Estonian artists explore body ownership at Berlin art week

Estonian artists Angela Maasalu, Pire Sova and Netti Nüganen will take part in an international group exhibition opening on September 9 as part of Berlin Art Week, ERR reported. The exhibition, titled I Think My Body No Longer Belongs to Me, will be held at Roam, a project space in Berlin’s Kreuzberg district.

The exhibition brings the Estonian artists together with internationally recognised artists Dorota Gawęda, Eglė Kulbokaitė and Eva Gold.

It explores people’s ability and right to make decisions about their own bodies. The exhibition examines the changing meanings of the body under contemporary political, biological and digital regimes, asking to what extent the body actually belongs to the individual.

The works address the political control of the body, reproductive and sexual expectations, tensions between the physical and virtual self, and the pressure of contemporary beauty culture to constantly optimise and alter the body.

The exhibition is curated by Triin Metsla, produced by Mailis Timmi and designed by Sonia Ruus.

It will open with Body Shares, a performance by Sova and Nüganen. The artists will use their bodies to create imprints and then offer the resulting works as shares in a spontaneous auction modelled on techniques used at livestock auctions. The performance examines the relationship between the body and its image through ownership, exchange and circulation.

Maasalu, born in 1990, is a painter whose work focuses on personal and intimate themes and the contradictions of human experience. Her solo exhibitions in recent years have been held in London, Shanghai and Estonia. In 2023, she received the annual award of the Visual and Applied Arts Endowment of the Cultural Endowment of Estonia. Her works are held in the collection of the Art Museum of Estonia.

I Think My Body No Longer Belongs to Me will be on view at Roam in Berlin from September 9 to 26, 2026.