Gerd Rohling is equally devoted to object art and painting, his works are mainly characterized by three aspects: the pursuit of the autonomous object, the change of meaning and the play with language. The artist talk with Weltkunst's Lisa Zeitz will focus on his upcoming installation "Ercolano Underground" curated by Sebastian Hoffmann at Passage (Hermannplatz) during Berlin Art Week 2025.

Since 1995, Gerd Rohling's series "Water and Wine" has been exhibited in ever-changing constellations — exclusively in prestigious locations such as the National Archaeological Museum in Naples, the legendary 49th Venice Biennale, the MAM Rio de Janeiro, the Neue Nationalgalerie and the Hamburger Bahnhof, the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen and the Dom Quartier Salzburg. The fact that a set of these chalices, bottles, amphorae, and bowls is now being installed in the Hermannplatz station on the platform of the metro line U7 under the title "Ercolano Underground" allows these lucent, glass-like vessels, in a sense, to return home. They transform this place of temporal, spatial, and social transit into a "wunderkammer" and turn PASSAGE into a display.

This context is a first: previously only shown in stylised, ceremonial spaces such as galleries, museums or biennials, the objects now find themselves in an alternative place of designation. For they are not made of glass, crystal or quartz. The vessels are in fact composed of plastic waste that Rohling has been fishing out of the Gulf of Naples for decades. Some of them have been refined by the salt of the sea, while all of them have been elevated by the artist's recomposition and lighting arrangement. They are, in essence, composed of plastic and light. "Ercolano Underground" combines the sublime with the simple. First, the title refers to the successor of the ancient city of Herculaneum that is situated between Rohling's beloved Naples and the devastating Vesuvius, whose eruption in 79 AD led to its demise. Second, it alludes both to the literal underground, a world beneath the surface, and to the concept of subculture.

Now, at a place like U-Bahnhof Hermannplatz — beneath the city, yet right before the eyes of people coming from everywhere and going in many directions — the most beautiful objects are made from waste and the most precious objects are the most modest, making Gerd Rohling's installation an indication of all possibilities.

The project is curated by Sebastian Hoffmann, the exhibition opening  takes place at U-Banhof Herrmannplatz from 6 to 8PM. The Weltkunst event including the Artist Talk will take place at STUDIO IIII from 8PM, followed by a Party with music chosen by Sebi and DJ Oliver Barduhn.

For the second edition of Flipping The Coin’s residency at Studio IIII, we are pleased to present a selection of video works by Elisa Jule Braun, Stefanie Schwarzwimmer, Moritz Stumm and Stefan Neuberger, alongside a live performance by Helga Wretman and a live A/V show by Henk Heuer and Moritz Stumm. There’s an invisible force running through these works, manifesting in different ways.

In CALIBRATION MUM: I PREFER NOT TO, motion-tracking suit technology is translated into the domestic sphere, revealing the robotic, repetitive movements of unpaid care work. KONTROLLE examines the power dynamics between animals, state authority, and, implicitly, the citizens. SILENT REVOLUTION presents a rhythmic sequence of short amateur recordings of a self-spinning plate, appearing autonomously in various locations—an uncanny, glitch-like disruption in familiar surroundings. In the performance BONDFIRE, you will have the opportunity to control fire – holding the flame in your right hand. IBOGAIN will guide through altered states of consciousness with immersive audiovisual stimuli—incorporating acoustic illusions like binaural beats.

The night concludes with a DJ set by Bloomfeld.

For this edition, new versions of the works have been created exclusively for the space, offering an immersive experience.

Berlin native Salimata channels her lifelong passion for electronic music into sets that are as impulsive as they are engulfing. Layering tribal beats with rhythmic house, she creates a living soundscape where groove and momentum collide, redefining the art of the DJ with her fearless approach. She has performed at renowned Berlin clubs such as Watergate and Kater Blau, solidifying her presence in the scene.

In addition to her DJing career, Salimata is the founder of Get Glazed, a platform that showcases her commitment to the electronic music community and as much to visual art. For a glimpse into her musical style, you can watch her performance at HÖR Berlin.

This Saturday at Studio IIII, Salimata takes the reins, curating a program that channels her raw energy and unique vision, promising to reshape the night into an unforgettable experience for all.

The opposite of déjà vu, jamais vu occurs when something familiar – something you’ve seen or experienced many times – suddenly feels unfamiliar or odd. The brain's familiarity with the object breaks down temporarily, creating a sense of eerie strangeness.

