Make a travel deep of your inside, and don’t forget me to take marks the first institutional solo exhibition of Charmaine Poh, Deutsche Bank "Artist of the Year" 2025.

Reflecting the transnational and time-spanning themes that define Poh’s video works. The evening brings together traditional Southeast Asian sounds with post-club dance and J-core by DJ shasti. Treating every DJ set as a form of magic, shasti conjures a soundscape that exists only on the dancefloor: a cathartic utopia of fantastical narratives, mysticism, and gothic hardcore.

Live speakers will guide visitors through Charmaine Poh's exhibition, offering insights into the works on view. Drinks and snacks will be available all evening at LePopulaire.

As part of Berlin Art Week

Free of charge – Registration is not required.

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Charmaine Poh © Muhammad Fadli

Charmaine Poh's first solo exhibition, Make a travel deep of your inside, and don't forget me to take, explores themes of time travel, power structures, ecology, care, and resistance. How do these quiet resistances unfold in a time marked by catastrophe and destruction? How can we resist or reshape dominant narratives through aesthetic strategies? The conversation will delve into the art of storytelling, lost memories, and multiple temporalities, with particular attention to the central video work: The Moon is Wet.

The artist Charmaine Poh will discuss these and other topics with Jo-Lene Ong, curator at esea contemporary. The event will be moderated by Sarnt Utamachote, filmmaker and curator from Berlin.

As part of Berlin Art Week

In English
Free of charge, please register here.

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Jo-Lene, Photo: Bo Wang; Charmaine Poh, Photo: Muhammad Fadli; Sarnt Utamachote, Photo: Kantatach Kijikhun

Sprachcafés are places for meeting others – for people who want to practice and improve their German or simply feel like meeting other Berliners.

As part of the exhibition Make a travel deep of your inside, and don’t forget me to take, visitors can participate in a Sprachcafé at PalaisPopulaire. Each meeting will focus on one of the exhibited artworks and offer the opportunity to exchange thoughts on themes of migration, community and language.

The meetings will be led by Dóra Sági, an expert in German in multilingual contexts and aesthetic language education. Whether young or old, new or long-time Berliner – everyone is welcome at the language café to discuss art, society, and personal experiences over a drink.

In German
Pleaser register at the ticket shop.

Highlighting some of the artworks displayed, "feeling backwards, across tongues" is a performance series complementing the current exhibition by Charmaine Poh. The first performance by Nguyễn + Transitory is based on collecting and engaging with music that was listened to by migrant workers arriving in Singapore across history. Tracing one of the narrative threads of Charmaine Poh’s central video work "The Moon is Wet," the performance sounds the sonic residue of a dislocated past - where listening becomes a method for collective reconstitution, and sound a fugitive site of transmission.

Nguyễn + Transitory create visceral performance and sculptural sound-rooted works that embody collectivity, intimacy, and modes of relationality that refuse fixed forms. Their practice draws from traditional folk practices, queering technologies, and matriarchal imaginaries across Asia and its diasporas. They are joined by Audrey Chen whose work has also long dealt with displacement calling upon the physical body to remember beyond the limitations of its own memory, beyond its lifetime into generations past, simultaneously echoing into the present and forwards.

Free of charge. Limited capacity. Please register here.
The performance will begin within the exhibition Make a travel deep of your inside, and don’t forget me to take. It will then continue throughout the PalaisPopulaire building. This marks the launch of the performance series "feeling backwards, across tongues." The next event is scheduled for October 23, 2025.

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Photos: Nguyễn + Transitory © Fahtha.k; Audrey Chen ©  Audrey Chen

Since 2010, Deutsche Bank has honored artists every year, thus offering a platform for new positions in contemporary art. The work of the "Artist of the Year" 2025 should be of social and artistic relevance and should develop new perspectives on the present. A curated selection of these works can be seen in the meeting rooms of Quartier Zukunft. During this guided tour, art historian Dr. Elisabeth Klotz provides exciting insights into the background of the works and introduces the artists.

Meeting point: in front of the entrance to Quartier Zukunft, Friedrichstraße 181, 10117 Berlin
Price: €5 (incl. a glass of sparkling wine). Limited capacity. You can obtain a ticket here.

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Photo: Frederike van der Straeten / Berliner Philharmoniker

The works of Charmaine Poh – Deutsche Bank “Artist of the Year” 2025 – address togetherness in times of change. The focus is on responsible action, social justice, identity, ecology and digital spaces. In this training session, we will explore how these topics can be addressed in a creative and child-friendly way in the classroom. Using selected artworks, we will develop dialogic and practical methods for schools. The aim is to provide inspiration for a contemporary, artistic exploration of social issues.

In German
Limited capacity. Please register here.

Who is in the running for Germany's most coveted book prize? Uslar & Rai present the six nominees in the final round of the German Book Prize 2025. Read by actor Lenn Kudrjawizki.

In cooperation with the Berlin bookstore Uslar & Rai

In German
Price: 9€. Limited capacity. You can obtain a ticket here.

