13th Berlin Biennale Concludes with Award Announcements & Reflections on Contemporary Practice
Berlin, September 17, 2025 – The 13th Berlin Biennale concluded today, marking the end of a five-month exhibition spread across multiple venues in Berlin, including the Former Courthouse Lehrter Straße, Hamburger Bahnhof, and the KW Institute for Contemporary Art. The biennale, titled Every time a Sunflower turns its Face toward the Sun, showcased work from over 50 international artists and collectives, exploring themes of law, borders, and ecological futures.
This year’s biennale, curated by Bojana Piškur, presented a diverse range of artistic practices, from painting and sculpture to performance and installation. The exhibition aimed to investigate how contemporary art can respond to pressing global challenges, prompting critical engagement with systems of power and control. the closing coincides with the proclamation of key award recipients, recognizing outstanding contributions to the biennale’s thematic explorations.
The jury awarded the Berlin Biennale Fellowship to htein Lin, recognized for his Prison Paintings from the 000235-series (1999-2003). Stacy Douglas was also honored for Law Is Aesthetic: Trope (2025). Jane Jin Kaisen’s installation, Damn it (2023) and portal (2024), exhibited at Hamburger Bahnhof, garnered important attention, alongside Kikí Roca’s The girls of the pig and the bodice, the bodice [The Bra] (1995/2025) at the KW Institute. Performance artist Kashmiri Cabbage Walker’s Walking the Silence documentation, captured at Görlitzer Park on august 30, 2025, also resonated with audiences.
The 13th Berlin Biennale ran from june 18 to September 17, 2025, and drew over 80,000 visitors. Organizers have announced plans to publish a comprehensive catalog documenting the exhibition and accompanying program, furthering the biennale’s impact as a platform for critical discourse and artistic innovation.
