ART IS NOT AN END IN ITSELF
In dialogue with the constructivist Asja Lācis

Curated by Konstanze Schmitt and Mimmi Woisnitza

Exhibition – Discourse – Performance

11.4.-28.6.2026

Art is not an end in itself, connects the avant-garde practices of Latvian theater maker, educator, and revolutionary Asja Lācis with contemporary artistic, scientific, and activist perspectives. A rich program of discoursive and performative events and workshops will bring the exhibition to life during its course.
By & with Margarita Breitkreiz & Christian Filips, Bühnen zu Baustellen|Baustellen zu Bühnen, Alice Creischer, Chto Delat, Cinéma Copains, Zhenya Efros, Contra Filé, Inga Gaile, Federico Geller, Tatjana Hofmann, Susan Ingram, Kollektiv Lauratibor, Ewa Majewska, Meckerchor, Luise Meier, Karlheinz Mund, Simone Niehoff, Beata Paškevica, Mirja Reuter & Florian Gass, Luise Schröder, Andreas Siekmann, Anna Stiede, Florian Thamer & Tina Turnheim, Theater o.N. U.v.a.

Location:

Kunstraum Kreuzberg/Bethanien

The building and exhibition spaces are structurally accessible for people using wheelchairs or other mobility aids.

Opening Hours:

Daily 10:00 AM – 8:00 PM

Admission to our exhibitions is free.

Film evenings with discussion (every Thursday):

April 16, 7 p.m., Mit-Arbeiterinnen: Feministische Frauenporträts (Co-workers: Feminist Portraits of Women) by Karlheinz Mund, GDR, 1972–1986, in the presence of the filmmaker (German)

May 7, 7 p.m., A Night of Knowing Nothing, Payal Kapadia, documentary film, 2021 (hin/beng/engl./ engl. UT)

May 21, 7 p.m., Active Vocabulary, Yulia Lokshina, documentary film, D, 2025 (German/Russian with English subtitles), in the presence of the filmmaker

June 4, 8 p.m., Māra (2014), portrait of Lācis' granddaughter, Krista Burane (Latvian, English subtitles), in the presence of Māra Ķimele

June 11, 7 p.m. – SLET 1988 (2025) & YUGOSLAVIA, How Ideology Moved our Collective Body (2013), Marta Popivada (Lett., English subtitles), in the presence of the filmmaker.

Curator tours:

Konstanze Schmitt and Mimmi Woisnitza lead a tour through the exhibition rooms: Learn more about our research on Asja Lācis, the curatorial process, and the individual works in the context of the exhibition.

April 16, May 7, May 21, 5 p.m. (German/English)