What possibilities does sleep open up? What happens when we withdraw from the grip of constant productivity, consumption, and restlessness? Can dreamscapes function not only as spaces of imagination, but also as collective refuge? Sleeping Resistance brings together artistic positions that explore sleep as a social and political space – a state of vulnerability, care, and connectedness. Who has access to rest? Who is allowed to sleep – and how? These questions resonate throughout the exhibition and are entangled with considerations of new forms of cohabitation with human and more-than-human life. With works by: Anne Glassner, Valentina Karga, Daniela Medina Poch, Sondi, A. Stoyke and curated by Lena Fließbach.

The works challenge dominant power structures and open up speculative dreamscapes. In a world shaped by digital hyperpresence, surveillance, and tightly scheduled routines, sleep emerges as a radical interruption – a moment of stillness and disengagement that allows for different rhythms, enabling new forms of relation. Sleeping Resistance approaches rest as an essential process of healing and care – an act of not only turning towards oneself, but also towards one another. The exhibition investigates sleep as a transformative gesture of resistance and creates space for shared experience, collectivity, and dreaming together.

Events

Sunday, Sep 14, 3 pm
Guided tour with the curator Lena Fließbach
as part of the Summer Festival Alte Feuerwache (Sep 13-14)

Friday, Oct 17., 6 pm
Schlafwelten: An Interdisciplinary Tour
as part of the Aktionstage of Berlin’s Municipal Galleries (Oct 16-19, 2025)

What does our sleep reveal about life in a hectic world? The tour with Thea Herold (German Sleep Foundation), participating artists, and curator Lena Fließbach opens up artistic, social, and scientific perspectives.

Saturday, Oct 18, 6 pm
How Can We Dream If We Don’t Sleep?
as part of the Aktionstage of Berlin’s Municipal Galleries (Oct 16-19, 2025)

A guided session of storytelling, collective daydreaming, deep listening, and napping. Drawing from personal and fictional narratives, the session explores themes from Sondi’s video game Mbombo: Dream Echoes and invites reflection on the transformative power of dreaming.

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