The Ceramics Workshop of Wilfriede Maaẞ
Exhibition Opening and artist talk
The Ceramics Workshop of Wilfriede Maaẞ
Exhibition Opening and artist talk
Save the Date
MINSK LIVE
First Summer festival at DAS MINSK
Photo: Victoria Alexandrova
Fri, August 28, 2026 from 6 PM
Sat, August 29, 2026
Sun, August 30, 2026
Free admission
Registration is required for certain events of the program
From August 28 to 30, DAS MINSK Kunsthaus in Potsdam will celebrate its first summer festival, MINSK LIVE—a weekend dedicated to exchange, encounters, and shared experiences. Over the course of three days, live formats such as performances, music, film, culinary experiences, workshops, and talks will take over both the indoor and outdoor spaces of DAS MINSK. In addition, a preview of the exhibition The Ceramics Workshop of Wilfriede Maaß (September 5 through February 7, 2027) will be on view throughout the weekend in the cabinet of DAS MINSK.
Three days of exciting events centered around DAS MINSK
The inaugural MINSK LIVE summer festival at DAS MINSK invites visitors of all ages to discover its diverse program. A range of international and local artists—including Sarah Ama Duah, Magdalena Mitterhofer, and James Gregory Atkinson—will be performing at DAS MINSK with artistic interventions and performances both indoors and outdoors. The summer festival builds on MINSK’s ongoing commitment to highlighting local perspectives as well as the history of the venue and the art of the GDR.
Exhibition at the Kabinett: The ceramics workshop of Wilfriede Maaẞ
On Friday, August 28, at 6 PM, the summer festival opens with an artists' talk by Wilfriede Maaß and Sabine Herrmann, moderated by the exhibition's curator, Daniel Milnes.
The opening will be accompanied by an open-air film program, where author, curator, and film historian Claus Löser will present four short films by Gino Hahnemann, Helge Leiberg, Christine Schlegel, and Cornelia Schleime from the first half of the 1980s that emerged within the milieu of GDR subculture and correspond, directly or indirectly, with the workshop.
Alongside the exhibition program, Cafébar HEDWIG, in collaboration with OSC Berlin, will host an evening of sake and a DJ set, reminiscent of the Sake Bar established by Mikael Eriksson in 1996 at Wilfriede Maaß's gallery.
The exhibition in the cabinet space of DAS MINSK—running from September 5, 2026, alongside the retrospective Annemirl Bauer: A Rupture in the World—traces the history of Wilfriede Maaß's studio in East Berlin.
In the 1980s, the ceramics studio located at Schönfließer Straße 21—which would later double as a gallery—served as an important space for art that did not conform to the rules of the GDR. On view are tableware sets, plates, vases, and experimental ceramic sculptures shaped by Wilfriede Maaß and painted by various artists. The works from the Wilfriede Maaß Collection engage in a dialogue with 1980s and 1990s paintings from the Hasso Plattner Collection, as well as with works on loan from key figures associated with the workshop.
Fresh Pizza from the Oven Sculpture
The artwork Brenda by Argentine artist Gabriel Chaile, located in front of DAS MINSK, invites visitors for the last time this summer season to enjoy art with all their senses, gather together, eat together, and participate in community life through culinary experiences. Brenda is crafted from traditional, simple materials and named after one of the artist’s sisters. The stylized facial featuresare reminiscent of pre-Columbian artifacts from Chaile’s native region.
Starting September 5, DAS MINSK will present the comprehensive retrospective Annemirl Bauer. Bruch ist in der Welt, alongside the exhibition The Ceramics Workshop of Wilfriede Maaß in the MINSK exhibition room.
Participating Artists
James Gregory Atkinson und The String Archestra, Idil Baydar, Gabriel Chaile, Gesine Danckwart, Sarah Ama Duah, Katrin Hentschel, Sabine Herrmann, JAJAJA, Schorsch Kamerun, Harald Kisiedu, Wilfriede Maaß, Magdalena Mitterhofer, Katharina Oguntoye, Masha Qrella, Grit Seymour, Eric Otieno Sumba, V.E.R.Z. Chor und vielen anderen.
