The 13th Berlin Biennale for Contemporary Art has transformed the city into a stage for fugitive gestures, fragile truths, and urgent questions about survival in times of crisis. Running until September 14, 2025, this edition—titled “das flüchtige weitergeben” (Passing On in Flight)—brings together over 60 artists and more than 170 works across four venues in Berlin.
Inspired by the foxes roaming Berlin’s urban landscape, curator Zasha Colah invites visitors to think about resistance, transience, and carrying cultural traces forward. From large institutions to a former courthouse, the Biennale asks: What does it mean to be fugitive today?
Key Biennale Exhibition Venues
Just a 5-minute walk from KW, this historic theatre-turned-performance space adds a performative dimension to the Biennale.
The heart of the Biennale and a great starting point for your art walk.
1. KW Institute for Contemporary Art (Berlin-Mitte)
Address: Auguststraße 69, 10117 Berlin
Opening Hours: Tue–Sun 11:00–19:00 (closed Mon)
2. Sophiensaele (Berlin-Mitte)
Just a 5-minute walk from KW, this historic theatre-turned-performance space adds a performative dimension to the Biennale.
Address: Sophienstraße 18, 10178 Berlin
Opening Hours: Tue–Sun 11:00–19:00 (closed Mon)
3. Hamburger Bahnhof – Nationalgalerie der Gegenwart (Berlin-Moabit)
One of Berlin’s largest venues for contemporary art, presenting large-scale works and installations.
Address: Invalidenstraße 50–51, 10557 Berlin
Opening Hours: Tue–Fri 10:00–18:00, Sat–Sun 11:00–18:00 (closed Mon)
4. Former Courthouse, Lehrter Straße (Berlin-Moabit)
A raw, atmospheric space that connects art with Berlin’s layered histories. Conveniently close to Hamburger Bahnhof—only a 7-minute walk.
Address: Lehrter Straße 60, 10557 Berlin
Opening Hours: Tue–Sun 11:00–19:00 (closed Mon)
Suggested Biennale Art Walk
- Start at KW Institute for Contemporary Art (Mitte) – Begin with works that set the intellectual and artistic tone of the Biennale.
- Stroll to Sophiensaele (Mitte) – A short, scenic walk through the heart of Berlin where performance and installations challenge notions of visibility.
- Head to Hamburger Bahnhof (Moabit) – After a coffee, make your way west to this expansive museum for large-scale, monumental works.
- End at the Former Courthouse (Moabit) – Close the loop with an intimate venue resonating with themes of justice, memory, and resistance.
This route is roughly 5 km and doable in a single day with breaks. A single ticket gives access to all venues for the entire Biennale period.
Highlights Not to Miss
- Steve McQueen – cinematic reflections on memory and political urgency.
- Milica Tomić – examining who benefits from art in a global system.
- Han Bing – reviving his Walking the Cabbage performance as satire in Berlin.
- Sawangwongse Yawnghwe – visualizing histories of displacement and resistance.
- Gernot Wieland – weaving narrative, memory, and humor.
- Jane Jin Kaisen – engaging with transnational histories and trauma.
- Yoshiko Shimada – addressing gender, war memory, and activism.
- Htein Lin – paintings born from imprisonment in Myanmar: after taking part in the 1988 protests, he was jailed for seven years and painted on bedsheets with improvised tools like soap.
Practical Information for your Biennale visit
Dates: Until September 14, 2025
Tickets: One ticket grants access to all Biennale venues throughout the exhibition period.
Tip: Start early—most venues close by 19:00.
Why the 13th Berlin Biennale Matters
In times of persecution, militarization, and ecocide, art at the Biennale is both evidence and movement—fragile yet resistant, personal yet political. Like the city foxes that inspired this edition, the works slip between visibility and invisibility, leaving traces for us to carry on.
For more hidden gems of art in Berlin
My ArtBerlin map will help you find inspiring art places. As the museums offer free admission, but not every day or weekly, I also highlighted the days and opening hours, when you can get in without entrance fee. From galleries to museums, shops, arty restaurants, cafés, bars and art associations, you will find boundless options for every budget.
Thanks for the pics: Raisa Galofre, Diana Pfammatter, Eike Walkenhorst, Eberle & Eisfeld, Eike Walkenhorst, and Aristidis Schnelzer.
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