A Temporary Dream of Mirrors

During the residency, artists from both European countries will engage in interdisciplinary and artistic exchanges with the public and the local art world.


Both groups will conduct joint research at the intersection of art, activism, environmental and gender issues, social policy, culture and history. This initiative promotes cross-border dialogue, questions personal, collective and historical narratives, and contributes to the visibility of women in contemporary art.


The VdbK 1867, the Berlin Senate and the Heinrich Böll Foundation are supporting this exhibition in Berlin.

During the residencies and exhibitions, a sustainable Romanian-German professional network will be established. The artists will visit artists' studios, curators, scholars and institutions in their respective host countries. They will attend lectures and exhibitions and give public lectures themselves, in which environmental issues, gender issues, activism in art and institutional access for female artists will be critically discussed.


Events will be held with the Romanian Embassy and the Camaro Foundation, the NgbK and Bethanien. The artists from Romania will meet other artists and curators and get to know the art world in Berlin. The shared experiences will form the basis for the subsequent residency in Romania.


One Romanian and one Berlin artist will work together throughout the entire project. The artists interpret and critique each other's work on a personal, collective and historical level in order to integrate the results into their own work. The artists have a diverse practice that reflects both their local and transnational contexts.

Their work is interdisciplinary, combining painting, installation, photography and digital media.

A Temporary Dream of Mirrors

In today's political context, it is more important than ever to invite the public and the art world to artist talks where visitors can participate in a conversation about art and activism, environmental and democratic issues, and reflect on the importance of international exchange in this context.


This project follows in the tradition of the VdBK 1867, which aims to raise the visibility of female artists. The founding of the association in 1867 was a pioneering achievement by female artists. The association maintained its own art school and acquired its own building at Potsdamer Straße 98a in 1893.


Female artists such as Käthe Kollwitz and Paula Modersohn-Becker received academic training at the association's drawing and painting school, which was denied to female artists at art academies until 1919. The VdBK 1867 contributed to female artists receiving artistic training, social security and opportunities to exhibit and sell their work.


After many years without a home, the association now has new exhibition spaces at Eisenacher Straße 118 in Berlin-Schöneberg. There are no comparable formats or organisations of significance in Romania. Although there were informal artists' circles for women in Romania, especially in the second half of the 19th century, the ideological constraints of the communist regime prevented such forms of organisation.


Last but not least, this project stimulates discussion about artistic activism in art and politics, as well as the gender-specific dimensions of artistic creation and the role of women in contemporary art.

Artists:

Paula Anke (DE), Marlene Herberth (ROU), Friederike Jokisch (DE), Adina Mocanu (ROU), Marina Oprea (ROU), Raluca Paraschiv (ROU), Renée Renard (ROU), Semra Sevin (DE), Lucy Teasdale (DE), Anja Teske (DE)

Curator Dr Iris-Carmina Ordean (ROU) is a renowned institutional curator who works with the German Cultural Centre and the Goethe Institute in Sibiu, as well as internationally as a freelance curator.


Exhibition 1

Exhibition dates 17 July - 10 August 2025

Project space of the Verein der Berliner Künstlerinnen e.V. 1867, Eisenacher Str. 118, 10777 Berlin
Thu-Sat 4:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.


Residency 9 July - 30 July 2025
Residency 1 October - 22 October 2026
Exhibition duration 9 October – 14 November 2026


Exhibition 2

2026 Saxon fortified church in Cincsor, Kleinschenk (Transylvania)