Oneness

Performance by Mwangi Hutter

Bild 1: Mwangi Hutter, Burning Desire to be Touched, Smithsonian National Museum of African Art, Washington D.C., 2015

The Kenyan-German artist duo develops participatory performances about intertwined identities that aim to look “beyond differences.”

For the thematic days, the internationally working artists Mwangi Hutter are creating the participatory performance Oneness, in which nine familial duos will take part. We are looking for pairs of all genders, ages, and relationship forms—partners, parents and adult children, siblings, or friends who consider themselves a chosen family.

The performance engages with questions of visibility, belonging, and familial relationships. At its center is a throne built by the artists from reclaimed wood, serving as a shared space where participants develop and present gestures of self-determination, care, and mutual recognition.

At the beginning, all participants wear full-body costumes that anonymize face and body. During the performance, these costumes are cut open by the participants themselves—a moment of mutual visibility and self-definition. At the end, each duo presents a jointly developed gesture expressing their relationship, their connection, and how they wish to be seen.

Participation

We are looking for 9 familial duos

No performance experience required

Preparation meeting with the artists on the morning of May 1, 2026, to collectively develop the performance, starting at 10:30 am

Performances: 3:00–5:30 pm, each duo approx. 15 minutes

Total time frame: 10:30 am – approx. 6:00 pm

(including preparation, a break with light refreshments, performance, and a closing exchange)

Location: Humboldt Forum, Berlin

An allowance will be provided

The performance understands families and relationships as spaces in which intimacy, power, care, and identity are negotiated. By taking a seat together on an elevated throne and making one another visible, a moment emerges in which belonging is not defined from the outside, but shaped and expressed by the participants themselves.

Please register by 15 April 2026 – including a sentence about the nature of your relationship – to:

Mwangi Hutter

MWANGI HUTTER is a Kenyan-German artist duo living and working in Germany. Their practice spans performance, video, photography, and installation, exploring themes of identity, embodiment, belonging, and duality.

They have exhibited internationally at institutions such as the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art (Washington, D.C.), the National Museum of Women in the Arts (Washington, D.C.), and the Centro Atlántico de Arte Moderno (Las Palmas), and participated in major exhibitions including documenta 14 and the 57th Venice Biennale. Solo exhibitions include presentations at Mariane Ibrahim (Chicago, Paris) and Galerie Burster (Berlin).

Their works are held in major collections including the S.M.A.K. (Ghent), the Art Institute of Chicago, and the National Gallery Prague.

- Foyer, Ground Floor

- Belongs to: Family Matters

Next date:

• Date Friday, 01/May/2026 15:00
• Venue Humboldt Forum
• Address Schloßplatz, 10178 Berlin-Mitte