With his 22 Anchors installation, Heiner Franzen invites us to experience this sensation by observing the faces of major TV news anchors, figures we think we know intimately but, upon closer inspection, appear alien – distant, foreign, otherworldly, as they are supposed to appear in the first place. These faces, meticulously sculpted to project an aura of intimacy and engineered to generate a sense of trust, unravel into something disconcertingly weird the moment we pause to scrutinize them. Their perfect postures, tailored outfits, impeccable hair, overall glossiness, and facial expressions, polished over countless broadcasts, feel unnatural in their unwavering calm and rehearsed sincerity. They are framed in non-verbal pauses, stuck in a liminal state between action and inaction. They must be waiting for the next cue, hanging there like puppets whose strings haven’t been pulled yet, suspended in a moment of non-life. The deeper we delve into these personas, the more distant and unfamiliar they become, as if the humanity behind the mask has been hollowed out by ceaseless performance and artifice.

Heiner Franzen is a draughtsman and video artist who lives and works in Berlin and teaches at ETH Zürich. Versions of his video installation ANCHORS were first exhibited in Linda Peitz’s kiosk project I Came in Here for a Special Offer, at the Seegarten exhibition in Kirchmöser, at Ebensperger for Gallery Weekend Berlin 2024, and are currently on view at Kunsthalle Barmen in Wuppertal. 22 Anchors at Studio IIII is the most comprehensive installation of this project, showing all 22 mute protagonists in their preliminary entirety. It is a lesson on mass media confusion and embroilment.

Ah, yes! Nothing quite stirs the soul — or perhaps more accurately, the body — like Radical Disco. One might say it "turns you on more than your actual boyfriend" when Sir Boyfriend himself graces us with yet another live episode, positively dripping with unreleased gems and freshly polished jewels. This time, he also parades a glittering arsenal of glam electro covers, spinning the melancholy of Wicked Game, Love Will Tear Us Apart, and Tainted Love into something... so exquisitely tragic as a love letter never sent, sealed with a sigh and forgotten in a dusty drawer.

Ah, the audacity of it all. But then again, what’s life without a bit of irony, a touch of sparkle, and a dash of heartbreak, darlings? Shall we dance? Or cry? Perhaps both.


Sir Boyfriend is a singer-songwriter and pop artist from Sweden who gained worldwide recognition with his viral track Poem for Mahsa Amini in 2022, supporting the female revolution in Iran. Having recorded two albums in pop and rock groups, most recently with VISITEUR, the maestro left Stockholm for Berlin in pursuit of his dreams, freedom, and a solo career in music. Things are looking peachy on his path. They taste so promising, in fact, that sir is already rehearsing his acceptance speeches for both the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Pop Palace of Planetary Prestige.

You need to see gome playing one of their live or DJ sets and experience the energy these two guys have behind the decks. The duo from Hamburg has been entertaining house heads worldwide for a few years now, but it was in 2022 that gome had their breakthrough with some outstanding releases on Toy Tonics.

gome add that very special raw energy to their sets; their sound would best be described as honest and rough 90s-influenced House, infused with elements of Funk, Disco and Soul. As a live act, they play with an all-hardware /no-computer setup. Deliberately moving away from clean computerized music, the two musicians are not afraid to pull out their instruments and play live in front of a club audience. It is this instant connection and uniqueness that regularly fills dance floors in top destinations worldwide, such as Mexico City, Berlin, Tbilisi, London, Milan and Rome.

After only three years, they have gained unprecedented support in Germany and beyond: their debut EP under their previous alias volker.live came out on RSS Disco’s Mireia Records and features remixes of Erobique and Lucky Charmz.

Celebrated EPs on the hyped Toy Tonics imprint followed, which have received incredibly great support from top DJs all around the world.

She is not your typical DJ. Originally from Athens, Hara Katsiki is a true shapeshifter. With a chameleon-like affinity for transformation and illusion, her petite frame and gentle demeanor conceal a bold, adventurous spirit that has led her through many opulent escapades.

Hara started as a model before moving into styling and art direction, yet her relentless drive for creativity remained unfulfilled. Restless in her pursuit of artistic fulfillment, she let wanderlust lead the way, pulling her into uncharted realms, where she hoped the unknown would fan her creative spark into a raging flame. Before long, her hopes blazed into existence.

She calls Berlin her home, and since moving here from Greece, has built a reputation for her artistry and become a highly sought-after talent across multiple realms, swiftly establishing herself as one of the foremost Berlin city DJs and prominent fashion personality. With a universal and intuitive grasp of music, her cosmic and exotic sounds have been described to combine a joie de vivre and whimsy, with an eclectic and dreamy approach, shaping her wildly fascinating inner world.

