Guide To Berlin Art Week 2025: Our Top Picks

Last Updated on January 16, 2026

Every September, Berlin transforms into a vibrant cultural playground, and 2025 is no different. The 14th edition of Berlin Art Week takes place from September 10-14, 2025, bringing together more than 100 locations across the city for five days of contemporary art immersion.

One of my biggest challenges every year is simply deciding on what to see. Of course, you can see the official website for the full list of events and openings. But if you want to save time. I’ve gone ahead and done some of the curation already for you.

Whether you’re a seasoned collector, emerging artist, or curious art enthusiast, this comprehensive guide will help you navigate one of Europe’s most dynamic art festivals.

What Makes Berlin Art Week Special

Berlin Art Week is always one of my favorite events of the year. And if you like art, then it will probably be great for you too.

Berlin Art Week unites 200+ galleries, museums, and independent spaces across Mitte, Kreuzberg, and Charlottenburg, creating a city-wide celebration of contemporary art.

Unlike many art fairs that confine themselves to convention centers, Berlin Art Week spreads throughout the city’s diverse neighborhoods, each offering its own unique artistic perspective and cultural flavor.

The festival has grown significantly since its inception, establishing Berlin as a major international art destination that rivals Paris, London, and New York. What sets it apart is its accessibility and democratic approach to art – many events are free and open to all, making contemporary art approachable for everyone.

Gallery Districts

The festival spreads across Berlin’s most vibrant neighborhoods:

Mitte: Home to established galleries and major institutions, offering a mix of blue-chip and emerging artists.

Kreuzberg: Known for its alternative and experimental spaces, perfect for discovering cutting-edge contemporary work.

Charlottenburg: Features both traditional and contemporary galleries, often showcasing established international artists.

Key Dates, Openings & Events

Opening Day: Wednesday, September 10th

Berlin Art Week 2025 kicks off on September 10th, setting the tone for the five-day festival, with major art institutions launching their special exhibitions simultaneously across the city.

Petrit Halilaj – An Opera Out of Time

• When: Opening, Wednesday, September 10, 19-22:00
• Berlin Art Week Hours: September 11 & 12 10-20:00, September 13 & 14 11-18:00
• Exhibition until May 31, 2026
• Where: Hamburger Bahnhof | Invalidenstraße 50, 10557 Mitte | Map

Hamburger Bahnhof presents Petrit Halilaj’s first major institutional solo exhibition in Berlin, centered on his debut opera created in collaboration with the Kosovo Philharmonic on the occasion of its 25th anniversary. Rooted in the legendary archaeological site of Syrigana near his hometown of Runik, the opera is reconfigured into a site-specific installation within the Rieckhallen—recently reopened in 2024—and will be activated through performances during Berlin Art Week. Alongside this new work, the exhibition features drawings, sculptures, and five large-scale installations spanning different phases of Halilaj’s practice, offering insight into his expansive and poetic world-building.

The Red Queen Effect

• Opening: September 10, 18-22:00
• Berlin Art Week Hours: September 11 & 12 14-20:00, September 13 & 14 12-20:00
• Exhibition until November 30th, 2025
• Where: Schering Stiftung | Unter den Linden 32—34, 10117 Mitte | Map

Opening on September 10, 2025, at the Schering Stiftung, The Red Queen Effect by artist duo ›kennedy+swan‹ critically examines the role of artificial intelligence in medicine and its impact on how we see and understand the human body. Exploring the algorithmic gaze that classifies tissue and predicts disease, the exhibition raises urgent questions about autonomy, trust, and responsibility when diagnoses are shaped by opaque systems. Taking its title from Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland—and the evolutionary concept of constant adaptation—the show reflects on the pressures of technological acceleration and the inequalities embedded in data-driven healthcare.

Christelle Oyiri: Dead God Flow | CEL: Foundations

• Opening: Wednesday, September 10, 18-22:00
• Berlin Art Week Hours: September 11-14, 12-20:00
• Exhibition: until October 19, 2025
• Where: Cank | Anzengruberstraße 25, 12043 Neukölln | Map

LAS Art Foundation debuts two visionary projects at Cank, a former 1950s shopping center in Neukölln: Christelle Oyiri’s newly commissioned audiovisual installation Dead God Flow and the CEL collective’s event series Foundations. Though distinct in form, both works explore resilience, identity, and future-making, weaving together sound, performance, and collective experience to invite visitors into new modes of participation and dialogue. Staged on the second floor of Cank, these projects transform the site into a dynamic platform where art, music, and community converge.

