Forgive us our trespasses: over 50 artists reflect on guilt, sin, debt—and various forms of transgression. Opening on 13 September

Forgive Us Our Trespasses / Vergib uns unsere Schuld. Of (Un)Real Frontiers, Of (Im)Moralities, and Other Transcendences

Exhibition, Performances, Panels, Talks, Activations
14.9.–8.12.2024
Tickets: €8/€6 reduced
Opening 13.9., 18:00 (free entry)

Press preview: 12.9., 11:30
Please register at presse@hkw.de 
hkw.de/pressphotos

If the ‘norm’ has been inherently exclusive, is there a possibility that the ‘abnormal’ would be more accommodating? And what role can artists play in the imagination of the abnormal as a method?

A trespasser, marginalized and excluded, does not need to ask for forgiveness for being a ‘Gastarbeiter’, for seeking refuge, for not believing in someone else’s God or for believing in one’s own Gods, for being queer, for advocating for a better future, or, to sum up, for simply being abnormal. This abnormality must not be concerned with undoing, but rather with giving space to a multiplicity of ways of existing and co-existing side-by-side and even intertwined.

Haus der Kulturen der Welt (HKW) invites over 50 artists, scholars, and activists from Berlin and beyond to deliberate on religious, social, class-based, national, sexual, disciplinary, and other forms of trespassing.

Featuring a vast spectrum of artworks, performances, and discussions, this research and exhibition project reflects on the nature of trespassing and questions normativity and the structures that uphold it.

Forgive Us Our Trespasses / Vergib uns unsere Schuld is about queering all that claims normativity. It is about making crooked, about going down the winding paths of life, it is about getting lost and finding oneself again, it is about trespassing as a means of resistance—without asking for forgiveness.

More information: hkw.de/trespasses/en

heimaten. A project by Haus der Kulturen der Welt

Forgive Us Our Trespasses / Vergib uns unsere Schuld is the first iteration of the project heimaten by Haus der Kulturen der Welt.

According to Article 20, Paragraph 2 of the Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany, all state power emanates from the people. Some things can be said with certainty about this people: almost 30 percent have a history of migration, people desire in different ways, have different political opinions, belong to different religious communities, are of different ages, and have different amounts of income and property.

But this also means that all state power emanates from a pluralistic society. The heimaten project addresses this reality. It understands heimaten as a verb––to heimaten––, because home is something that we actively shape and that is constantly recreated. But Heimaten can also be a plural noun, as Germany is a place of plurality.

The project attempts to define the concept of the German term heimaten and presents a comprehensive Germany-wide cultural programme.

Programme presentation heimaten: 10 September 2024, 11:00
Opening weekend heimaten: 10–13 September 2024
Free entry

More information: hkw.de/heimaten/en

Partners

Forgive Us Our Trespasses / Vergib uns unsere Schuld is part of heimaten, supported by the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media due to a ruling of the German Bundestag.

Haus der Kulturen der Welt (HKW) receives institutional support by the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media.

Visit Information

Opening Times
Wed.–Mon. 12:00–19:00
Extended opening hours during evening programmes.

Free admission on Mondays and on every first Sunday of the month (Museumssonntag Berlin).

Childcare with programme
HKW offers free childcare for many of its programmes. For further information visit hkw.de

Current information about visiting and accessibility.

Weltwirtschaft Restaurant is open daily, from 12:00–00:00 on weekdays and 10:00–00:00 on weekends.

Contact

Jan Trautmann

Pressesprecher
Lead Communications Officer
Haus der Kulturen der Welt (HKW)
John-Foster-Dulles-Allee 10
10557 Berlin

T: + 49 (0) 30 397 87 157
presse@hkw.de