UNRUHE – MaHalla

Opening: Tuesday, September 8, 2026, 6:00 p.m.
Dates: September 8–13, 2026

“Unruhe” is a group exhibition exploring the state from which art emerges. The focus is not on the current political climate, but rather on that inner restlessness that often accompanies artistic work long before it becomes visible. Heightened awareness, tension, doubt, and perseverance are not here the subject of art, but rather its prerequisite.

The exhibition brings together artists with whom a personal and artistic exchange has developed over many years. On view are key works and new pieces created specifically for the show, rarely exhibited works, as well as those that have long remained unrealized. MaHalla, a former industrial hall, has developed into one of the most distinctive independent production spaces in Berlin’s art scene. Here, artists run a space that deliberately operates outside institutional routines and facilitates large-scale, experimental, and interdisciplinary projects.

Ukrainian artist Mariya Vasilyeva presents an installation created specifically for the exhibition, consisting of various animal parts, in MaHalla’s winter garden. Her works operate at the intersection of art, anatomy, and science. With great anatomical precision, she transforms animal specimens, dissected found carcasses, and preserved embryos into sculptures. In a manner that is both dramatic and poetic, the artist explores life, death, and transience, inevitably evoking associations with the situation in her home country.

While Mariya Vasilyeva uses animal bodies as a medium for transience, anatomy, and political metaphor, Stella Hamberg turns to the human figure as a site of existential self-evidence. Both artists work in the field of three-dimensional art, yet while Vasilyeva works with found organic materials and makes death the starting point for her sculptures, Hamberg creates her figures through a traditional engagement with sculptural materials.

Both are united by the question of the body as a carrier of meaning. This year, there is a special focus on collectives: Tokyo QQQ is traveling from Japan specifically for Friday’s performance. The queer performance group combines burlesque, poetry, and dance—including performances in wheelchairs or on the pole—while celebrating what makes each person unique. Through its three “Q”s—queer, quest, and quirk—Tokyo QQQ challenges societal notions of disability and brings together diverse life paths. The Berlin-based artist collective Melisma is co-curating part of the exhibition’s so-called “Underworld” and captivates audiences with exciting performances, objects, and installations.

One notable work is *Fallen Angel* (2026) by the Austrian performance artist and set designer FLATZ; it remains to be seen whether it will actually take place or be presented merely as an idea and an attempt at realization. The Munich-based performance artist is attempting to bring down a Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 fighter jet by partially burying a decommissioned original in the ground. But failure, too, is a possible element of the work, as bureaucratic and logistical hurdles are part of the artistic process.

In parallel with her solo exhibition *Sewing* at the Miettinen Collection in Berlin, sculptor Hannah Hallermann is exhibiting wall-mounted objects. For the Nuremberg-born artist, material is a central vehicle of meaning: In this series, she transforms steel, iron, and resin into large-scale, movable sculptures reminiscent of horse blinders. Using hydroforming technology, the metal forms are inflated with water under high pressure until they deform—a process that straddles the line between composition and chance. Hinges allow for the adjustment of the field of view and the relationship between the interior and exterior. The objects serve as a metaphor for the constant adaptation of our consciousness in an age of information overload.

Premiere: Ralf Schmerberg celebrates the premiere of his film *Indarella* (108 min), for which the filmmaker traveled alone through India for 216 days, creating a highly personal, essayistic, visually striking, and shimmering work that depicts chance encounters, culture, beauty, spirituality, and something entirely new for the restless soul. Premiere: September 8, 2026, 8:30 p.m. in the Black Hall Screening times: daily at 2:00 p.m., 4:00 p.m., 6:00 p.m., 8:00 p.m., and 10:00 p.m.

Bar
Frank Küster, former King Size bouncer and owner of the Georgia Bar, will ensure the right atmosphere with his Georgia Bar team and serve some of his signature drinks in the basement rooms of MaHalla.

Artists
Anna Borowy, Jonas Burgert, Martin Eder, Lars Eidinger, Wolfgang Flatz, Hannah Hallermann, Stella Hamberg, Göksu Kunak, Melisma, Matthias Mross, Alex Müller, Hannah Nitsch, Nazanin Noori, Sebastian Pielles, Tokyo QQQ, Ralf Schmerberg, Maria Vasilyeva Additional artists will be announced shortly.

Information
Opening Tue, Sep 8, 6:00 PM–12:00 AM with the film premiere of *Indarella* in the Black Hall at 8:30 PM
Open Wed–Sat, 12:00 PM–12:00 AM
Sun, 12:00 PM–8:00 PM

Admission: 12 euros, 7 euros (reduced)

MaHalla Berlin
Wilhelminenhofstraße 76
12459 Berlin-Oberschöneweide

www.mahalla.berlin

@mahallaberlin

#unrest #mahalla

Please direct press inquiries to Hans Krestel at hans@heyhans.xyz