‘So Dreams Are a Defence Against Darkness’ at Galerie oqbo: A Politics of Visibility by HGB Leipzig Graduates
“Dreams are a defense against darkness” the title summarises the thinking the exhibition carries. Galerie oqbo opens with a vernissage Friday evening: a group exhibition bringing together the work of eighteen artists from Anna Ehrenstein’s class at HGB Leipzig, whose visual art practices proceed from queer, decolonial, and power-critical perspectives.
A Class’s Collective Voice
The background of the exhibition is noteworthy: this emerges not from a commercial or institutional context but from the collective voice of an educational community. HGB (Hochschule für Grafik und Buchkunst) Leipzig is one of Germany’s established art schools; Anna Ehrenstein is an artist and pedagogue well known in Berlin too.
This kind of graduation or class exhibition is often received with scepticism in the gallery world seen as practices “not yet fully formed.” But the frame here is different: there is a conceptual position that directly addresses the production, denial, and displacement of visibility. That position sharpens as it exits the school because the visibility regimes inside the school are also among the subjects of this work.
Visibility Politics
“Visibility” has long been a central topic in queer theory and decolonial thought. Who is seen, who is not? Which bodies, identities, and practices are considered to have the right to exist in public space? When these questions are carried into a work of art, the work itself becomes both a claim and an intervention.
Galerie oqbo
This gallery on Brunnenstraße is one of the strong voices in Berlin’s independent gallery scene. Its programme tends more toward supporting new and distinctive practices than retrospectives of established names.
FAQ: “So Dreams Are a Defense Against Darkness”
- When and where?
Vernissage: Friday 24 July 2026 (evening). Exhibition: 25 July – 1 August 2026. Galerie oqbo, Brunnenstraße 9, 10119 Berlin.
- Who are the artists?
Eighteen artists from Anna Ehrenstein’s class at HGB Leipzig: Lisa Mayr, Liva Voigt, Luki Haak, Okezi Iteire, Max Grund, Leif Klinger, Mimo Rapp, Nadine Aber, Toto Wolsky, Sarah Letalik, Raga Rahman, Susanna Cutini, Aurore Plassais, Genesis Kahveci, Dimitrios Mavroudis, Florence Kallenborn, Carla Maruscha Fellenz, and Jonna Sophie Baumann.
- What theme connects the exhibition?
The production, denial, and displacement of visibility proceeding from queer, decolonial, and power-critical perspectives.
NO-26 Note
Short but intense only one week until 1 August. Plan ahead for the Friday vernissage.
