The Ceramics Workshop of Wilfriede Maaẞ

September 5, 2026 – February 7, 2027

Public Preview Weekend & MINSK LIVE summer festival 
August 29–30, 2026, 2–10 PM

Opening: August 28, 2026, 6 PM, with artists talk with Wilfriede Maaß and Sabine Herrmann, film screening curated by Claus Löser

The exhibition in the cabinet space of DAS MINSK traces the history of Wilfriede Maaß's workshop in East Berlin. In the 1980s, the ceramics studio located at Schönfließer Straße 21—which would later double as a gallery after German reunification—served as an important space for non-conformist art in the GDR. On view are tea and coffee sets, plates, vases, and experimental ceramic sculptures shaped by Wilfriede Maaß and her studio, and painted by various artists. These works from the personal collection of Wilfriede Maaß enter in a dialogue with paintings from the 1980s and 1990s from the Hasso Plattner Collection, as well as with works on loan from key figures associated with the workshop. The film Ein Zeichen sind wir, deutungslos, und haben fast die Sprache in der Fremde verloren [We are a sign, meaningless, and have almost lost our language in the strange] (1984) by Gino Hahnemann—which was partly filmed in the ceramics workshop and features Wilfriede Maaß and other artists—completes the exhibition.

The ceramics workshop as a site of artistic exchange

In 1980, Wilfriede Maaß (b. 1951 in Kaltnordheim) took over the workshop in Prenzlauer Berg from her sister. Under Maaß’s direction, the workshop became a place of artistic production and social gathering. Artists from different generations met there to exchange ideas and earn some money by painting ceramics. The warmth of the kiln and the opportunity to use a phone with a line to the West made the workshop a popular place to meet.

Key figures in workshop

In its early years, the output of the ceramics studio was primarily shaped by former students of the Dresden Academy of Fine Arts, such as Ralf Kerbach, Cornelia Schleime, Helge Leiberg, and Christine Schlegel. After they steadily migrated to the West between 1982 and 1986, Maaß sought to collaborate with a new generation of artists who lived primarily in Berlin, including Sabine Herrmann, Klaus Killisch, and Susanne Rast. A few exceptions, such as Karla Woisnitza and Angela Hampel, remained in the GDR and bridged the gap between the generations in the workshop.

After German reunification, Wilfriede Maaß, together with Sabine Herrmann, Klaus Killisch, and Petra Schramm, transformed the workshop into an artist-run gallery. From 1990, more and more artists were invited to participate in exhibitions, thus steadily expanding the circle of people connected to the workshop. Growing ambitions and bureaucratic restrictions resulted in the gallery relocating to a new space on Berlin’s Gipsstraße in 1995. A series of remarkable exhibitions were held there, including the renowned sake bar conceived by Mikael Eriksson in 1996. In 1998, Wilfriede Maaß ended her work at the gallery and moved her studio to Schlemmin in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. She continues to live and work in the countryside.

The works in the exhibition

Ceramic objects are on display with designs by Sascha Anderson, Romen Banerjee, Mikael Eriksson, Angela Hampel, Sabine Herrmann, Uta Hünniger, MK Kaehne, Ralf Kerbach, Klaus Killisch, Helge Leiberg, Walter Libuda, Werner Liebmann, Wilfriede Maaß, Carsten Nicolai, Susanne Rast, Neo Rauch, Reinhard Sandner, Wolfram Adalbert Scheffler, Hans Scheib, Christine Schlegel, Cornelia Schleime, Petra Schramm, Christopher Simpson, Holger Stark, Gabriele Stötzer, Jan Svenungsson, Karla Woisnitza and Tanja Zimmermann. From the Hasso Plattner Colleciton, paintings by Sabine Herrmann, Ralf Kerbach, Werner Liebmann and Cornelia Schleime are on dislpay alongside loans from Klaus Killisch and Karla Woisnitza, and the above-mentioned film by Gino Hahnemann.

The exhibition is curated by Daniel Milnes.
Special thanks to Wilfriede Maaß, Sabine Herrmann, and Klaus Killisch.

 

Further Information

The cabinet is located on the first floor. During the summer festival MINSK LIVE (August 28-30, 2026), the cabinet is accessible only by elevator. Admission is free on the weekend of the MINSK LIVE summer festival.

From September 5, DAS MINSK will be open regularly. Admission to the exhibition is included in the ticket price for the exhibition Annemirl Bauer. A Rupture in the world.