The ruins of the Franciscan monastery church, located in the historic centre of Berlin, are an outstanding monument of medieval architecture. Since 2016, a contemporary art and performance programme has been offering new perspectives on the connection between the architecture and history of the monument and the present. Curated by Christopher Weickenmeier, this year’s summer programme continues the two-year series “Times in Ruins”.

The large-scale installation by Anna M. Szaflarski consists of an arrangement of surreal mud sculptures that offer a media-archaeological exploration of the internet of the early 1990s. Much like an astrolabe, the installation explores three interconnected worlds: our physical reality, the domain of the internet and its underworld – the dark web. Built by hard-working ants and populated by avatars with visions of violence and fetish, Szaflarski’s muddy cosmology is forever on the brink of collapse.