10th Berlin Biennale for Contemporary Art: We don’t need another hero

The 10th Berlin Biennale is on view until 9 September at the Akademie der Künste, KW Institute for Contemporary Art, the Volksbühne Pavilion, and the ZK/U – Center for Art and Urbanistics.

The exhibition at the Akademie's Hanseatenweg venue features a temporary structure that links historical and visual elements from two architectural heritage sites to one another historical figure: Sanssouci, a summer palace built from 1745–1747 in Potsdam by King Frederick the Great of Prussia; Sans-Souci Palace in Milot, Haiti, built by King Henri of Haiti from 1810–1813; and Haitian revolutionary leader, Colonel Jean-Baptiste Sans Souci, an enslaved African who led troops in guerrilla fighting against the French in 1791.

The presentation includes works by Agnieszka Brzeżańska, Ana Mendieta, Basir Mahmood, Belkis Ayón, Firelei Báez, Herman Mbamba, Lubaina Himid, Luke Willis Thompson, Lydia Hamann & Kaj Osteroth, Lynette Yiadom-Boakye, Mario Pfeifer, Mimi Cherono Ng'ok, Minia Biabiany, Moshekwa Langa, Oscar Murillo, Özlem Altın, Patricia Belli, Sara Haq, Sondra Perry, and Thierry Oussou.

We don't need another hero is curated by Gabi Ngcobo with a curatorial team composed of Nomaduma Rosa Masilela, Serubiri Moses, Thiago de Paula Souza, and Yvette Mutumba.