On the occasion of this year's Berlin Art Week from 10 to 14 September 2025, the Neue Nationalgalerie is showing the fourth edition of the „PERFORM!“ festival series with performances by Joan Jonas, Isaac Chong Wai and vAL. In addition, the participatory performance „Bells for Peace“ by Yoko Ono will take place on the „Tag im Grünen (Day in Greenery)“ on 14 September 2025. All events are free of charge.

As in previous years, a historically groundbreaking performance forms the core of the „PERFORM!“ program: „Mirror Piece I & II“ (1969/2025) by Joan Jonas will be performed once a day on the terrace of the Neue Nationalgalerie from 10 to 14 September 2025. On Sunday, 14 September, the performance „Falling Reversely“ (2021/2024) by Isaac Chong Wai, which was presented at the last Venice Biennale, and a specially produced work by vAL will also take place.

All events are free of charge. All performances and events take place in areas of the museum that are also accessible without a ticket. In the event of limited capacity, admission will be granted on a first-come, first-served basis. Participation without registration, unless otherwise stated.

Joan Jonas: „Mirror Piece I & II“ (1969/2025)
Wednesday, 10 September to Saturday, 13 September 2025: 5:15 to 5:45 pm
Sunday, 14 September 2025: 4:15 to 4:45 p.m.
Location: Neue Nationalgalerie terrace

„Mirror Piece“ is a groundbreaking performance created and first performed by the American artist Joan Jonas in 1969. The work is considered one of the earliest and most influential examples of feminist and conceptual performance art in the USA and was instrumental in redefining the boundaries between visual art, performance and gender representation.

Several performers carry mirrors and plexiglass plates in synchronised, choreographed movements. As the piece unfolds, the moving mirrors reflect and fragment the audience, the performers and the environment, blurring the boundary between audience and actors. Movement director: Nefeli Skarmea.

„The mirror was a metaphor for me. A device to alter the image and to include the audience as reflection, making them uneasy as they view themselves in public.“
Joan Jonas

Joan Jonas (*1936, New York) is a pioneer of performance and video art who has been working with mirrors, texts and body movements since the 1960s. Her works thematise identity, gender and perception and have had a lasting influence on contemporary art.

Performers: Caroline Beach, Jennie Boultbee, Florencia Martina, Tatiana Mejía, Mica Kupfer, YeoJin Kim, Mila Nhu-Nhien Horst, Zeina Hanna, Ana Libório, Narin Mohammadi, Obitse Omagbeni, Kareth Schaffer, Benca Ungvari, Tim Winter, Betül Yildirim

Movement Director: Nefeli Skarmea.



Image:
Joan Jonas: „Mirror Piece I“, 1969, performance, Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, New York, photo by Joan Jonas, © Joan Jonas/VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2025, Courtesy of the artist and Gladstone.