Notes From Berlin Art Week 2026

Last Updated on September 16, 2026

Hello friend! I’m trying something new here with a mini Berlin Art Week update. Here are some various notes I made, but I’m also interested in hearing your perspective. Enjoy!

The Italians Got It

Berlin Art Week isn’t officially a competition between various countries. But there’s no question that the Italians ruled the entire game this year. From the showing of the lost Caravaggio to Maurizio Cattelan’s epic Night exhibition, Italian names dominated the top picks at this years art week.

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Thoughts on that Semi-Botched Maurizio Cattelan Opening

Wednesday September 9th marked the opening of Neue Nationalgalerie’s latest exhibition, with the unusual hours from 9-11pm. However, upon arriving it was evident that there were two lines: one for guest list and one for everyone else. The guest list line got priority of course, and from the outside perspective, there were plenty of people on that list. But that, combined with the shorter opening time, meant not that many members of the public actually got to go inside.

This definitely seemed like a rare moment of poor planning on Neue Nationalgalerie’s part. They could have done two openings, one private and one for the public to alleviate this. (Or perhaps not had a public opening at all.) As it was, many hundreds of people left disappointed. (Including me, who did what I thought was my due diligence by arriving 40 minutes ahead of the opening time.)

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The new VIP Lounge

Silencio announced their presence in Berlin with an exclusive afterparty for Mr. Cattelan. Frankly, it’s a relief that someone is taking over the old Watergate space. (Sitting empty last winter, it had been basically taken over by the homeless.) However, the new concept club follows the VIP and membership model that Berlin has so far resisted when it comes to clubs. Only time will tell if this bougie concept can fly in this town.

Admittedly, I’m dying of curiosity to see the redesign, but I can’t help but wonder how lucrative this operation will be overall, considering that Watergate could not make things work there. I’m also curious about the musical programming, but considering the fact that they had Watergate favorite Richie Hawtin at the opening party, it doesn’t seem too much different from Watergate itself.

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Berlin Art Week Themes & Trends

I’m not an art writer by any stretch—just an enthusiastic patron who takes a lot of photos! I set out with out much of a plan of what to see, so it’s always interesting to notice patterns and trends when looking back at my camera roll. Here are some things I noticed:

Themespotting: Lemons

Lemons were everywhere, feeling youthful, fresh and irreverent even when depicted in a classical painting.

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Themespotting: Rocks

Pondering themes of permanence and decay, rocks (and similarly bricks, as seen at Cevdet Erek’s ‘Them and Us’ at neugerriemschneider) were definitely having a moment.

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Themespotting: Full Senses

Art became a multi-sensory experience in many places. Two that were notable to me were David L. Johnson’s bird songs at Galerie Thomas Schulte and the olfactory artwork of Mary Nitulescu at Kwadrat Galerie.

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Themespotting: Thread

The humble thread can become artwork too. I loved the Handmade exhibition at Galerie Deschler, which even included a crochted version of Cattelan’s Comedian by Patricia Waller (pictured on the header) as well as this Ionic Column by Sergio Rosser. Over at Kwadrat Galerie, Dante Buu brought embroidery to a graffiti motif. Typically “handicraft” works like this feel increasingly important and rare in a world of AI slop.

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Trendspotting: Hair

Hair as part of a lamp or bench? It sounds a bit crazy but I was undeniably drawn to these two pieces. They were both part of Currents, Berlin’s new design week, which runs at the same time as Berlin Art Week. I’m generally excited for more focus on design in Berlin but I just hope in the future it gets a different weekend!

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So what about you? What are your thoughts about Berlin Art Week? Any big wins, misses, disappointments or highlights? Drop them in the comments because I’d love to know!