by Eve Rogers // Nov. 11, 2025
At a time when neutrality feels increasingly untenable, ‘Every Artist Must Take Sides – Resonances of Eslanda and Paul Robeson’ at the Akademie der Künste asks what it means to align art with action. The exhibition and festival bring together 12 international artists in dialogue with the Paul Robeson Archive, exploring the enduring power of Eslanda and Paul Robeson’s legacy of anti-racism, anti-colonialism and solidarity.
Anchored in Robeson’s 1937 declaration that “the artist must take sides,” the exhibition refuses art’s retreat into detachment. Instead, it examines how creativity and conviction intersect across sound, image and space. Through sculpture, film, performance and installation, participating artists—James Gregory Atkinson, Leila Bencharnia, Sonya Clark, Andrii Dostliev & Lia Dostlieva, Ângela Ferreira, Masimba Hwati, Patricia Kaersenhout, Ariel Orah, Kirsten Reese, Matana Roberts, Dread Scott and Katharina Warda—navigate histories of resistance and their contemporary reverberations.
Drawing from the Robesons’ lifelong commitment to anti-fascist activism, socialist internationalism and global liberation, the exhibition explores how art can serve as both a tool and a witness to justice. Each work acts as a resonance chamber, bringing together personal memory, political urgency and collective imagination.
Archival fragments from the Paul Robeson Collection intertwine with newly commissioned works, creating a dynamic dialogue between the unfinished struggles of the past and the pressing challenges of the present.
The show opens on the evening of Thursday, November 13th, featuring performances and activations by Masimba Hwati, Ariel Orah and Matana Roberts, alongside a DJ set by Robert Machiri. Remarks will be given by Akademie President Manos Tsangaris, Johanna M. Keller and curators Maurits van Bever Donker and Aidan Erasmus, with artistic directors Lina Brion and Anujah Fernando.
Throughout the exhibition, a public program of talks, tours and performances extends its core question into civic space. A two-day festival on January 23rd and 24th, 2026 will close the project, featuring contributions by Shana L. Redmond, Heiner Goebbels and others.
In the spirit of the Robesons’ activism, ‘Every Artist Must Take Sides’ demonstrates that making art is never neutral. It challenges visitors to consider how creativity, memory and imagination can be mobilized for justice and asks: in moments of crisis, which side will you choose?
Akademie der Künste
Group Show: ‘Every Artist Must Take Sides – Resonances of Eslanda and Paul Robeson’
Opening Reception: Thursday, Nov. 13; 7pm
Exhibition: Nov. 14, 2025–Jan. 25, 2026
Festival: Jan. 23–24, 2026
adk.de
Hanseatenweg 10, 10557 Berlin, click here for map
