Passing the Fugitive On: Art as Cultural Diplomacy in Motion
Global dialogue through experimental art in politically charged spaces
August 06th, 2025
Set to open in mid‑June 2025, the 13th Berlin Biennale offers more than a showcase of contemporary art—it becomes a venue for cultural diplomacy. By weaving together diverse practices from around the globe in historically resonant venues across Berlin, the Biennale invites an embodied conversation about resistance, identity, and mutual understanding.
Curated by Zasha Colah (with Valentina Viviani), this edition—titled “passing the fugitive on”—brings over 60 artists and more than 170 works to four pivotal venues: KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Hamburger Bahnhof, Sophiensæle, and a former courthouse on Lehrter Straße. These spaces, once sites of state violence and justice, now host art that probes fugitivity—the capacity of art to evade dominant structures and enact its own logic.
Rather than acting as a passive backdrop, Berlin itself becomes a diplomatic partner. The artworks engage with global histories—from Myanmar and Southeast Asia to Argentina and Central Asia—offering dialogues across political barriers. The curatorial strategy avoids pre-announced artist lists, using strategic opacity (“foxing”) to foreground the work’s symbolic resistance over celebrity or notoriety.
Cultural diplomacy is enacted through spatial and performative exchange: Margherita Moscardini’s The Stairway, a sculpture built from 561 numbered stones donated by stateless entities, questions sovereignty and invites embodied participation. In other parts of the Biennale, smoky radiophonic interventions, devotional altars, and video installations weave together memory, resistance, and collective storytelling.
“Passing the fugitive on” isn’t just a curatorial motto—it's a cultural act. Through fugitivity, ceremonial retablos, shared installations, and performative disruption, this Biennale models how art can serve as cultural diplomacy, fostering intercultural dialogue without hierarchy. In a polarized world, it offers an open network of ideas grounded in empathy, global exchange, and mutual resilience.