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Lenn Kudrjawizki, Photo: © Nela König

Sprachcafés are places for meeting others – for people who want to practice and improve their German or simply feel like meeting other Berliners.

As part of the exhibition Make a travel deep of your inside, and don’t forget me to take, visitors can participate in a Sprachcafé at PalaisPopulaire. Each meeting will focus on one of the exhibited artworks and offer the opportunity to exchange thoughts on themes of migration, community and language.

The meetings will be led by Dóra Sági, an expert in German in multilingual contexts and aesthetic language education. Whether young or old, new or long-time Berliner – everyone is welcome at the language café to discuss art, society, and personal experiences over a drink.

In German
Pleaser register at the ticket shop.

jee chan (dia / all pronouns) engages choreographically with unspeakable, unknowable and forgotten histories. Like Charmaine Poh, they explore artistic strategies of conjuring what has been buried and made invisible. Their work is concerned with questions surrounding the displaced body and what it can perform, addressing themes of grief, loss and colonial terrorism, particularly within the contexts of island Southeast Asia.

The performance "syun" emerges from the moment when jee’s maternal grandmother was forcibly displaced by the invading Imperial Japanese Army in 1937—a moment she shared unexpectedly and in great detail with jee while practicing Chinese calligraphy together in 2016 and 2017. Stricken by the force of her vulnerability, jee made recordings of their grandmother’s candid recount. In "syun," the artist listens to the recorded voice of their grandmother while simultaneously transcribing her words onto a roll of white paper in calligraphic ink. Intimate and historical violences erupt in space, channeled through the artist’s frenzied gestures. The performance raises questions about speech, memory, impermanence and the state of being at a loss for words. It refers to the ongoing presence of colonial power structures today—structures that continue to shape bodies, language and lives, in the contexts of global atrocities, militarized societies and engineered genocides.

Free of charge. Limited capacity. Please register here. 
The performance is part of the multi-part performance series "feeling backwards, across tongues."

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jee chan, Photo: Stefan Pente

The German Book Prize is one of the most important literary prizes in Germany. The Deutsche Bank Foundation is the main sponsor of this award. Shortly after the announcement, the winner of this year´s German Book Prize will read from the prizewinning novel at our atelier. We invite all participants to a take part in this moderated discussion.

In cooperation with the Deutsche Bank Foundation

Advance ticket sales start on October 14, 2025

Deutsche Bank “Artist of the Year” 2025, Charmaine Poh is a member of the Asian Feminist Studio for Art and Research (AFSAR), a dynamic platform that addresses the urgent need for transnational discourse through decentralized and reciprocal exchange between Asian and diasporic Asian art practitioners.

As part of Berlin Science Week, a hybrid storytelling session will focus on several women-led communities in China: the Comb Sisters (from Guangdong) and Vegetarian Women (from Fujian), as well as folk religion centering female deities. Members of AFSAR, Charmaine Poh, Christina Yuna Ko, Hye-in Park, Mooni Perry and Sun Park will share their research on the disappearing history and culture of these powerful independent communities, and what it means to form community in this time. The conversation will be moderated by journalist and Missy Magazine co-founder Sonja Eismann, whose work and teaching center on feminism and pop culture.

In English
Price: 9€. Limited capacity. You can obtain a ticket here.

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Seven Fairies Temple, Chunguang village, Chaozhou, China

Sprachcafés are places for meeting others – for people who want to practice and improve their German or simply feel like meeting other Berliners.

As part of the exhibition Make a travel deep of your inside, and don’t forget me to take, visitors can participate in a Sprachcafé at PalaisPopulaire. Each meeting will focus on one of the exhibited artworks and offer the opportunity to exchange thoughts on themes of migration, community and language.

The meetings will be led by Dóra Sági, an expert in German in multilingual contexts and aesthetic language education. Whether young or old, new or long-time Berliner – everyone is welcome at the language café to discuss art, society, and personal experiences over a drink.

In German
Pleaser register at the ticket shop.

Berlin's literary scene is on the move: traditional publishing houses have returned to the city, and numerous new publishers have emerged. We want to dedicate a special event format at the PalaisPopulaire to both: "writers’stage – New Literature from Berlin." Katharina von Uslar and Edgar Rai select the most exciting voices from the latest publishing programs, introduce the authors, and discuss their new novels with them.

In cooperation with the Uslar & Rai bookstore

In German
Cost: 9€. Limited Capacity. You can obtain a ticket here.
The exhibition can be visited before the reading until 7pm.

Explore the works by Charmaine Poh, "Artist of the Year" 2025 by phone. During the one-hour telephone tour, led by art historian Sarah Steiner, the works are explained in detail, the participants will discuss the background and themes of the exhibition. Sighted visitors are also welcome!

In cooperation with Bei Anruf Kultur

In German
Free of charge. Please registere here. 
You will receive the telephone access data for the event after you register.

Charmaine Poh – Deutsche Bank "Artist of the Year" 2025 – lives in Berlin and Singapore and works with video, installation and performance. Her multimedia narratives center on identity and power structures, feminism and queerness in Southeast Asia. In her work, multiple perspectives and perceptions – past and future – overlap like a flowing stream of consciousness. During this guided tour led by art educator Dr. Elisabeth Klotz, selected works will be presented and explained. Sighted visitors are also welcome!

