Arbeit am Gedächtnis: Transforming Archives at Akademie der Künste Berlin

For its 325th anniversary, the Akademie der Künste in Berlin presents 'Arbeit am Gedächtnis – Transforming Archives', an exhibition that reexamines the political and critical value of memory. Thirteen artists, including members and fellows, reinterpret archival materials from the institution's storerooms, creating autonomous spaces with large-scale installations, videos, and sound works. The show challenges revisionist historical narratives and works toward decolonizing knowledge. Artists include Candice Breitz, Cemile Sahin, Thomas Heise, Eduardo Molinari, Ulrike Draesner, Mirosław Bałka, Matana Roberts, Cécile Wajsbrot, Alexander Kluge, Arnold Dreyblatt, Robert Wilson, Susann Maria Hempel, and Jennifer Walshe. Breitz's 'Digest' (2019) features 1001 sealed VHS tapes, while Sahin critiques media propaganda in Iraq. Heise explores the East German equivalent of the Akademie after reunification. The exhibition also references figures like Walter Benjamin and Edgar Reitz, and addresses themes of violence, colonialism, civil rights, exile, and mourning. The venue itself, the Akademie der Künste on Pariser Platz, is implicated in the histories of Nazism, the Holocaust, and the Cold War, having merged with its East German counterpart 35 years ago. The show runs until September 19, 2021.