Seeing GHOSTS | A contemporary art exhibition about ghostly matters.
Seeing Ghosts is a group exhibition in Berlin featuring international contemporary artists who explore how memory, absence, and the paranormal shape our experience of the present. Through sound, image, and installation, the exhibition reflects on how we are quietly haunted—by histories, emotions, and presences that blur the line between visible and invisible, past and present.
When? and Where?
Come visit us the 25th–28th of June 2025.
Culterim | Gesundbrunnen
Badstraße 4, 13357 Berlin, Germany
What is Seeing Ghosts about?
Welcome to Seeing Ghosts.
Have you ever felt drawn to something invisible—something you know exists, yet can’t touch or see? Have you ever sensed a presence passing you by, just beyond your reach? Have you ever felt like you had just seen a ghost?
Berlin, a city shaped by its layered history and alive with its own ghosts, carries the weight of memory in its streets and spaces. The visible traces of an unsettled past—the remnants of the Berlin Wall and the Stolpersteine scattered throughout its streets—serve as poignant reminders of history, shaping how we engage with the present and reflect on the past, making Berlin a powerful setting for exploring haunting and remembrance.
Human beings have always been fascinated by what lies beyond comprehension. We are irresistibly drawn to the unknown, to that which escapes the normal understanding of everyday life. Ghosts embody this allure, representing the mystery of existence and the boundaries between worlds. Their existence compels us to explore the unexplainable and confront the shadows of our reality.
In Western culture, ghosts often symbolize unresolved histories and hidden truths, returning to seek justice or closure. The poltergeist—from the German for “noisy spirit”—is a particularly disruptive form, embodying repressed emotions that erupt into the present. This is not limited to the West; similar concepts can also be found in the East, particularly in Chinese culture, the words for "ghost" and "return" are closely related, reflecting a connection to unresolved matters. From ancient myths to Gothic novels, these presences return to seek justice, reveal secrets, or find rest. Sociologist Avery Gordon describes ghosts as the lingering presence of victims and the forgotten manifestations of cultural trauma and historical repression. These specters remind us of the unfinished business of the past, asking us to confront what has been silenced.
Ghosts are everywhere, they act as bearers of our collective memory, they challenge our sense of time, occupying the in-between: visible and invisible, past and present, material and immaterial. In the 1990s, thanks to Jacques Derrida’s Spectres of Marx, ghosts, at that time only seen as silly metaphors, were transformed into analytical tools, in what is now known as the spectral turn. These hauntology studies demonstrated how the present is haunted by the specters of what once was and what will be, and also how these “hauntings” if looked closely destabilize and contest the established narratives inviting us to rethink history and identity.
Since the modern era, photography has served as a key medium for interpreting and engaging with the spectral. For example, double exposures, helped visualize ghosts by blending the tangible with the ethereal. These techniques created haunting images where past and present merge. Pioneering photographers experimented with this to evoke the presence of the absent, blurring the boundaries between the living and the spectral. Derrida’s idea that "spirituality is the essence of photography" speaks to how the medium captures more than just the visible. Photography, in this sense, summons traces of the past, revealing the hidden aspects of ourselves and amplifying the interplay between presence and absence.
The exploration of ghosts in contemporary art reflects a widespread fascination with the past—its memories, traumas, and the way these specters continue to haunt our present. Much of contemporary photography and video seem haunted by these ghosts, focused on reanimating lost moments through reproductive media, live performance, and maybe even the virtual world.[1] Ghosts remain an enduringly relevant and hauntingly popular subject in exhibitions today.[2] Often engaging with past technologies, stylistic devices, and subject matters, embracing a nostalgic longing for an irrecuperable and distant past. In this sense, the art itself embodies a melancholic reverence for what has been left behind. It is through a blend of exploration of memory, documentation, poetic actions and archive that ghosts often find their place in the art world.
