
In his conceptual work, aaajiao turned attention to the often absurd and dehumanizing bureaucratic processes encountered by migrants in host countries. As a member of an ethnic minority in Germany, he revealed the violence of language embedded in institutional structures. The confrontation between two languages became for him a symbol of invisible power and the fear these mechanisms evoke in individuals. His work poignantly highlights the psychological burden of arrival in a new country.