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Since its inception, the Carnival of Cultures has shaped Berlin’s cultural identity as a place of diversity, encounter and public appropriation of urban space. Straddling the lines between celebration, political expression and social projection, the event simultaneously raises complex questions of visibility, representation and attribution. The exhibition, which takes place from 13–26 May 2026 at Kunstquartier Bethanien (Studio 1), takes these areas of tension as its starting point and examines the Carnival as a cultural phenomenon situated between liberation and performance.
The exhibition takes as its starting point a central paradox: since its inception in 1996, the Carnival of Cultures has been a place of liberation, where the street is transformed into the city’s greatest stage. Bodies take up space and are allowed to be loud, and the community becomes the focal point of public life. At the same time, the Carnival has established itself as a mirror of exoticising desire: a festival in which ‘cultures’ – or worse still, nations – present themselves, and which stages an idea of authenticity that is nothing more than the reflection of what …
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Image above: Form the Series “Mumienglanz”, © Nancy Torres