In Seeing Ghosts, Anna Maria Podlacha’s Between Images and traces series echoes these concerns. Working with screen printing techniques, Podlacha combines personal photographs with found archival images through double exposures and image manipulation. Her brightly colored, layered visuals blur the boundaries between memory and time, resulting in fictional, suspended images that exist between personal history and collective memory. These manipulated pictures pose compelling questions: How are collective stories constructed? How malleable is the image when it comes to shaping our understanding of the past? And can we find individuality in the anonymity of collectiveness?
Several of the artists featured in Seeing Ghosts work with video, a medium defined by its temporal nature. Unlike photography, which captures a single moment, video reanimates time—bringing the past into motion once more. Not only that, but it is also the technology itself that allows us to capture or even perceive these ghosts: through the ability to freeze a frame, slow time down, zoom in, or reveal what our eyes might miss—like a glitch or a flicker just at the edge of perception.
In Echoes of Restoration, Cian McCarthy reflects on the complex experience of receiving a cochlear implant. Through video and sound, he explores how healing is not only physical but deeply emotional and internal. In the work, we witness this process as a wandering through an abandoned building, accompanied by a fragmented and layered soundscape. Shot on film, the piece evokes the aesthetics of found footage and analog horror—reminiscent of The Blair Witch Project—where the lo-fi, unstable image amplifies the sensation of being unsettled, lost, or haunted.
Iyamari, a Japanese artist, makes the invisible perceptible through traditional Japanese spirituality. In Shinto—a belief rooted in the lives of the Japanese people, spirits are thought to reside not only in people, but also in all elements of nature—reflecting a deep reverence for its sometimes threatening power. Among these, the cherry blossom holds a special place. Its overwhelming beauty can evoke fear, admired and revered by the people, symbolizing centuries of collective memory and emotions close to trauma. « Japanese Cherry Blossom » is a research-based video and sound work, where the ghost of the cherry blossom appears in a hauntingly beautiful dance reminiscent of Butoh*, seducing us into another realm.
Artist Kurt Yau Kwo Keung, originally from Hong Kong, lighting up the endless darkness with candlelight, sparks, and fireworks of memories via video works and paintings. Each piece captures a transient moment carved into eternity—a poetic yet grim embrace of transformation, where chaos meets balance. Now based in Berlin, Kurt draws parallels between his work and the city he based in : layered, fragmented, and resilient. Amid the blackout of existence, he reveals emotional ghosts—both collective and deeply personal—offering a quiet meditation on pain, survival, and the invisible traces we leave behind.
With this exhibition, Seeing Ghosts seeks to present the diverse ways in which artists interpret ghosts in their lives and practices. These ghosts—whether intimate, collective, or cultural—serve as vessels for messages, carrying echoes of memory and presence. It’s also an exploration of ghostly aesthetics, offering a glimpse into what it means to experience the spectral in contemporary art. Seeing Ghosts aims to be a collective séance, where works and artists become mediums, summoning the paranormal and giving physical presence to those invisible hauntings that, for better or worse, refuse to be ignored.
[1] Artists like Sophie Calle, Philippe Parreno, Susan Hiller have explored the idea of ghosts throughout all their careers with very different approaches.
[2] Several major exhibitions on the theme of ghosts in the last years have captured the growing fascination with spectral presence, including Living with Ghosts (2022) at Pace Gallery, Do You Believe in Ghosts? (2023) at the Fondation Pernod Ricard, and more recently the Mike Kelley: A Retrospective (2025) at Tate Liverpool as well as the Ghosts: visualizing the modernity (2025) at Kunsthalle Basel.
The Artists
Born in 1997, she lives and works in Berlin. An undergraduate of the Berlin University of the Arts, she works across painting, photography, and screen printing. Her clean, pop-inspired aesthetic blends abstraction and figuration, layering symbols and gestures that explore both personal and collective experience. Her process is experimental and intuitive, with technique, material, and intention in constant dialogue.
