Multi-day Projects
Dani Gal and Ari Benjamin Meyers with guests: Unfolding No. 1 (Live)
1 May – 3 Jun
Performative Process
Unfolding No. 1 is a live musical version of the game “Exquisite Corpse”, which was invented by the surrealists: artists were asked to create a sentence or a drawing collaboratively, with each participant unaware of the contribution made by the person before them. In Unfolding the invited guests record a 3- to 5-minute composition live, which begins with a 30-second recording by the previous guest. The result is a composition lasting approximately 40 minutes.
With Ari Benjamin Meyers and Dani Gal (1 May), Nico von Wersch (3 May), Tony Buck / Magda Mayas (10 May), Manos Tsangaris (15 May), Labour (16 May), Marina Rosenfeld (17 May), Christian Naujoks (25 May)
2–7 pm
Sound Practice Research Collective (SPRK) at the Folkwang University of the Arts
1–3 May
Performances
The Sound Practice Research course within the master’s programme of the Institute for Pop Music at the Folkwang University of the Arts is dedicated, under the direction of artist and musician Jan St. Werner, to the theoretical and practical exploration of sound and music in various dimensions.
2–7 pm
La fête permanente. A mini-Filliou-school
5–10 May
Workshops, Talks, Performances, Concert, DE/EN
2026 marks the 100th birthday of Fluxus artist Robert Filliou (17 Jan 1926–2 Dec 1987). We are celebrating this occasion with a “fête permanente” – a year-long series of itinerant happenings. The meetings are taking place in various European cities, drawing on a network of like-minded individuals connected by a shared creative energy and an interest in Filliou.
Curators: An Paenhuysen and Benedetta Castrioto
With Tomas Bächli, Greta Casà, Charlotte Dualé and Helga Franza
2–7 pm
Hajnal Németh: BREAK DANCE BREAK
5–9 May
Cyclical, repetitive training sessions
Break Dance Break is a mute breakdance training that alternates between recurring phases of warm-up, balance exercise, dance battle, rest and relaxation. Its four participants rely solely on body language to compose a shared poem. This text will be performed aloud on the last day of the breakdance workouts.
B-Girls, B-Boys: Sapphira Taskiran, Nataliia Zhdan, Ruben Engelke, Josei Faltin, Gabriel Manz
5–7 pm
Live on Tape
12 May –7 Jun
Video works
Founded in 1971 on the initiative of artists and cultural creators, the n.b.k. Video-Forum is the oldest video art collection in Germany and one of the largest. For Berlin Carousel, a selection of processual video works by will be on display.
With Joseph Beuys, Frieder Butzmann, Michael Geißler, Mona Hatoum, Nan Hoover, Allan Kaprow, John Miller, Nam June Paik, Lia Perjovschi
Curator: Anna Lena Seiser, n.b.k. Video-Forum
Foyer / Cloakroom
Patrizia Bach Making Drawings
12–17 May
Open Studio
Patrizia Bach, a 2024 Villa Serpentara fellow, takes the medium of drawing seriously as a tool for communication: she engages with Berlin Carousel as an open space by drawing her perceptions of it – sounds, movements, people – without knowing in advance what will happen.
2–7 pm
Andreas Bülhoff and Marc Matter: Spoken Matter Radio
12–15 May
Performances
For one week, the Spoken Matter label is setting up a temporary radio studio for voice-based sound art in the rooms of the Akademie der Künste. During the day, work will be carried out on a live radio programme, which will be performed, together with invited guests, in front of an audience on 14 May and broadcast simultaneously – via an online stream and on the airwaves in the immediate vicinity of the Akademie.
With Alfredo Costa-Monteiro, Adrienne Herr, DJ Shlucht
Artistic support: Silja Beck
2–7 pm
Jeremy Woodruff Discussique: Listening to the Days – den Tagen zuzuhören
19–25 May
Workshops, DE/EN
Discussique: Listening to the Days is a vocal laboratory. Seven professional singers from diverse musical and cultural backgrounds share songs and vocal practices, exploring how time, ritual, language and emotion are embodied in different musical traditions. The audience is invited to witness the process.
Open singing lessons with
Geetha Sridharan: 19 May 2–2:30 pm, South Indian – Carnatic
Vizma Zvaigzne: 19 May 5–5:30 pm, Classical art song
Cağlasu Aslan: 20 May 3–3:30 pm, Türkü
Elisabeth Lanfredini: 21 May 2–2:30 pm, Experimental/Improv
Amir Mardaneh: 21 May 5–5:30 pm, Persian classical (dastgāh)
Maria Ustenko: 22 May 3–3:30 pm, Ukrainian folk
Moussa Coulibaly: 23 May 3–3:30 pm, Griot, Burkina Faso
In cooperation with the Berlin School of Sound
2–7 pm
25 May 5 pm Closing Presentation
Versatorium – Association for Poetry and Translation: Papiertheater
19–24 May
Workshops, DE/DK
The workshops involve reading Inger Christensen’s play En vinteraften i Ufa together, translating it from Danish and rehearsing the piece. It is a play about speaking and about (theatrical) performance. Extended passages of text reference Chekhov’s Three Sisters.
With Sophia Barthelmes, Anna Eble, Marion Maurin, Mathias Müller, Felix Reinstadler
Guests: Norbert Lange, Phillippe Roepsdorff, Liv Thastum, Mathias Traxler
2–7 pm
Ethan Braun
2–7 Jun
Open Studio
Ethan Braun will develop a new piece titled Leverage. Using transducers, Braun will diffuse the piece across the Akademie building – sounding a series of études transcendantes for instrument, voice, electronics and space.
Filming for a non-commercial film project by Steffen Reck: Flachmeer, hohe Kapsel (working title)
2–7 Jun
In a free, essayistic adaptation, a team led by filmmaker Steffen Reck explores the complex textual universe of Ulrich Zieger’s Willkommen und Abschied (Welcome and Farewell) – a poetic “retelling” focused on memory, disappearance, language and the end of thinking.
Nanne Meyer und Eva-Maria Schön: Zugabe, seit 2010
2–7 Jun
Postcard Correspondence, Open Studio, DE
A friendship project of a special kind: although both artists live in Berlin, they have been sending each other hand-designed cards by post for over 25 years, sharing spontaneous thoughts, images or glimpses of the world. The artists’ open studio concludes with a joint performance, a conversation with the artists and two video projections.
6 Jun 4 pm Closing Presentation
Video Projection, Performance and Talk with Helen Adkins
The artists’ open studio concludes with a joint performance, a conversation with the artists and two video projections.
Eva-Maria Schön, Was ich besitze (What I own), 2010
18 people are trying to find their own answer to this question
Was besitzt Du gerne und Was brauchst Du nicht? (What do you like to own, and what don’t you need?)
Eva-Maria Schön interviews guests at the Akademie der Künste