Humans in Transit—Stories of refugees in Libya and on the Mediterranean Sea (2015—2025)

• Opening: September 10, 18:00
• Berlin Art Week Hours: September 11 10-18:00, September 12 10-22:00, September 13 & 14, 12-20:00
• Where: Refuge Worldwide | Niemetzstraße 1, 12055 Neukölln | Map
• Entry: free

Humans in Transit presents the faces and voices of 400 people whose lives have been irrevocably shaped by their search for safety, drawing on testimonies shared with Médecins Sans Frontières over the past decade—from Libya and the Mediterranean Sea to rescue vessels at the brink of disaster. To protect identities, names, and details have been omitted, but the stories, edited for clarity, speak powerfully on their own. Four artists have created portraits that give a face to every testimony, transforming anonymous statistics into vivid reminders of resilience in the face of abuse, violence, and displacement. Refugees themselves have been active collaborators throughout, with artists, filmmakers, and actors of refugee or migrant backgrounds shaping a collective act of storytelling that reclaims ownership and honors the humanity, dignity, and spirit behind each story.

Mark Leckey: Enter Thru Medieval Wounds

• Opening: September 10, 18-22:00
• Berlin Art Week Hours: September 11-14, 12-18:00
• Exhibition until May 3rd, 2026
• Where: Julia Stoschek Foundation Berlin |Leipziger Straße 60, 10117 Mitte | Map

The Julia Stoschek Foundation in Berlin presents Mark Leckey: Enter Thru Medieval Wounds, one of the most extensive solo exhibitions of the British artist to date. Bringing together key video works from the Julia Stoschek Collection (1999–2010) with more recent pieces, the exhibition offers a sweeping insight into Leckey’s practice, from his iconic portrait of British rave culture Fiorucci Made Me Hardcore (1999) to Cinema-in-the-Round (2006–08), the project that earned him the Turner Prize. Spanning nearly three decades, Enter Thru Medieval Wounds examines the intersections of youth and pop culture, social class, technology, and the shaping of memory and desire through media.

SepIssy Wood—Magic Bullet

• When: September 10, 18-22:00
• Berlin Art Week Hours: September 11 & 12 14-19:00, September 13 & 14 11-19:00
• Exhibition until January 25, 2026
• Where: Schinkel Pavillon | Oberwallstraße 32, 10117 Mitte | Map

In fall 2025, the Schinkel Pavillon will stage the first large-scale solo exhibition in Germany by British artist Issy Wood (b. 1993), unveiling a new series created in direct response to the site’s striking architecture. Known for her lush, unsettling paintings—whether on canvas or velvet-covered furniture—Wood blends sharp observation with irony, once dubbing herself a “medieval millennial.” Her old-masterly style oscillates between realism and surrealism, producing what critic Barry Schwabsky has called a “perverse realism,” both seductive and disquieting. Mining sources that range from iPhone snapshots to estate catalogs and forgotten films, Wood transforms commodities, luxury objects, and archaic symbols into layered surrogates for contemporary fears and desires.

Gallery Night: Thursday, September 11th

Berlin Art Week invites all night owls to Gallery Night on September 11, 2025, in cooperation with Gallery Weekend Berlin. This is one of the festival’s most popular events, where galleries stay open late into the evening, offering visitors the chance to experience art in a more intimate, after-hours atmosphere. (Postdamer Str & Hackesher Markt are a few great areas to explore!)

Daniel Hölzl – PROPEL

• Opening: September 11, 18-22:00
• Berlin Art Week Hours: September 12 & 13, 11—18:00 September 14 12-18:00
• Exhibition until October 25, 2025
• Where: Dittrich Schlectriem | Linienstraße 23, 10178 Mitte | Map

DITTRICH & SCHLECHTRIEM present PROPEL, Daniel Hölzl’s second solo exhibition with the gallery, expanding on the material and conceptual explorations he introduced in GROUNDED (2022). Known for his multidisciplinary practice that fuses sculptural engineering with ephemerality, Hölzl engages critically with the systems and materials that define modern life, tracing cycles of transformation, industrial memory, and ecological consciousness.

Alexander Graf von Schlieffen: Painting and Astrology

• Opening: September 11, 18-21:00
• Berlin Art Week Hours: by appointment only September 12 14-18:00, September 13 & 14 11-18:00
• Exhibition until November 2025
• Where: The Feuerle Collection | Hallesches Ufer 70, 10963 Kreuzberg | Map

The Feuerle Collection presents a four-part cycle of exhibitions and astrological lectures by painter and astrologer Alexander Graf von Schlieffen, curated by Désiré Feuerle, weaving together Renaissance-inspired symbolism, contemporary painting, and philosophical reflections on the Age of Air. Staged in the atmospheric Silk Room, each chapter pairs von Schlieffen’s richly symbolic works with live lectures on themes ranging from astrological cycles to the hidden meanings of mushrooms and the interconnectedness of life. The result is a deeply sensual and intellectually expansive journey that invites audiences to rediscover contemporary art in dialogue with timeless cosmic rhythms.

