Monument to diversity in the Capital of Exiles Be/coming/home by the Berlin dis:orient collective – which runs until 22 December – showcases work by six artists in exile in the capital. The multimedia presentation, in the form of a COVID-secure urban walk through Kreuzburg and Neukolln, shows how they experience and influence Berlin as a city of exile. Hannah El-Hitami went to see the exhibition for Qantara.de.
The photographs in the window show hands kneading bread dough, and Arab flatbreads rising in the oven. Beneath the display window, a homeless man lies wrapped in a sleeping bag, which provides scant protection against the Berlin December cold. Young men in hooded jackets are coming out of the Sudblock Aquarium, a cultural centre with walls covered in graffiti, while in the background, U-Bahn trains and cars speed past on Kottbusser Tor.