Calle 22
Flipping the Coin x Studio IIII
Opening: Sep 12, 6-9pm
Additional opening hours:
Sep 14, 6-10pm
Sep 21, 6-10pm

Von Bismarck’s 2015 video work captures the varied nocturnal life along the southern side of the infamous street Calle 22 in Bogotá, using a high-speed camera to document the street’s landscape in a single uninterrupted shot. The intense contrasts and raw realities portrayed in Calle 22 find a powerful echo in Berlin’s Potsdamer Straße, where Studio IIII is located and the very place where the artist grew up. Both Calle 22 and Potsdamer Straße serve as urban arteries where nightlife thrives and social margins converge, known for the presence of $ex w0rk and other precarious forms of labor. Von Bismarck’s work not only highlights these often-overlooked aspects of urban life but also draws a direct connection to the environment surrounding the fully immersive exhibition space, inviting viewers to reflect on the social complexities that shape such spaces.

This part of Bülowkiez was once acknowledged as one of the main red-light districts of Berlin. $ex w0rkers paved the way for other people who experienced stigma as a consequence of being sexually non-normative—such as the gay community—to call this neighborhood home. Now, $ex w0rkers are being explicitly excised from this neighborhood as property values rise and gentrification intensifies. But what is the current situation in this neighborhood, so highly frequented by an international art scene as well as sex workers and other locals who have been around for ages?

Alongside Calle 22, artist, activist, and $ex w0rker Ernestine Pastorello presents her work Red Light Utopia. This quilt envisions a utopian alternative to the present: What would it mean to restore the red-light district? To create a safe and inclusive space known to belong to sex workers, where everyone feels welcome? Pastorello depicts sex workers thriving in a highly desirable Altbau, living their best lives and offering a glimpse into their most fulfilling sessions with clients. Pastorello further presents the burlesque performance We Have Always Been Here in four acts, delving into the lives of past sex workers, the challenges faced by sex workers and activists, and questioning the assumption that there is no joy in their profession.

This work coincides with debates on the re-criminalization of sex work, focusing on the rights and safety of $ex w0rkers. Caspar Tate from Trans$exw0rks, a peer network for Trans $ex w0rkers, joins Pastorello, Laura Seidel, and von Bismarck to discuss the current state of Schöneberger streets, sex work in Germany, and the intersection of sex work and art.