Wohnzimmer - Ausstellung, Installation, Workshop

Welcome to the living room. A gathering place for all generations. This space invites you to read, relax, weave, knit, watch, and listen. As part of the “Beziehungsweise Familie” program, it offers the opportunity to unwind, spark your curiosity, and actively explore.

The Living Room opens up perspectives on diverse forms of family. It explores how family backgrounds shape life paths and how one’s own life story is shaped or “woven” together.

Collective Wall Collage and Weaving and Knitting Workshop Series

A participatory wall collage and workshop series explores the matriarchal lineages of the Wayuu community through textile art and storytelling. Following the thread of Waleker’s story, visitors are invited to weave along with it. Join the “Gift of the Spider” workshop series! The project explores the rich cosmology and feminine lineage of the Wayuu community in northern Colombia and Venezuela. The Aliwaa Collective—Sindri Gonzales Ipuana (Wayuu weaver), Stefannia Doria (curator from Colombia), and Raquel van Haver (artist from Colombia and the Netherlands)—has laid the foundation for a collaborative artwork. The woven or knitted contributions from visitors to the Humboldt Forum, as well as works by the Wayuu weaving community, will be added and together form a collage co-created by all participants. It will continue to grow through the spring.

The diorama *Memory, Identity, Transmission* is also a collaborative work. In a ten-day workshop, personal memories, family traditions, and everyday actions came together to create this collective, transgenerational family history.

Since family lineage is a central theme in the Living Room, we are also presenting the new short film *What Difference Would It Make If I Told You?* by ŞOKOPOP (Ekim Acun) about inherited family secrets. Acun offers a glimpse into his family history, whose Kurdish-Zaza and Turkish-Armenian roots remained hidden from him for a long time. He reveals fragments of survival, activism, and inherited silence—until a personal secret breaks the pattern of concealment.

Finally, discover stories about kinship, care, and special relationships in the Family Library for All. The selection, curated by Black Dads Germany, offers a diverse range of books (for ages 3 and up) featuring local and global perspectives. Black Dads Germany creates safe spaces for diverse fathers and children, strengthens families, and connects communities across Germany.

Participants

Ekim Acun (Tunceli, 1988) studied film and television at Roma Tre University and the UAL: London College of Communication. He has participated in various exhibitions in London and Istanbul as a visual artist. In 2018, he founded ŞOKOPOP, which explores the themes of memory, gender, and identity through the history of Turkish popular culture. Through his documentaries, performances, collages, and video works—which emerge from intensive research processes—he continues to explore sexuality and censorship through a queer lens.

Thegroup “Memory, Identity, Transmission”is a time-limited collaborative project on transgenerational memory with Florian Hermes, Honorata Nawrocki, Marisol Ozomatli Malinalli, Leila, Franziska Pierwoss, Diana Krämer, and Alia Rayyan.

Aliwaa Collective: Thewall collage *The Story of Waleka* was created by the Aliwaa Collective. The Aliwaa Collective consists of Sindri Gonzales Ipuana (a Wayuu weaver from Colombia), Stefannia Doria (a curator from Colombia), and Raquel van Haver (an artist from Colombia and the Netherlands).

Alain Missala leads a grassroots movement for Black men in Germany, with a particular focus on their identity as fathers. Through this initiative, he is reshaping the public image of Black fatherhood in German society and placing Black narratives at the center of cultural representation. His work is aimed particularly at future generations and uses children’s literature as a tool to promote positive portrayals of Black families. Alain encourages Black fathers to become agents of change in their communities and to drive long-term social transformation.

- Free admission: 0 EUR

- Location: Special Exhibition Foyer, Ground Floor

- Ages 3 and up

- Languages: German, English

- Hours: Mon, Wed, Thu, Fri, Sat, Sun: 10:30 a.m. – 6:30 p.m.; Tue: closed

- Dates: January 24, 2026, through August 3, 2026