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until 28.02. | #4947ARTatBerlin | Galerie Michael Janssen currently presents the exhibition Roots by the artist Manuela Sambo.
Galerie Michael Janssen presents the exhibition ‘Roots’ by Angolan artist Manuela Sambo. For this exhibition, Sambo invited Canadian artist Curtis Talwst Santiago to develop a sound installation. This will be experienced for the first time on the evening of the opening.
At the centre of the show is a monumental mask sculpture that imposingly spans two floors and permeates the gallery space. This impressive installation symbolises the unstoppable spread of roots – independent of time and space. Roots as a metaphor for invisible but nevertheless powerful forces. The mask embodies not only the increasing interpenetration of different cultures in the present, where African and Western traditions interweave, but also personal elements, such as her spiritual inner life and cultural roots, which are becoming increasingly present in her.
Manuela Sambo, Roots, 2026, Installation view Galerie Michael Janssen,
Photo: Lepkowski Studios Berlin.
In addition to this sculptural work, the paintings selected for the exhibition also address the themes of origin and identity, creation and destruction, and traditional collective and universal spiritual knowledge. Sambo’s more recent works are characterised by questions about these aspects, some of which go beyond her own cultural sphere to address universal human conflicts, such as the fate and attitudes of people, especially women, in repressive systems and in war. This occurs on a highly intuitive level, in which symbols appear in the picture that the artist uses more intuitively than consciously. Noteworthy are paintings such as ‘Wake Up, Child!’, which shows a gender-neutral being holding a motionless child in its arms. In another work, two beings – one female and one cat-like with a human face – meet in a protective bubble: eyeless, without direct eye contact, in a non-verbal, deeply spiritual communication.
Manuela Sambo, Roots, 2026, Installation view Galerie Michael Janssen,
Photo: Lepkowski Studios Berlin.
Manuela Sambo, born in Luanda (Angola) and a long-time resident of Berlin, combines African mask traditions with influences from Western art history, which she explores in her artistic work. In 2020, she received the Falkenrot Prize, which included an exhibition at Künstlerhaus Bethanien. In 2024, the Museum für Moderne Kunst Frankfurt/Main (MMK) acquired numerous works for its renowned collection.
Curtis Talwst Santiago was born in 1979 to Trinidadian parents who had emigrated to Edmonton, Canada, and grew up immersed in Caribbean-Canadian culture. His early influences included music, dance and art, shaped by his family and community. Through his paintings and sculptures, Santiago attempts to translate these multifaceted experiences into colour and space, creating compositions that visualise the tensions, harmonies, moods and fluidity of existence across time and space.
A catalogue will be published to accompany the exhibition.
Opening: Friday, 30 January 2026, 6:00–9:00 p.m.
Exhibition dates: Saturday, 31 January – Saturday, 28 February 2026
To the Gallery
Image caption title image: Manuela Sambo, Roots, 2026, Installation view Galerie Michael Janssen, Photo: Lepkowski Studios Berlin.
Exhibition Manuela Sambo – Galerie Michael Janssen | Zeitgenössische Kunst in Berlin | Contemporary Art | Exhibitions Berlin Galleries | ART at Berlin