Henni Alftan—By the Skin of My Teeth | Andrea Zittel—Public Performance of the Self

• When: Opening Thursday, September 11, 18-22:00
• Berlin Art Week: September 12 & 13 11-18:00, September 14 12-18:00
• Exhibition until October 25th
• Where: Sprüth Magers | Oranienburger Straße 18, 10178 Mitte | Map

Henni Alftan’s practice delves deeply into the medium of painting, probing its history and methods while distilling the essence of everyday life into images that feel at once familiar and uncanny. Through observation and deduction, she creates precise figurative works defined by a deliberate economy of means, where shifts in scale, perspective, and texture transform the ordinary into something quietly strange. For Berlin Art Week, Monika Sprüth and Philomene Magers are pleased to present a solo exhibition of new paintings alongside Alftan’s drawings, shown for the first time, offering fresh insight into her singular vision.

Adam Pendleton: spray light layer emerge

• When: September 11, 18-22:00
• Berlin Art Week September 12, 13 & 14 11-18:00
• Exhibition until November 2, 2025
• Where: Pace at Die Tankstelle | Bülowstraße 18, 10783 Schöneberg | Map

Adam Pendleton, a central figure in contemporary American painting, continually redefines abstraction through a process-driven practice that blurs the boundaries between painting, drawing, and photography. Beginning with works on paper—layered with paint, spray paint, ink, watercolor, text fragments, and geometric forms—he photographs and reconfigures them through screen-printing to create paintings that embody his conviction in painting as a vital visual and conceptual force. On the first floor, his Black Dada series presents diptychs on black-gessoed grounds, where single letters from the phrase “Black Dada” act as figures within compositions animated by drips, sprays, and splatters. These works, simultaneously conceptual and expressionistic, probe ideas of Blackness and abstraction while foregrounding surface, edge, and compositional logic.

Katharina Grosse – High Noon Lumen

• 
  When: Opening September 11, 18-22:00
• Berlin Art Week: September 12 & 13 11-18:00, September 14 12-18:00
• Exhibition until November 1, 2025
• Where: Galerie Max Hetzler | Bleibtreustraße 45, 10623 Charlottenburg | Map

Galerie Max Hetzler is pleased to present HIGH NOON LUMEN, a new series of paintings by Katharina Grosse, marking her fourth exhibition with the gallery and following an extraordinary year of major presentations. Renowned for her immersive, large-scale interventions that drench architecture, landscapes, and objects in explosive color, Grosse pushes painting beyond its traditional limits, using a spray gun to merge immediacy, scale, and physical presence. In this new body of work, she restricts her palette to the charged interplay of orange and green, two hues whose volatile tension destabilizes the canvas, producing images that seem to hover above their support rather than adhere to it.

Maximal—Remise in Wrangelkiez

• When: Opening September 11, 1-22:00
• Berlin Art Week Hours: Septmber 12 16-22:00, September 13 13-20:00, September 14 13-18:00
• Where: Remise im Wrangelkiez | Wrangelstraße 52, 10997 Kreuzberg | Map

Maximal transforms a soon-to-be-demolished industrial remise at Wrangelstr. 52 in Kreuzberg into a site of “maximum artistic density.” Curated by Sophia Süßmilch and Cathrin Hoffmann, with co-curator Susann Rezniczek, the exhibition brings together nearly 40 Berlin-based and international artists—both established and emerging—for an intense showcase that explores visibility, reception, and the precarious state of free artistic spaces in the city. Positioned between a Catholic church and a mosque in the Wrangelkiez neighborhood, the project confronts gentrification and the loss of unrenovated cultural sites, offering visitors an opening reception, a performance night, and a dense constellation of works that turn the building’s impending demolition into a catalyst for creative urgency and reflection.

Zsófia Keresztes: The Chamomile Protocol

• Opening: September 11, 18-22:00
• Exhibition until October 12, 2025
• Where: König Telegraphenamt | Monbijoustr 13, 10117 Mitte | Map

König Telegraphenamt presents The Chamomile Protocol, the second solo exhibition by Hungarian artist Zsófia Keresztes with the gallery. Internationally recognized for her sensuous sculptures clad in mosaics and paired with soft textiles, Keresztes delves into themes of identity, transformation, and interconnectedness. In this new body of work, she expands her exploration of how bodies and relationships operate as coded systems—at once tender and precise, mutable yet governed by unseen rules.

