With Becoming B, Antje Weitzel, the new artistic director, initiates a long-term transformation process that reimagines Künstlerhaus Bethanien as a dynamic space for exchange, creation, and presentation. Over the course of a year, we will explore in five chapters—together with artists, cultural practitioners, and the Berlin public—how the name and identity of the institution might evolve.
The exhibition A stage she’s going through marks the beginning of the project Becoming B and presents an installation by Melanie Jame Wolf, who herself was a fellow at Künstlerhaus Bethanien in 2020-21. The artist creates an installation of textile Thresholds that invite the public to move through them.
Like the double-headed Janus figure from Roman mythology, the textile sculptures are double-faced. Yet only one face can be viewed at a time, one must chance crossing the Threshold to see the other. In times of an increasingly divided society, these sculptures challenge us to consider the importance of positioning ourselves, that how we stage ourselves in the world is both playful and consequential.
Spatially, Melanie Jame Wolf creates proscenium forms, drawing from her experience in performance, referring to the decorative arches that often frame traditional theatre stages. The exhibition provides space for contemplation and gives a stage to feelings of uncertainty. On the opening evening it becomes a performative stage: Together with Ania Nowak and MINQ, Melanie Jame Wolf will present the performance Janus! Janus! Door! Door!.
The curators Kira Dell and Laura Seidel previously showed works by Melanie Jame Wolf in their project space Neun Kelche in 2024 and are now continuing this collaboration at the invitation of the artistic director of Künstlerhaus Bethanien: For the exhibition, they are creating the joint text A Staircase. A Threshold. A Door, which will be presented at a table read. A reading by Fatma Aydemir from her novel Djinns with a focus on threshold states will round off the program. The reading will be followed by a talk with the artist and the curators.
Events
10.04.2025 19 h
A stage she’s going through
Exhibition Opening
10.04.2025 20 h
Janus! Janus! Door! Door!
Performance with MINQ, Ania Nowak, Melanie Jame Wolf
22.05.2025 19 h
Reading by Fatma Aydemir from Djinns, followed by a conversation.
04.06.2025 19 h
A Staircase. A Threshold. A Door.
Table read with Kira Dell, Laura Seidel, Melanie Jame Wolf
