5th Berlin Biennial for Contemporary Art: When Things Cast no Shadow

The exhibition When things cast no shadow (5 April till 15 June 2008) consisted of two parts; one taking place by day, one by night. The daytime part of the 5th Berlin Biennale presented mainly new productions by 50 artists of four generations shown at four different venues — at the KW Institute for Contemporary Art, the Neue Nationalgalerie, the Skulpturenpark Berlin_Zentrum and the Schinkel Pavilion. Many of the participating artists conceptualized and built their commissioned artworks explicitly in response to the specifically designated exhibition site. Already a few weeks prior to the official opening the first in a series of five solo exhibitions (curated by artists participating in the biennial) was launched at the Schinkel Pavilion as part of the 5th Berlin Biennale. Throughout the duration of the biennial these exhibitions gave insights into ways in which younger artists deal with topics such as the legacy of previous generations, modernity or various exhibition formats.

With the title Mes nuits sonts plus belles que vos jours (My nights are more beautiful than your days), the night program consisted of a total of 63 evening events. The biennial program was thus extended by 100 additional artists and cultural producers who were involved in the lectures, talks, performances, concerts, workshops, film and video screenings and other types of events at various locations throughout the whole city. Szymczyk and Filipovic envisioned the night program as an “exhibition which, for the duration of the biennale, would be in the process of becoming”. With a focus on revisioning already existing artworks or creating entirely new work, the team of curators thus offered participating artists and thinkers from a variety of fields a possibility to experiment and improvise beyond the spatial and temporal boundaries of the gallery.