KDV Performance Group / Kianí Del Valle:. INSTRUCCIONES PARA EXISTIR (INSTRUCTIONS FOR EXISTING)

The starting point is a fictional text by Del Valle set in the year 3036. He envisions a future in which nostalgia and the memory of our former selves have been completely erased, and militarisation permeates everyday life to such an extent that even routine actions are organised according to the principles of military structures.

The performance explores the tension between control and chaos, the organic and the military, authority and resistance. Through these juxtapositions, it raises fundamental questions about power, surveillance and human connection, whilst simultaneously addressing the urgent need to preserve love, vulnerability and collective memory.

Kianí Del Valle is a performance artist based in Berlin and Los Angeles. Born and raised in San Juan, Puerto Rico, she has been developing a transdisciplinary practice for more than two decades, combining contemporary dance with elements from the visual arts, film, installation and sound, as well as stunt acrobatics. Her works emerge from rituals, intuitive movement and physical endurance, combining these with perspectives drawn from surrealism and mysticism, as well as dystopian realities. Having developed a solo repertoire of more than 22 works, Del Valle founded the KDV Performance Group in Berlin. Del Valle’s works have been shown internationally at numerous renowned institutions, including the Barbican Centre in London, the Getty Museum in Los Angeles, the Volksbühne Berlin, the Serpentine Gallery in London and the Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Puerto Rico. In recent years, both Del Valle’s solo works and performances by the KDV Performance Group have been featured at numerous international festivals.

Venue: Terrace of the Neue Nationalgalerie

“INSTRUCCIONES PARA EXISTIR (INSTRUCTIONS FOR EXISTING)” is a co-production by the Neue Nationalgalerie and TONO, with the support of Nike Sportswear | Nike Air Max Liquid & Studio Fleece.

PERFORM! is curated by Klaus Biesenbach, Director of the Neue Nationalgalerie, together with Lisa Botti, curator at the Neue Nationalgalerie, and Gregor Quack, Volkswagen Group Curator.

• The American Academy in Berlin is a partner of PERFORM! 2026.