The research-driven work of Sung Tieu (b. 1987, VT) reflects on nuanced dynamics between individual lives and overarching systemic forces. Through installation, sculpture, photography, drawing, text, video, and sound, she investigates archival, bureaucratic, and institutional frameworks that govern inclusion and exclusion, legality and illegality.
In the exhibition 1992, 2025, the artist interrogates the post-Wall repercussions for the Vietnamese contract workers of the former GDR and migrants like herself, examining how the socio-political conditions of the time shaped social roles and communities with lasting impact. Tieu foregrounds 1992 as a pivotal reference point—the year of her arrival in Germany, which is also marked by a wave of nationwide right-wing extremist violence, further exacerbated by the actions of state institutions, including the police. Frequently adopting a critical perspective on her immediate working environment, Tieu takes a new commission as an opportunity to implement institutional changes at KW, set to take effect in 2025.
Sung Tieu is the recipient of the Schering Stiftung Award for Artistic Research 2024, which has been awarded jointly since 2020 with the Berlin Senate Department for Culture and Social Cohesion. In addition to prize money, the award includes an exhibition for which the artist creates new work as well as a publication.
The Schering Stiftung Award for Artistic Research is supported by the Senate Department for Culture and Social Cohesion and awarded in cooperation with KW Institute for Contemporary Art.
The exhibition will be curated by Léon Kruijswijk.
2020 Schering Stiftung Award for Artistic Research (with support from the State of Berlin)
Unter den Linden 32-34
10117 Berlin
Telefon: +49.30.20 62 29 62
Email: info@scheringstiftung.de
Thursday to Monday: 1 pm - 7 pm
Saturday to Sunday: 11 am - 7 pm
free entrance