Friday, September 12th

›Alucinación‹ by Sofía Reyes

• When: Opening: September 12, 18–22:00
• Berlin Art Week Hours September 11–14, 11-19:00
• Exhibition until November 16, 2025
• Where: Between Bridges | Adalbertstraße 43, 10179 Kreuzberg | Map

Alucinación by Sofía Reyes (*1982, Bogotá, Colombia) unfolds as a fragmented visual essay—a collage that turns the banality of everyday life into a site of reflection on identity, perception, and meaning. Described by the artist as “portrait, document, test, love letter, diagnosis, and cry for help—all at once,” the exhibition emerges from her expanded notion of the self-portrait, where identity is shaped by the relentless flow of data, images, and thoughts. What might seem cynical is instead marked by a cool tenderness: an innocence stripped of naivety, grounded in distant compassion rather than sentimentality.

Sending Hate—Most Dismal Swamp

• Opening: September 12 18-22:00
• Berlin Art Week Hours: September 13 & 14 14-18:00
• Exhibition until October 19, 2025
• Where: Number 1 Main Road | Ossastraße 21A, 12045 Neukölln | Map

Picture it: you’re late to clock in for your Patreon-sponsored internship at the local kindergarten for content creators’ children, where feral little ones clamor to share their first hot takes. Sending Hate, a multimedia installation by Most Dismal Swamp, drops viewers into this warped vision of a near-future workplace, blurring satire and speculation.

Saturday, September 13th

Cornelia Parker. Stolen Thunder (A Storm Gathering)

• Opening: September 13, 18-21:00
• Berlin Art Week Hours: September 14, 12-18:00
• Where: Kindl | Am Sudhaus 3, 12053 Neukölln | Map

Cornelia Parker plays with the themes of deconstruction and transformation in her practice, and often subjectis everyday objects to violent processes. At Kindl, she presents a site-specific work for the monumental Kesselhaus.

Industrial Witchcraft

• Opening: September 12, 18-22:00
• Berlin Art Week Hours: September 13 & 14 12-20:00
• Exhibition until November 2, 2025
• Where: Die Möglichkeit einer Insel | Inselstraße 7, 10179 Mitte | Map

Industrial Witchcraft is self-described as “a trans-Marxist, non-binary girlie show for all Mother Suspirias of tomorrow”. As part of Featured 2025, exhibiting artists include Bless, Marc Brandenburg, Döbereiner/Rehnert, Eliza Douglas, Harun Farocki, Stephanie Kloss, SM van der Linden, Julia Schmelzer, and Cosey Fanni Tutti.

Sunday, September 14th

Boros Collection Open House

• Open House: September 14, 13–18:00
• Where: Boros Collection | Reinhardtstraße 20, 10117 Mitte | Map
• No registration required. Tickets at the door. Admission per person: €15 (€10 reduced)

On the final day of Berlin Art Week, the last Open House of the current collection presentation invites visitors to explore the private collection of Karen and Christian Boros freely and without prior registration. Spread across five levels of the former air-raid shelter, the exhibition is accompanied by the mediation team, who will offer in-depth insights through personal conversations.

More Must-Visit Venues & Exhibitions

Hallen #6

• When: September 6-14 11-20:00
• Where: Wilhelm Hallen | Kopenhagener Str. 60-72, 13407 Reinickendorf | Map
• Tickets here.

Since its founding in 2020, HALLEN has become a central platform for contemporary art in Berlin, and from September 2025 it returns for the sixth time as part of Berlin Art Week. Spanning more than 9,000 square meters, the exhibition showcases an expansive selection of works by international artists, reflecting some of the most exciting and diverse currents in contemporary practice. Beyond the art itself, HALLEN offers a vibrant program of concerts, performances, children’s activities, and culinary experiences, making the 2025 edition not only a highlight of Berlin Art Week but also a dynamic meeting point for audiences of all ages.

Positions Berlin Art Fair

• When: September 11 18-21:00, September 12 14-20:00, September 13 11-19:00, September 14 11-18:00
• Where: Flughafen Tempelhof | Hangar 7, 12101 Tempelhof | Map

The 12th edition of Positions Berlin Art Fair opens at Berlin-Tempelhof Airport, housed in the historic former airport. The POSITIONS Berlin Art Fair features a dynamic mix of contemporary and modern works, providing a unique window into the ever-evolving world of international art. More info & tickets here.