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Free of charge. Advance registration is required. Please register at palais.populaire@db.com or by calling (030) 20 20 93 15.

Charmaine Poh – Deutsche Bank "Artist of the Year" 2025 – lives in Berlin and Singapore and works with video, installation and performance. In her work, she explores themes such as agency and repair, as well as the visibility and invisibility of queerness and femininity in Asia. During this guided tour in simple language, selected works will be presented and explained. Afterwards you will have the opportunity to exchange ideas and experiences.

In German
Free of charge. Registration is not necessary for this tour.

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Charmaine Poh, public solitude, 2022 © Charmaine Poh

Charmaine Poh – Deutsche Bank "Artist of the Year" 2025 – lives in Berlin and Singapore and works with video, installation and performance. Her multimedia narratives center on identity and power structures, feminism and queerness in Southeast Asia. In her work, multiple perspectives and perceptions – past and future – overlap like a flowing stream of consciousness. During this guided tour in conversation with the artist Veronika Kranzpiller in DGS, selected works will be presented, and space created for intensive exchange.

In German Sign Language
Free of charge. Registration is not necessary for this tour.

In the chamber music series “Workshop.Dialogue.Music” at the PalaisPopulaire, members of the Berliner Philharmoniker introduce themselves and their instruments and talk in a relaxed atmosphere about the works presented, their interpretations, and their approach. Questions and a dialogue with the audience are expressly encouraged! The concert will be followed by a guided tour of the exhibition.

Price: € 22 incl. French breakfast
Free choice of seats on site.
More information will follow in autumn 2025. Advance ticket sales start on October 28, 2025.

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Photo: Mathias Schormann

Sprachcafés are places for meeting others – for people who want to practice and improve their German or simply feel like meeting other Berliners.

As part of the exhibition Make a travel deep of your inside, and don’t forget me to take, visitors can participate in a Sprachcafé at PalaisPopulaire. Each meeting will focus on one of the exhibited artworks and offer the opportunity to exchange thoughts on themes of migration, community and language.

The meetings will be led by Dóra Sági, an expert in German in multilingual contexts and aesthetic language education. Whether young or old, new or long-time Berliner – everyone is welcome at the language café to discuss art, society, and personal experiences over a drink.

In German
Pleaser register at the ticket shop.

Since 2010, Deutsche Bank has honored artists every year, thus offering a platform for new positions in contemporary art. The work of the "Artist of the Year" 2025 should be of social and artistic relevance and should develop new perspectives on the present. A curated selection of these works can be seen in the meeting rooms of Quartier Zukunft. During this guided tour, art historian Dr. Elisabeth Klotz provides exciting insights into the background of the works and introduces the artists.

Meeting point: in front of the entrance to Quartier Zukunft, Friedrichstraße 181, 10117 Berlin
Price: €5 (incl. a glass of sparkling wine). Limited capacity. You can obtain a ticket here.

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Photo: Frederike van der Straeten / Berliner Philharmoniker

Discover the exhibition Make a travel deep of your inside, and don’t forget me to take at PalaisPopulaire with music, drinks, and guided art tours. The exhibition remains open until 9 pm, with short guided tours at 7 and 8 pm.

Stay tuned—details on the program will follow.

We are thrilled to close our performance series "feeling backwards, across tongues" with a live work by Charmaine Poh. Her performance complements the exhibition’s central video piece, "The Moon is Wet," which threads marginalised stories found in Singapore across time. Centred on how the sea embodies desire, the work reminds us of the cracks in current systems and gestures toward other ways of being.

Free of charge. Limited capacity. Please register here.

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Videostill: Charmaine Poh, The Moon is Wet, 2025 © Charmaine Poh

One of our final conventional FreeTours of Charmaine Poh’s exhibition will be extraordinary. Led by drag queen Cali Harburg (sofa queen, intellectual, philosopher, and migrant), this tour offers insights into the background, concepts, and highlights of Make a travel deep of your inside, and don’t forget me to take from a queer perspective. A special focus will be placed on the video work "What’s softest in the world runs and rushes over what’s hardest in the world" (2024) as well as on the almost forgotten stories of the Majies — a group of migrant women from Southeast China.

In English
Price: 5€. Limited capacity. You can obtain a ticket here.

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Drag Queen Cali Harburg, Photo: Kristina Schulz

One of our final conventional FreeTours of Charmaine Poh’s exhibition will be extraordinary. Led by drag queen Cali Harburg (sofa queen, intellectual, philosopher, and migrant), this tour offers insights into the background, concepts, and highlights of Make a travel deep of your inside, and don’t forget me to take from a queer perspective. A special focus will be placed on the video work What’s softest in the world runs and rushes over what’s hardest in the world as well as on the almost forgotten stories of the Majies — a group of migrant women from Southeast China.

In German
Price: 5€. Limited capacity. You can obtain a ticket here.

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Drag Queen Cali Harburg, Photo: Kristina Schulz