Berlin Gallery Weekend guide: what to see in 2025

Berlin Gallery Weekend 2025 arrives this May with renewed creative energy, reaffirming the city’s position as a global nexus for contemporary art. Against the backdrop of Berlin’s ever-evolving cultural landscape, and amid financial cuts affecting many programmes that have made the city attractive for artists in the first place, Gallery Weekend offers a moment of shared focus.

Despite the rising costs and perennial buzz about other cities vying to be the ‘New Berlin,’ BGW director Antonia Ruder cuts through the noise: ‘I would say that what matters is the density of the artists living here. International stars such as Monica Bonvicini, Anne Imhof, and Olafur Eliasson – all of whom are participating this year – live and work here.’ It’s this critical mass of creative minds that continues to define Berlin’s gravitational pull. Now in her second year at the helm, Ruder is on a mission to further professionalise the much-emulated format first launched by Berlin gallerists over two decades ago. This year, that vision takes shape through a new podcast pairing Berlin’s art writers with the artists generating buzz, and a growing network of VIP ambassadors aimed at drawing more visitors to the city – particularly from this year’s target region: Asia.

This year, alongside more than 50 participating galleries, West Berlin’s storied luxury department store KaDeWe is presenting a 24/7 pop-up exhibition in its display windows, bringing contemporary art to the high-volume footfall of the high-street, with Berlin-based artists including Saâdane Afif, Karin Sander, or Alexandra Bircken, to name a few. Meanwhile, Berlin’s institutions are stepping up with unmissable exhibitions—most notably a double-header Yoko Ono retrospective split between the Neue Nationalgalerie and Gropius Bau. On Friday, May 2, in a night that’s already sold out, Berlin fixture and performer Peaches will restage Ono’s legendary Cut Piece, adding a charged, contemporary layer to the historic work.

As the first project under Hamburger Bahnhof’s new partnership with the Chanel Culture Fund, Klára Hosnedlová’s embrace takes over the museum’s vast hall with unapologetic scale and style, transforming it into a hauntingly surreal environment. On view until October 26, 2025, the installation features nine-metre-high woven tapestries, embroidered sculptural panels, cast-glass forms, concrete slabs, and site-specific objects arranged in theatrical, almost sacred configurations. Drawing from Brutalist architecture and the domestic aesthetics of post-Soviet interiors, Hosnedlová explores the fragility of utopia, the weight of memory, and the textures of survival. Hosnedlová‘s first institutional show encapsulates Chanel Commission’s mission: backing high-impact, materially rich work that pushes boundaries.

Amongst the highlights on the official program is Berlin’s newest art space, Die Tankstelle, opening its doors in a restored 1950s gas station in Schöneberg—now home to a collaboration between Pace Gallery and Galerie Judin (the space also includes a café-bookshop by Die ZEIT.) Its inaugural programming sets a bold tone: Pace presents Reverse Alchemy, featuring works on paper by Jean Dubuffet, Jean-Michel Basquiat, and Robert Nava. The exhibition explores the concept of transforming high art back into raw, primal expression – a nod to Dubuffet’s art brut ethos. Simultaneously, Galerie Judin unveils a Tom of Finland retrospective, spotlighting the artist’s iconic, hyper-stylised depictions of queer masculinity.

Navigating over 50 galleries during Berlin Gallery Weekend is thrilling but demanding. With shows spread from Schöneberg’s sleek spaces to Kreuzberg and Charlottenburg’s hidden gems, the challenge lies in both logistics and curation. Notably, many highlights come courtesy of women and women-identifying artists. Anne Imhof returns to Galerie Buchholz with Cold Hope, a series of large paintings based on film stills, digitally manipulated and layered with moiré effects. Developed alongside her recent blockbuster New York performance DOOM: House of Hope—a sprawling, operatic piece blending choreography, sound, and live action in shifting tableaux—the show translates her visceral, time-based practice into a more abstract, contemplative realm.