Her dance sets revamp the relationship between electronica and disco as she zigzags through time and space. With layered synthetic textures, acoustic percussion, and analog synths, they catapult our senses into a shimmering, endless universe – seamlessly shifting between the pulse of the club and ethereal realms, offering a wild ride through cosmic and Balearic sounds, lost downtempo gems, and oddball obscurities.

Her mesmerizing mixes offer a fleeting escape into a daydream, a soothing contrast to our unsettled world. Irresistibly entrancing, they are pulling you in with an almost iron-clutch magnetic force.

Always a mystery by night, Hara is also a quantum healer and hypnotherapist by day.

Toy Tonics first emerged as an offshoot of Gomma Records, an independent label active from 2000 to 2015 that cultivated a unique, multidimensional identity. Directed by Mathias Modica and Jonas Imbery, and collaborating with graphic designers Mirko Borsche and Thomas Kartsolis, Gomma built a reputation for its pioneering sound and striking visual aesthetic. Beyond music, Gomma extended its influence into fashion, with its own line of shirts, and ventured into publishing through posters and the zine Amore Mag. The label also curated immersive parties and underground art happenings, creating an all-encompassing cultural experience. Gomma’s avant-garde world was showcased in exhibitions such as Munich’s Haus der Kunst (curated by Chris Dercon) and Tokyo’s Heimat als Utopie exhibition in 2006 (curated by 032C magazine).

Toy Tonics, now standing on its own as an independent creative collective, channels a similar spirit of exploration while carving out its own path. This fluid group of international artists, largely based in Berlin, includes musicians, DJs, producers, graphic designers, photographers, and party visionaries. While primarily focused on pushing the boundaries of dance music, Toy Tonics branches into other realms of creativity by producing limited-edition fashion pieces, organizing exhibitions, publishing their own magazine, and hosting the vibrant Toy Tonics Jams.

The collective's ethos is all about merging diverse styles to generate something fresh and unexpected. Passion, quality, diversity, and individualism are at the heart of this DIY community, which operates as a post-digital countercultural movement, linking different scenes, sounds, and people.

The Toy Tonics sound fuses genres to create an emotionally charged (dance) experience, drawing influences from indie disco, house music, neo-soul, new wave, and funk. By blending organic sounds with electronic production, and merging DJ culture with live band elements, Toy Tonics continues to redefine the dance music landscape.

Mathias "KAPOTE" Modica, the creative force behind the musical and visual direction of Toy Tonics and its experimental sub-label Kryptox, has always been deeply rooted in both music and art. Before founding these labels alongside friends, Modica honed his craft in jazz piano and music production. His early passions for DJing, crate-digging for vinyl, and DIY graphic design shaped his eclectic approach. With a focus on collaboration, Modica seeks out like-minded artists to foster innovative projects. As a musician, he has performed under the aliases Munk and Kapote, and his production credits include work with notable artists such as Peaches, The Rammelizee, WhoMadeWho, Nick McCarthy (Franz Ferdinand), James Murphy (LCD Soundsystem), Sam Ruffillo, and Cody Currie.

BERLIN ART WEEK is a cornerstone of the global art calendar, renowned for its pivotal role in showcasing contemporary art and fostering creative dialogues. Its official grand finale at STUDIO IIII promises a memorable celebration, embodying the spirit of the entire week and providing a spectacular conclusion to a series of groundbreaking exhibitions and events.

Why STUDIO IIII? An original and ambitious project, it aims to integrate the functions of typically distinct (yet sometimes needlessly partitioned) cultural institutions – art gallery, nightclub, social lounge, performance space, intellectual salon, multimedia lab – and focused on nurturing and promoting talents from a broad range of artistic spheres. As such, it stands as the perfect venue for the occasion, with its versatility reflecting the diverse and dynamic nature of BERLIN ART WEEK itself.

This closing event will showcase the fusion of music and visual artistry, with performances by Schowi, Khadija, and Sebi from behind the decks, complemented by stunning visuals from AVHS. Rather than conveying a specific narrative or sending a message, or embedding symbolic meaning, or demonstrating technicalities of the process, or being concerned with formalities such as color and shape, her art emphasizes the aesthetic experience of movement itself. The mesmerizing patterns, fluid dynamics, dissolving, transforming, and evolving forms in AVHS’s work engage viewers through their dynamic nature, echoing the sheer delight of seeing things in motion.