Seen by Fräulein #37

CARAVAGGIO × BERLINDE DE BRUYCKERE

For the first time, an embassy joins the official programme of Berlin Art Week: the Embassy of Italy opens its doors as the venue for Caravaggio × Berlinde De Bruyckere, the inaugural edition of a new international exhibition series pairing rare historical masterpieces with acclaimed living artists in extraordinary settings.

At its centre is Caravaggio’s Mary Magdalene in Ecstasy (c. 1606), shown publicly in Germany for the very first time. The painting dates from the dramatic period following Caravaggio’s flight from Rome, when he found refuge on Colonna family estates — a stripped-back, haunting work in which the saint emerges from darkness, her head bowed, hands clasped.

Responding to it is M.M. MMXXVI, a newly commissioned sculpture by celebrated Belgian artist Berlinde De Bruyckere, created specifically for this dialogue across four centuries. Known for body-like forms wrought in wax, hide and textile, De Bruyckere’s work has long engaged with themes of vulnerability, mortality and religious imagery — making her an apt counterpart to Caravaggio’s raw, unflinching spirituality.

Organised by Offsite Arts in partnership with the Embassy of Italy and curated by Tjioe Meyer-Hecken and Felipe Schwager, the exhibition transforms a diplomatic residence into an exhibition space for two weeks, offering a rare encounter between Baroque mastery and contemporary sculpture. Admission is free, with registration required.

ONE FOR THE ARCHIVE LOVERS

A new address for archival fashion has arrived in Berlin. After five years online, SUMO is opening its first physical store in Charlottenburg, bringing its selection of rare runway pieces and vintage couture offline. Founded by Alana Richards, the archive includes names like Thierry Mugler, Yves Saint Laurent and John Galliano. Part store, part gallery, the space pairs fashion with photography and art through changing curations. SUMO opens September 12 at Leibnizstraße 48.

MAURITIO CATTELAN: NIGHT

The Neue Nationalgalerie presents NIGHT, the first major solo exhibition in Germany by Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan. Staged as the 2026 Preis der Nationalgalerie, for which Cattelan was selected by an international jury, the show brings together important historical works and new commissions within Mies van der Rohe’s iconic building.

Since the early 1990s, Cattelan has been one of the defining voices in international contemporary art. The exhibition unites seminal pieces such as Him (2001), Novecento (1997), La Rivoluzione Siamo Noi (2000), and Untitled (2003), inspired by Günter Grass’s The Tin Drum, alongside newly commissioned work.

Cattelan uses shock, irritation and moral ambivalence to raise central questions of our time — guilt, responsibility, power and collective trauma, in a style often described as “comic existentialism,” blending humour and tragedy, irony and profundity. Working across sculpture, installation and performance, he uses irony and absurdity to challenge the conventions of the art world and society itself.

With NIGHT, Cattelan returns to Berlin, where he co-curated the 4th Berlin Biennale in 2006 — this time transforming the glass hall of one of Europe’s most iconic museum buildings into a stage for his singular vision.

MATT LAMBERT: IF YOU CAN REACH MY HEART YOU CAN KEEP IT

On September 9th, the Julia Stoschek Foundation presents If You Can Reach My Heart You Can Keep It (Berlin Film & Video Archives 2011–2026), a retrospective of filmmaker, photographer and curator Matt Lambert’s film and video work created in Berlin over the past fifteen years.

Since arriving in Berlin, the Los Angeles-born, Berlin-based artist has built a body of work centred on intimacy, queer history and contemporary identity — collaborating with performers, musicians and designers including Christeene, Michèle Lamy, Rick Owens and Taco Guillén. Spanning music videos, short films and stage work, Lambert’s practice moves fluidly between fashion, nightlife and fine art, shaped by his ongoing engagement with queer culture and its recent history in the city.

The exhibition draws together over a decade of archival material — much of it rarely seen — into a single, immersive survey, accompanied by a live programme of performance and music. It offers a rare chance to trace how one artist’s intimate, collaborative vision has evolved alongside Berlin’s own queer scene, at a foundation internationally known for championing time-based media art.

The exhibition opens during Berlin Art Week, with a live programme featuring Trace Polly, TT, Bleach and special guests.

RAW BY JULIA BELIAEVA & UNVEILING THE FRÄULEIN AWARD

During Berlin Art Week, Fräulein invites you to SCHLACHTER 151 for the opening of RAW, a solo exhibition by Ukrainian artist Julia Beliaeva.

Born in 1988 in the Vinnytsia region of Ukraine, Beliaeva graduated from the Kyiv State Institute of Decorative and Applied Art and Design. Her practice sits at the intersection of centuries-old craft and cutting-edge technology: working across porcelain, sculpture, and digital processes — including 3D scanning, modelling and virtual reality — she reimagines traditional media for a virtualized present. Porcelain, in particular, has become her signature material, one she returns to for its dual nature as both fragile and resilient, much like the human body and psyche it often stands in for.

Beliaeva’s work confronts violence, female agency, vulnerability and the contradictions of our present — themes shaped in part by her own experience of war and displacement, and by her ongoing engagement with Ukraine’s cultural heritage, including its now-diminished porcelain industry. Her sculptures have been shown at institutions including the PinchukArtCentre in Kyiv and in a major solo museum exhibition in Linz, Austria, and she has collaborated with the Königliche Porzellan-Manufaktur Berlin (KPM), bringing her digital practice into dialogue with one of Europe’s oldest porcelain traditions.

The evening also marks the beginning of a new chapter: the launch of the Fräulein Award journey. Ahead of the first Fräulein Award ceremony in 2027, the award statuette — created by Julia Beliaeva — will be unveiled for the first time, becoming the symbol that will accompany the celebration of women who shape culture, challenge conventions and create change.

SPECIAL EXHIBITION “URUSHI BODY: BETWEEN BODY AND MATTER” IN JAPAN

On Tuesday, September 1, ISSEY MIYAKE presented a special exhibition “URUSHI BODY: Between Body and Matter” in Japan at ISSEY MIYAKE GINZA / 445, ISSEY MIYAKE SEMBA, ISSEY MIYAKE KYOTO. The piece reflects the wider exploration within the Autumn Winter 2026/27 collection, letting go of the desire to maintain control throughout a creative process. URUSHI BODY will be available in-store starting September.