HIMMEL UNTER BERLIN VOL. III

An exhibition series in Berlin's darkest places

In the past, a large part of the city was connected by cellars.

In Tempelhof, you could walk for kilometers underground along entire blocks.

Some of these cellar systems still exist today.

The event takes you to previously inaccessible, secret places in the Berlin underworld—former cellars, vaults, or industrial facilities opened exclusively for this art project.

What to expect

It begins like a rumor. Many visitors have described the start as an abrupt shift in reality: you meet in an inconspicuous, secret bar that feels more like the beginning of a story than an exhibition.

Imagine yourself in this bar. Atmospheric music surrounds you, and you are handed a drink.

A person dressed entirely in black escorts you to an old cabinet. Inside is a hidden door. Beyond it, the journey beneath the city begins—deep into the minds of artists who guide you through a dark labyrinth of their imagination... You walk through light and shadow, through soundscapes, along narrow corridors and surprising rooms.

You lose yourself. Not in a dramatic way. More of a pleasant one.

In the end, the path through the darkness leads you back to the red bar.

Secret Location

The location is revealed only 48 hours before the exhibition.

Visitors receive a private message informing them where to meet.

The suspense, it seems, is part of the artwork.

Industrial aesthetics

By temporarily occupying abandoned historical buildings, "Himmel unter Berlin" joins a tradition of art that consciously turns away from the "white cube." Instead of neutral museum architecture, a site was chosen whose history, materiality, and atmosphere are integral parts of the artistic statement.

In these exhibitions, architecture is not covered up, but activated. Brick arches, traces of damp, narrowness, and echoes serve as counterpoints to the installations. Light and sound do not work against the space, but with it. The historical substance remains visible—as a layer of the city's memory.

The underground has its own tradition: catacombs, cellars, and industrial ruins represent transition zones between visibility and concealment. The transformation of such places is a central motif. Berlin, with its complex history of industrialization, war, division, and transformation, provides a particularly dense terrain for this.

Transience

"Himmel unter Berlin" builds on this, yet eschews permanent institutionalization. The location remains temporary.

The venues were demolished or extensively modernized after the exhibition, causing their history to vanish.

The exhibition event is therefore non-reproducible. It exists only in the moment of participation.

The goal is to create a unique experience seen only by those present at that specific time and place—a reaction to the constant availability of the digital world.

It is a moment. An intervention. A flicker in the underground. Then, it falls silent again.

Rawness and technological precision

The exhibited works primarily explored the field of immersive installation.

The visitor's body becomes part of the work. Perception is no longer addressed solely through sight, but multisensorially. The aesthetic impact emerges from the tension between the building's historical rawness and technological precision.

Underground Card

Only 199 people per evening can experience this journey into the darkness.

Tickets are not available online and are issued by personal invitation only.

Each guest receives a personalized Underground Card during their visit, which grants access to subsequent exhibitions. Only holders of this card will be notified about future "Himmel unter Berlin" exhibitions. Additionally, you may bring one guest of your choice to every follow-up event.