Taking inspiration from the ADA-Schule, which aimed to critically reflect on the ADA – Aktionen der Avantgarde project of 1973–74, Actions that cannot happen is the mediation program accompanying the exhibition If the Berlin Wind Blows My Flag. The title is borrowed from Milan Knížák and can refer both to the political and social conditions of possibility across different times, and to more speculative approaches.

Through a series of printmaking workshops, artist Alicja Rogalska, together with members of the public and invited groups, will actively engage with themes and motifs from the artworks and archival material presented in the exhibition. Referencing conceptual art of the 1970s, concrete poetry, and Mail Art, as well as official documents and graffiti, Actions that cannot happen invites audience members to literally and metaphorically put their own stamp on the issues raised by fellows from the DAAD Artists-in-Berlin Program, such as migration, gentrification, ecology, and internationalism, and to reflect on their contemporary relevance.

Dates & Venues

Wednesday, September 20, 2023, 1–6 pm

Oranienplatz, 10999 Berlin (if it rains: daadgalerie)

Open for everyone

Wednesday, October 11, 2023, 11 am – 3 pm

Neuer Berliner Kunstverein (n.b.k.)

Invited group

Saturday, October 14, 2023, 11 am – 5 pm

Körnerpark, Schierker Str. 8, 12051 Berlin (if it rains: Galerie im Körnerpark)

Open for everyone

Wednesday, November 1, 2023, 1–5 pm

Akademie der Künste, Hanseatenweg 10, Studiofoyer, 10557 Berlin

Open for everyone

Alicja Rogalska's practice is research-led and focuses on social structures and the political subtext of the everyday. She mostly works in specific contexts making situations, performances, videos and installations in collaboration with other people to collectively search for emancipatory ideas for the future. She recently presented her work at Jogja Biennial, Yogyakarta (2023), Biennial Sesc_Videobrasil, São Paulo (2023), National Gallery of Art, Vilnius (2023), Manifesta, Prishtina (2022), Temporary Gallery, Cologne (2021–2022), Kunsthalle Bratislava (2021), Kunsthalle Wien, Vienna (2020–2021), OFF Biennale, Budapest (2020–2021), Art Encounters Biennial, Timișoara / Romania (2019), Tokyo Photographic Art Museum (2019), Biennale Warszawa (2019), Museum of Modern Art, Warsaw (2019), Kyoto Art Centre (2019) and Muzeum Sztuki, Łódź / Poland (2019). In 2022, Rogalska was awarded the Berlin Art Prize. She is currently a PhD researcher in the Art Department at Goldsmiths College and was a fellow of the DAAD Artists-in-Berlin program in 2020–2021.

Lara Nelke is an artist and co-editor of the publication series Uncanny Issues at Textem Verlag, based in Berlin. After completing her studies at the University of the Arts Berlin and at Musashino Art University in Tokyo, she works as a freelance lecturer, graphic and set designer. In her artistic practice, she is concerned with the infrastructures of the Anthropocene, especially in urban spaces. She investigates and intervenes in the invisible power structures that shape everyday life, particularly in places of gathering and relaxation. Using performance, site-specific temporary installations, and mediating objects, she creates miniatures of speculative places, inviting us to dream of an alternative present. With Alicja Rogalska, she works on the workshop series Actions that cannot happen (2023).