Symbiotic Wood

Presentation of ME+BeFallen at Kunstgewerbemuseum Berlin (2025)

Installation view

Front view of all five prints with headphones; visitors listening in the exhibition Symbiotic Wood.
Installation view, ME+BeFallen within Symbiotic Wood, Kunstgewerbemuseum Berlin. Photo: Frank Peters

Overview

ME+BeFallen was presented within the special exhibition Symbiotic Wood at the Kunstgewerbemuseum Berlin as a headphone-based installation: five audio tracks, each paired with a large-format print by Anna Kubelík.

The exhibition ran from 28 June–21 September 2025 and was extended until 23 November 2025.

Audience setup

  • Five listening stations: five Raspberry Pi mini-computers concealed in a clean housing, each feeding one wired headphone set; tracks ran on loop.
  • 1:1 mapping: one headphone set was mounted directly under each print; the pairing print ↔ track was curated in advance.
  • QR access: next to each headphone set, a label showed the track title and a QR code linking to a temporary landing page for streaming during the exhibition.
  • Language: in this installation, the audio available on headphones and via streaming was German only.

Accessibility

The five QR landing pages also provided the texts as readable versions for accessibility, in German and English, alongside the streaming option.

Curatorial context

Symbiotic Wood explored wood as a more-than-human material shaped by ecological processes, climate change, and human intervention. Bringing together artistic, scientific, and design-based perspectives, the exhibition positioned ME+BeFallen within a broader reflection on forest ecologies, infestation, and transformation.

Developed in collaboration with the Excellence Cluster Matters of Activity at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Symbiotic Wood was part of the ＿matter Festival 2025 and formed the concluding chapter of the More than Human exhibition series at the Kunstgewerbemuseum Berlin.

CREDITS

ME+BeFallen

  • Text & sound design: Tarik Goetzke
  • Voice (all roles): Anna Kubelík
  • Prints: Anna Kubelík
  • Production: KubelíkGoetzke

Symbiotic Wood (selection)

  • Curator: Karola Dierichs
  • Co-curators: Achim Stiegel; Claudia Banz
  • Curatorial assistance: Jessica Farmer
  • Production: Julia Blumenthal
  • Graphic design: Nuri Kang
  • Photography: Roland Halbe, Frank Peters
  • Press & PR: Antje Nestler and Carolin Ott

Documentation

Explore the five print–audio pairings (excerpts).

Visitor listening with headphones while looking at the first print.
Listening situation, ME+BeFallen, Kunstgewerbemuseum Berlin. Photo: Frank Peters
Installation view including exhibition signage and neighboring exhibit.
Installation view in Symbiotic Wood. Photo: Frank Peters
Opening night view with visitors observing prints; one person scanning a QR code.
Opening night / public reception. Photo: Frank Peters
Close-up detail of headphones worn by a visitor.
Detail (headphones). Photo: Frank Peters

Back to overview ME+BeFallen