When walking down the street, sitting in a park, or crossing a bridge, do you ever stop to think about whose rules designed those spaces and how they guide us? Monuments, squares, and boundaries in a city are not actually as innocent as they appear; they always harbor power relations behind them. Artist Iván Argote is someone who loves to play with exactly this established order, historical narratives, and power structures. Next month, Spreepark Art Space in Berlin is preparing to host Argote’s solo exhibition “A Place to Stay,” which transforms the public space into a completely civil, participatory, and joyful playground.
The exhibition can be viewed free of charge from July 5 to November 1, 2026, inside the historic Eierhäuschen building located right at the heart of Spreepark.
A Protest Workshop Founded on Children’s Voices: Activissime!
If you assume Iván Argote’s practice is merely comprised of massive sculptures observed from a distance, you are mistaken. At the center of this exhibition lies Activissime!—his long-term project featuring a protest workshop for children that the artist has conducted across different parts of the world for more than 15 years. Argote engages in critical thinking exercises with children and explores how their voices can be made louder within public spaces.
The three films we will watch in the gallery trace the footprints of these children’s workshops across various destinations. The most moving part of the work is that the project’s roots trace back to the artist’s own family. While structuring these workshops, Argote draws inspiration from the active rights struggles and the activist spirit of his mother and father in Colombia during the 1970s. Thus, the exhibition bridges a personal family history with a global solidarity of children.
Not Merely for Observing, But for Settling In
The exhibition’s title, A Place to Stay, reflects directly onto the design of the gallery space. Argote transforms the exhibition hall into a living, warm venue where guests can feel comfortable, lean back to spend time, and where new workshops will even be organized. The artist designs the exhibition not as a sterile white cube where works are simply hung, but as a sanctuary where social bonds are forged.
Sculptures spreading across the outdoor area outside the Eierhäuschen invite visitors directly into physical interaction and discovery. These sculptures are not merely conceptual art objects; they also open a physical transit corridor to the Bridges Spreepark project, which the artist has designed for the future of Spreepark to set the stage for unexpected encounters.
Visitor Note
Iván Argote invites us not to passively consume the public space as mere users, but to perceive it consciously and claim it as our own domain. If you do not want to miss this experience nestled in the middle of the city but slightly outside the system, you can set your calendar in advance.
- Date: July 5 – November 1, 2026
- Venue: SPREEPARK ART SPACE • Eierhäuschen (Kiehnwerder Allee 2, 12437 Berlin)