Cian Mcarthy
A multidisciplinary artist from Wicklow, Cian uses their hearing impairment to create emotive, audiovisual work. They craft ephemeral soundscapes from field recordings processed through analog and digital effects, reflecting their experience with hearing aids. These sounds inspire emotionally charged visuals that express their inner world.
Iyamari is a Japanese contemporary artist based in Amsterdam since 2019. Active since 2008, she explores time and perception through multimedia works inspired by a near-death experience. Drawing on traditional Japanese techniques, her practice blends innovation and craft to model fleeting moments and challenge human cognition. She is also the founder of the Telescore Project, a cross-disciplinary platform uniting artists from fields like dance, music, and programming.
Kurt Yau Kwok Keung
A visual and tattoo artist from Hong Kong whose work explores history, mythology,
and collective trauma. Yau, a recipient of the 2023 DFA Hong Kong Young Design Talent Award, embarked on a year-long overseas research journey to expand his artistic horizons. His practice encompasses detailed paintings, video art, kinetic sculptures, and sound installations, deeply informed by his experiences as a tattoo artist since 2018.
The Space
This exhibition will take place in a unique space at Brunnenstraße 105-109, previously a Rossmann store, a mobile phone shop, and a bakery, now transformed into art venues. These spaces will be available until the building’s demolition, offering a distinctive atmosphere for the exhibition.
MEET THE TEAM
Wenjie Sun
Artistic Direction
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Artistic Direction
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Graduated from Chinese University of Hong Kong, she has worked for over a decade as a freelance art writer, collaborating with leading news agencies, galleries, magazines, and auction houses. Currently, she is pursuing an MBA in Contemporary Art: Sales, Display & Collecting at IESA Arts & Culture in Paris.
Emma Bomprezzi Mora
Artistic direction and mediation
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Emma is an Art History graduate from the Autonomous University of Madrid, currently pursuing an MBA in Contemporary Art at IESA in Paris. She has shas contributed to exhibition preparation for an art gallery in Madrid and audience engagement. In her role with Seeing Ghosts. Passionate about creating meaningful connections between artists, institutions, and audiences.
Liu YuanYuan
Communication 📣🗣️💡🔗📡📰
Holding a Bachelor’s degree in Art History from Sichuan Conservatory of Music (China) and currently pursuing an MBA in Contemporary Art at IESA (Paris), I bring a unique fusion of academic rigor and cross-industry expertise. My professional journey spans art and new media at Taihe Music Group , fashion media coverage at Paris Fashion Week, and hands-on curatorial experience as a gallery assistant.
Communication 📣🗣️💡🔗📡📰
Holding a Bachelor’s degree in Art History from Sichuan Conservatory of Music (China) and currently pursuing an MBA in Contemporary Art at IESA (Paris), I bring a unique fusion of academic rigor and cross-industry expertise. My professional journey spans art and new media at Taihe Music Group , fashion media coverage at Paris Fashion Week, and hands-on curatorial experience as a gallery assistant.
Marie Meguro
Production and Fundraising 🎁🎯🤝🛠️📅📈
Graduated from the Faculty of Economics at Kobe University in Japan. She began her career at the art media Bijutsu-Techo, where she was involved in advertising planning and the development of exclusive content for paid members. In 2024, she enrolled in the MBA in Contemporary Art program at IESA in Paris, where she is currently based. In Seeing Ghosts, Marie is responsible for project management, including overseeing progress and fundraising.
Production and Fundraising 🎁🎯🤝🛠️📅📈
Graduated from the Faculty of Economics at Kobe University in Japan. She began her career at the art media Bijutsu-Techo, where she was involved in advertising planning and the development of exclusive content for paid members. In 2024, she enrolled in the MBA in Contemporary Art program at IESA in Paris, where she is currently based. In Seeing Ghosts, Marie is responsible for project management, including overseeing progress and fundraising.