A Visual History of a Neighborhood and Migration: “Kreuzberg: Kunst und Migration seit 1960” at Gropius Bau

The place where the social and cultural transformation experienced by West Germany in the 1960s and ’70s was felt in its most radical, vibrant, and tangible form was undoubtedly Berlin’s Kreuzberg district. The process reshaping West Germany through labor recruitment agreements (Anwerbeabkommen) with countries such as Italy, Greece, and Turkey showed its most visible face locally on the streets of Kreuzberg.

Focusing on this deep-rooted legacy extending from the neighborhood scale to the global plane, Gropius Bau brings together art lovers in autumn with the comprehensive group exhibition titled “Kreuzberg: Kunst und Migration seit 1960” (Kreuzberg: Art and Migration Since 1960). Taking place between September 10, 2026, and January 17, 2027, the exhibition unearths the overlooked cultural production centered on labor migration and the artistic responses artists gave to the tensions of their eras.

Lived Realities and the Struggle for Equality: Over 100 Works

Located right in the heart of Kreuzberg, Gropius Bau brings together over 100 works across film, painting, photography, installation, and performance disciplines in the exhibition. Centering on the lived realities of migrant workers and their subsequent generations, the works shed light on the struggles for equality, acceptance, and existence that still continue today. Bringing together both historical and contemporary productions, the selection reveals the value on an international scale of the artistic output emerging from Kreuzberg.

Extensive Artist Roster

The exhibition features prominent names tracing the footprints of migration, working-class identity, and neighborhood culture:

• Mehmet Aksoy, Eduardo Arroyo, Akbar Behkalam, Cecilia Boisier, Vlassis Caniaris, Nuray Demir, Grazia Eminente, Abuzer Güler, Azade Köker, Colette Lumiere, Mehrangis Montazami-Dabui, Pınar Öğrenci, Jannis Psychopedis, Metin Talayman, Evanthia Tsantila, Aykan Safoğlu, Monika Sieveking, Setareh Shahbazi & Kaya Behkalam, Hanefi Yeter, Serpil Yeter

Curation and Parallel Exhibition

The curation of the exhibition is undertaken by art historian and Manifesta 16 Creative Mediator Gürsoy Doğtaş alongside Gropius Bau Deputy Director of Curatorial Affairs Patrizia Dander (with contributions from Sonja Borstner and Elena Franziska Setzer).

Additionally, running simultaneously with the exhibition, Stadtmuseum Berlin will present the exhibition “Geteiltes Leben. Kunst und Migration in Berlin” to viewers at Museum Ephraim-Palais between September 11, 2026, and February 7, 2027, complementing the traces of migration in the city.