Arhun AksakalLand Before Time
curated by Leonie Rösler & Marlene Sichelschmidt
Opening: Thursday, 11 September, 2025, 6–10pm11.09.–04.10.2025
Open only by appointment (lm@ebensperger.net)
EBENSPERGER KAPELLE, Waldstraße 52, 10551
With LAND BEFORE TIME, EBENSPERGER presents the first solo exhibition of young artist Arhun Aksakal (*1995, Offenbach), a graduate of the Städelschule Frankfurt, at EBENSPERGER KAPELLE.
The exhibition opens during Berlin Art Week (September 10–14, 2025) as part of Gallery Night. At the heart of the exhibition is Aksakal’s new video work Land Before Time. The 19-minute film weaves together documentary and poetic imagery into a visual essay on past and present civilizations and their impact on landscapes, architecture, and memory. The film traces a path from the gleaming white potash mountains—once industrial waste, now elevated into tourist monuments—to the submerged ruins of the ancient city of Hasankeyf in Turkey, a cradle of civilization erased by massive dam projects. Other sites include Ferropolis, the “city of iron” where monumental excavators now serve as a festival backdrop, Mount Nemrut, the Ilısu Dam, the gardens of Diyarbakır, and the Zollverein Coal Mine in Essen, where young parkour athletes transform Ulrich Rückriem’s sculptures into an obstacle course.
Expanding on the film, the exhibition also presents a selection of new installations, forming a dense, immersive environment that allows visitors to experience and engage with Aksakal’s artistic language as a whole.
Arhun Aksakal (*1995, Offenbach am Main) works across video, film, photography, sculpture, and
performance. He studied Fine Arts at the Kunsthochschule Kassel, Università Iuav di Venezia, the
Art Academy in Sulaimani, and the Städelschule Frankfurt, where he trained with artists including
Willem de Rooij and Cyprien Gaillard. His works have been shown internationally and have received multiple awards, including grants from the Hessian Cultural Foundation, DAAD, and Urbane Künste Ruhr. He lives and works in Frankfurt, Berlin, and Istanbul.
EBENSPERGER Kapelle in Moabit is a temporary venue of Berlin’s Galerie Ebensperger. The former chapel will once again be transformed into a gallery and exhibition space for Berlin Art Week, made possible by Luxoom Lab.
