68projects by KORNFELD
January 15 – February 28, 2026
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From 15 January to 28 February 2026, KORNFELD Galerie, 68projects by KORNFELD, and 69salon by KORNFELD will present three exhibitions in Berlin, each conceptually and aesthetically intertwined. Together, they form a multifaceted panorama of artistic explorations of rhythm, perception, and cultural identity—set within the dynamic interplay between Brazil and Germany. The program is curated by art historian Tereza de Arruda.
A subtle yet powerful dialogue unfolds between the exhibitions: while Dieter Jung’s “Life of Colors“ creates a universal space of resonance in which light and color become carriers of a timeless rhythm, “Rhythm & Soul“ and “Rhythm & Skin“ reveal the polyphony of contemporary Brazilian art.
Amid the depths of the Berlin winter, these exhibitions open a sensual and conceptual counterpoint to the concurrent Carnival season in Brazil. While rhythm, movement, and collective joy animate the streets there, a different kind of energy takes shape in Berlin: a reflection on the social, cultural, and spiritual forces that shape—and challenge—Brazilian society.
Carnival in Brasil serves as a metaphorical point of departure—an expression of popular culture that gives visibility to those who are often unheard, transforming itself into a socio-political field. The three simultaneous exhibitions together form a curatorial fabric woven from dialogue, memory, and transformation.
They connect the collective with the individual, the material with the immaterial, the Brazilian with the global. The exhibtions are under the patronage of the Brazilian Embassy in Berlin and the Instituto Guimarães Rosa.
Rhythm & Soul – Brazilian Contemporary Art
Curated by Tereza de Arruda
Artists: Francisco de Almeida, Rafael Baron, Panmela Castro, Lia D. Castro, Samir Dams, Mayara Ferrão, Alex Flemming, José Gomes, Rosilene Luduvico, muSa Michelle Mattiuzzi, OBastardo, Heitor dos Prazeres, Nádia Taquary, Ehuana Yanomami und Joseca Mokahesi Yanomami
“Rhythm & Soul – Brazilian Contemporary Art“, conceived for 68projects by KORNFELD, brings together Brazilian artists whose works capture the pulse of the country’s cultural, political, and emotional landscapes. Situated in the heart of Berlin—a city celebrated for its rich musical heritage and socio-political engagement—the exhibition examines how rhythm, both literal and metaphorical, renders visible the soul of a nation in transition.
Brazil is a land of contrasts: joy and resistance, tradition and futurism, festivity and protest. Through a wide range of media—painting, drawing, objects, and printmaking—the exhibition demonstrates how contemporary Brazilian artists translate their individual and collective identities into rhythmic forms of visual expression. Featured are works by artists from diverse generations and regions of Brazil, including Francisco de Almeida, Rafael Baron, Panmela Castro, Lia D. Castro, Samir Dams, Mayara Ferrão, Alex Flemming, José Gomes, Rosilene Luduvico, muSa Michelle Mattiuzzi, OBastardo, Heitor dos Prazeres, Nádia Taquary, Ehuana Yanomami, and Joseca Mokahesi Yanomami.
In Brazil, rhythm is more than music; it is a way of inhabiting the world. It vibrates through carnival drums and urban graffiti, it resonates in the cadence of protests, in the quietude of religious rituals, and in the architecture of cities such as Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo. Rhythm is at once tangible and symbolic—a language of resistance, identity, and joy.
This multiplicity is reflected in Brazil’s complex self-image. The country’s identity bears the imprint of centuries of Indigenous cosmologies, African diasporic spirituality, colonial violence, migration, and contemporary social debates. It is shaped by tensions: between exuberant vitality and deep wounds, between utopian visions of the future and persistent social inequality, between lush natural splendour and ecological precarity.
The works presented mirror this layered reality. The exhibition brings together artists of various generations and regions whose distinct approaches create a panorama of Brazilian contemporary art that is both diverse and cohesive. Francisco de Almeida reflects social realities in fantastical woodcut compositions informed by syncretism and the visual vocabulary of northeastern Brazil, while Rafael Baron reveals the expressive potential of everyday life through humorous and incisive portraits. Panmela Castro and Lia D. Castro probe questions of the body, memory, gender, and Afro-Brazilian identity from complementary perspectives, and Samir Dams expands this dialogue through collage based, hybrid, and tactile visual worlds inspired by Carimbó, a folkloric music and dance tradition from northern Brazil.
Alex Flemming intertwines biography and socio-cultural musicality through the use of readymades such as vinyl records, whereas José Gomes and Rosilene Luduvico explore notions of territory and belonging in sensitive painterly and photographic narratives. muSa Michelle Mattiuzzi and OBastardo delve into inner states and collective symbolisms of Afro-diasporic culture through gestural, spiritually charged visual languages, while Heitor dos Prazeres, as a historical point of reference, translates the urban rhythm of samba into colour and movement. In her series Cangaços, Mayara Ferrão depicts tender gestures among Cangaceiras—women who accompanied the bands of Brazil’s Northeast in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and who, by participating in this movement for “social justice,” challenged the societal norms of their time. Meanwhile, Nádia Taquary transforms Afro-Brazilian rituals into contemporary objects, and Ehuana Yanomami as well as Joseca Yanomami convey the cosmological depth and everyday experiences of their people.
Many of the participating artists are being presented in Berlin for the first time. Their works invite audiences into a vibrant art scene that is both poetic and defiant—whose rhythm, soul, and political resonance extend far beyond Brazil’s borders. “Rhythm & Soul“ seeks to capture these tensions and harmonies. The artists transform rhythm into a visual language: some works pulse with bold colors and gestural energy, while others move softly, invoking ancestral memory, spirituality, and introspection. Together, they compose a dynamic choreography of narratives.
Rather than depicting Brazil as a distant spectacle, the exhibition foregrounds the lived reality of a country that continually reinvents itself. It reveals how artists confront urgent issues while finding moments of beauty, community, and transcendence. It is a tribute to resilience, creativity, and the inexhaustible power of rhythm to sustain life and reshape collective consciousness. In Berlin—a city where rhythm has often signaled revolution, from punk in squatted buildings to techno beats in post-reunification clubs—“Rhythm & Soul“ becomes both a mirror and a provocation. The exhibition invites viewers to experience rhythm not merely as an aesthetic pleasure, but as a radical force that shapes bodies, cities, histories, and futures.
68projects by KORNFELD
Fasanenstr. 68, D-10719 Berlin
Opening: Thursday, 15 January 2026 | 6–9 pm
Exhibition: 15 January – 28 February 2026 | 11 am–6 pm