BERLIN.- The Museum für Fotografie in Berlin is presenting Inside Archives: Interventions on Leni Riefenstahl’s Nuba Work, a special exhibition that brings new critical perspectives to one of the most complex and contested bodies of work in 20th-century photography. The exhibition runs from May 22 to June 6, 2026.

Organized by the Berlin University of the Arts in cooperation with the Kunstbibliothek of the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, the exhibition takes as its starting point Riefenstahl’s photographs and films of the Nuba people, made during her travels to Sudan in the 1960s and 1970s. Rather than presenting these images as fixed historical documents, Inside Archives invites viewers to look at them again through the lens of art, research, memory and lived experience.

The project was developed by students in the Master’s program Art in Context at the Berlin University of the Arts. Their work examines the tension between Riefenstahl’s idealized and often stereotyped portrayal of Nuba communities and the urgent realities facing the region today. Through installations, video and photography projects, text-based works and audio formats, the exhibition creates a space for dialogue around representation, power and the responsibilities of museums in handling difficult archives.

Sudanese artists are also part of the exhibition, helping to widen the conversation beyond the European archival perspective. The project is described as a dynamic and participatory process shaped by research, interviews, discussions and artistic practice. Its aim is not only to question Riefenstahl’s images, but also to open them up to new readings, challenge their authority and test alternative ways of telling stories.

The participating artists come from different global contexts and bring their own histories, perceptions and artistic approaches to the material. Together, they seek to break the power of Riefenstahl’s images, uncover their layers of meaning and create new forms of narration. The exhibition is accompanied by workshops, interventions, readings and other public programs that explore how museums can address Riefenstahl’s work today.

Participating artists include Abdalsalam Alhaj, Camilo Correa-Costa, hajooj kuka, Jihye Kim, Jule Roehr, Khalid Shatta, Kodikodi, Mauricio Candela, Pascale Espinosa, Patricio Trim, Sally Frey, Sara-Hiruth Zewde, Schokofeh Kamiz and Yasmin Balai.

Inside Archives is part of an artistic and academic seminar at the Institute for Art in Context at the Berlin University of the Arts, led by Julia Grosse and Katrin Peters-Klaphake. The exhibition and program are curated by Grosse and Peters-Klaphake in collaboration with Ludger Derenthal of the Kunstbibliothek’s Photography Collection.

The exhibition will be on view at the Museum für Fotografie, Jebensstraße 2, 10623 Berlin. Opening hours are Tuesday and Wednesday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., Thursday from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m., and Friday through Sunday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.