Last week KW29 saw König Galerie and Semjon Contemporary open in quick succession. This week, KW30 spreads Berlin’s vernissage calendar across Wednesday and Thursday. Two strong galleries in different districts and at different scales present new exhibitions — and both are loaded with significant conceptual questions.
1. Zilberman Gallery Berlin — “Zilberman Unfold’26: Sites of Relation”
Vernissage: Wednesday 22 July 18:00 | Exhibition: 23 July – 22 August 2026
The 2026 edition of Zilberman’s annual open-call programme “Unfold” is at a historic turning point: for the first time, Berlin and Istanbul open simultaneously with artists selected by a single international jury.
*Sites of Relation*: every artistic practice is situated — in a place, a history, a web of dependencies. That positioning does not remain external to a work; it enters its material, form, and meaning. The works in the exhibition engage with places, urban transformation, touch and impression, and the social conditioning of the body.
Eleven artists in Berlin: Jamal Ageli, Eight Fang, Philipp Farra, Gabriela Lesmes López, Isabel Monti, Elif Muhit, Vitalii Shupliak, Lotta Stubenrauch, Elvan Tekin, Johannes Thiel, and Alungoo Xatan. Jury from Berlin, Frankfurt am Main, Istanbul, and New York: Ceren Erdem, Britta Färber, Anna-Catharina Gebbers, Enis Karavil, İz Öztat, and Aybüke Sanuç.
The same exhibition opens 25 July in Beyoğlu — in the Mısır Apartmanı. The most concrete expression of the Istanbul-Berlin bridge this year.
2. Galerie Sandau — Danny Linwerk: “Glücksflüchter”
Vernissage: Thursday 23 July 18:00–20:00 | Exhibition: 24 July – 5 September 2026
At Tucholskystraße 38, in the heart of Mitte. Danny Linwerk’s exhibition at Galerie Sandau carries the title *Glücksflüchter*: fleeing from both luck and happiness, or drifting away from both in the act of trying to grasp them.
Linwerk is a painter working in large formats — colour intensity, monumentality, and plasticity are the three defining qualities of his practice. Works described as generating “images of great urgency and immediacy” carry a continuing energy rather than static weight, despite their dimensions.
Practical Route: Wednesday + Thursday
Wednesday 22 July:
Zilberman Gallery vernissage, 18:00. Goethestraße 82, at the edge of Charlottenburg, U2/U9 to Zoologischer Garten or S-Bahn to Savignyplatz.
Thursday 23 July:
Galerie Sandau vernissage, 18:00–20:00. Tucholskystraße 38, Mitte. Around 5 km between the two venues — approximately 15 minutes by transit (S-Bahn + U-Bahn or direct U2).
Can both be done in one day?
No — the two shows open on different days. But planning Wednesday–Thursday is a way to step into Berlin’s active gallery scene in two moves over the middle of the week.
FAQ: This Week in Berlin
- What are the two priority gallery openings in KW30?
Zilberman Gallery *Sites of Relation* (Wednesday vernissage, 22 July, Goethestraße 82) and Galerie Sandau *Glücksflüchter* (Thursday vernissage, 23 July, Tucholskystraße 38). Both run through August or into September.
- Is Zilberman also opening in Istanbul?
Yes. Zilberman Unfold’26 *Sites of Relation* opens under the same theme 25 July – 22 August 2026 in Istanbul Beyoğlu at the Mısır Apartmanı.
- What other Berlin exhibitions are still running this week?
König Galerie: Arghavan Khosravi (until 30 August) and Jordy Kerwick (until 2 September); C/O Berlin: Walter Schels + *The Lure of the Image* (until 2 September); Gropius Bau: Marina Abramović (until 30 August). All strong programmes continuing from previous weeks.
NO-26 Note
KW30 spreads Berlin’s gallery world across two days between Charlottenburg and Mitte. Zilberman’s *Sites of Relation* opening in both Istanbul and Berlin this year coincides with a week when NO:26 is looking at both cities simultaneously. Seeing one show there and the other here now carries considerably more meaning.
