Sung Tieu Recreates Childhood Housing Estate at Venice Biennale

At the German Pavilion of the Venice Biennale, artist Sung Tieu has reconstructed the Gehrenseestrasse housing estate in Berlin where she grew up, to highlight the forgotten history of Vietnamese contract workers in East Germany. The estate, now abandoned and gutted, once housed migrants like Tieu's parents under a socialist agreement between East Germany and Vietnam. Tieu recalls sharing a single bed with her mother for three years in a 2m x 90cm room. The installation confronts the legacy of these workers, who were later abandoned after German reunification. The work is part of the German Pavilion exhibition, curated by Çağla Ilk, and runs through November 22, 2026.