Berlin Art Week Parties

Kennedy Swan Screening & Party

• When: September 11, 2025, 18:00-open end
• Where: Studio 1111 | Potsdamer Str. 96, 10785 Tiergarten | Map

On September 11, 2025, Berlin Art Link kicks off Berlin Art Week with a one-night exhibition and party at Studio IIII as part of the club’s Gallery Night series. The evening begins with an immersive presentation of kennedy+swan’s four-channel video The Red Queen Effect, which will transform the venue’s main bar into a cinematic environment from 7–10 pm, complete with full audio. After 10 pm, the night shifts into a party featuring a performance by Cosmica Bandida and a live DJ set by FRZNTE, while a silent projection of kennedy+swan’s work continues until 1 am.

The Loft presents Soft Power

• Party: Friday, September 12th, 17-05:00
• Exhibition: September 10-14 12-19:00
• Where: Haus der Visionäre | Eichenstraße 4A, 12435 Alt-Treptow | Map

Soft Power is a site-specific installation that weaves together historical Persian amphorae from the 16th to 19th centuries, lush floral arrangements, and a specially composed 360° soundscape to create an immersive dialogue on cultural memory and transnational feminist resistance. Referencing the Woman, Life, Freedom movement in Iran, the work transforms these vessels into symbols of remembrance while enveloping visitors in a sonic environment that deepens the atmosphere and invites collective reflection.

Friday night features a party with music by Panorama Bar’s Lakuti, Leafar Legov, Trevor Deep Jr, Mike D & more. 20€. RSVP here.

Berlin Art Week Garden

• Berlin Art Week Hours: September 10, 18:30-22:00, September 11-14, 17:30-20:30,
• Hamburger Bahnhof | Invalidenstraße 50, 10557 Mitte | Map

Across five days, the green outdoor space in front of Hamburger Bahnhof will host performances, talks, screenings, workshops, and DJ sets, with evenings dedicated to sundowner sessions curated by the nomadic collective Trauma. Known for challenging art-world hierarchies and championing subcultural and marginalized practices since its founding in 2018, Trauma brings together some of Berlin’s most dynamic music scenes.

September 10: DJ Killing for Royal Highness

September 11: Taylor Cherry for Gift

September 12: Aliar for Phantom

September 13: Adam Munnings B2B Elninodiablo for Lunchbox Candy

September 14: DJ Soulseek for African Acid is the Future

Perform Festival at Neue Nationalgalerie

From September 10–14, 2025, the Neue Nationalgalerie hosts the fourth edition of PERFORM!, its annual festival of performance art, presented free of charge during Berlin Art Week. This year’s program brings together seminal and newly commissioned works by Joan Jonas, Isaac Chong Wai, vAL, and Yoko Ono, staged on the museum’s terrace as accessible, public encounters between art and audience.

• September 11-13 5:15-5:45 & September 14 16:15-16:45: Joan Jonas – Mirror Piece I & II (1969/2025)
• September 14 14:30: vAL – Bellied (2025)
• September 14 15:30: Isaac Chong Wai – Falling Reversely (2021/2024)
• September 14 17-17:15: Yoko Ono – Bells For Peace

Insider Tips

Start Early: Begin your days early to avoid crowds, especially at popular venues and exhibitions.

Go neighborhood by neighborhood: Berlin is geographically huge so you can waste a lot of time going back and forth between the popular areas. You can easily cut down on this by picking one area at a time to focus on.

Use the Festival Garden: The Berlin Art Week Garden is the central point of contact for all information about the festival. Stop by for updated schedules, maps, and insider recommendations.

Gallery Night Strategy: Gallery Night on September 11 is incredibly popular. Plan your route in advance and consider starting in less central locations before moving to the main gallery districts.

Connect with Locals: Berlin’s art scene is known for being welcoming and inclusive. Don’t hesitate to strike up conversations with gallery staff, artists, and fellow visitors.

Mix High and Low: Balance visits to major institutions with smaller, independent spaces. Some of the most exciting discoveries happen in project spaces and artist-run galleries.

Berlin Art Week 2025 | Final Thoughts

Berlin Art Week invites visitors to discover, engage with, and discuss contemporary art in Berlin. The festival represents everything that makes Berlin special: accessibility, diversity, creativity, and a democratic approach to culture. With more than 100 locations across the city participating, the 2025 edition promises to be an unforgettable celebration of contemporary art.

Mark your calendar for September 10-14, 2025, and prepare to immerse yourself in one of Europe’s most dynamic art festivals. Whether you spend all five days exploring or just drop in for a gallery night, Berlin Art Week offers an unparalleled opportunity to experience the pulse of contemporary art in one of the world’s most culturally rich cities.

For the most up-to-date information on specific exhibitions, venues, and programming, visit the official Berlin Art Week website closer to the festival dates.

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