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A Live-Performance

A live performance that sets archival sounds from 1930s Egypt in motion, mobilising queer histories and migratory narratives into an immersive listening experience.

fuga is a sound exhibition by artist Netta Weiser, presented in the Humboldt Forum’s Hörraum (Listening Room). As part of the Long Night of Museums, the installation comes to life through a special performance by flutist Roy Amotz, interweaving archival material, electronic sound, and live improvisation.

This exhibition fuga reactivates an archive of audio recordings made in Egypt in the 1930s by Birgitte Schiffer, a Jewish-German composer whose life was shaped by displacement and exile. During her ethnomusicological fieldwork in the Siwa Oasis, an isolated community in the Sahara Desert, Schiffer recorded rare sonic documents, including a funeral song performed by a children’s choir and a collection of queer love songs.

Developed specifically for the advanced sound environment of the Humboldt Forum’s Hörraum, fuga transforms these archival traces into a choreography of sound and diasporic memory. In this live event, the historical recordings enter into dialogue with contemporary musical interpretation, extending the installation into a performative encounter.

fugainvites audiences to listen across time and geography, bringing silenced histories of exile, desire, and complex identities into resonance through a sonic world in constant motion.

fuga Sound Exhibition by Netta Weiser

Curator: Maurice Mengel

Performance with and by Roy Amotz

Installation in collaboration with:

Flute: Roy Amotz

Electronics: Michael Hauschke

Vocals: Chanan Ben Simon

Video: Itay Marom

Special thanks to Dr. Matthias Padzerny, Albrecht Wiedmann, Eleanor and Naomi Volaski Aram

Commissioned by the Media Department, Ethnologisches Museum, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin Supported by Artis through its Exhibition Grant Initiative

An early version of this work was presented at the Maamuta Center for Art and Research at Hansen House, Jerusalem, supported by the Goethe-Institut Jerusalem Residency Program.

- Ticket for the Lange Nacht der Museen required

- 2nd Floor, Listening Space

- Belongs to: Lange Nacht der Museen 2026

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Additional information

Accessibility

The Humboldt Forum and all exhibition rooms can be reached barrier-free with a wheelchair. A tactile floor guidance system facilitates orientation for blind and visually impaired visitors. Educational formats are tailored to the different needs of visitors with disabilities. These include tactile tours, guided tours and workshops.

Barrier-free parking is available south of the Humboldt Forum on Schlossplatz. Barrier-free parking is available south of the Humboldt Forum on Schlossplatz. For more information, click here.

Bus bays are available in Rathausstraße: Stopping time from 9 - 22.30

By underground and suburban railway

U Museumsinsel (U5): 1 min walk

S/U Alexanderplatz: 15 min walk

S Hackescher Markt: 10 min walk

By bus

Lustgarten: 100, 300, N5; 1 min walk

Berlin Palace: 147; 1 min walk

BVG Fahrinfo

Dates
August 2026
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