Walking Through Art Exhibitions at C/O Berlin

By: Ivan Acevedo

Hey y’all! Name’s Ivan. I’m a fourth-year at UC Berkeley, studying English and hoping to go into the advertising industry after college. If you’d like to see some other photos from my time in Berlin, check out my Instagram (@eightievs)!

As part of my study abroad experience with CIEE in Berlin, I recently visited C/O Berlin, a space that challenged my understanding of how identity, culture, and media intertwine. Walking through its exhibitions felt like navigating layers of representation, peeling back the ways history and societal forces shape narratives. It’s one thing to talk about these ideas in a classroom and another to see them laid bare in visual form.

Laura Huertas Millán’s “Curanderxs” struck a particular chord with me. Her work examines the coca plant’s deep spiritual and medicinal significance within Andean Indigenous communities, a narrative often overshadowed by its commodification and association with narcotics. The green-hued panels, rich with historical context, push back against reductive Western portrayals of the plant, reframing it as sacred and essential to cultural identity. What stood out even more was her use of the gender-inclusive term “curanderxs.” It wasn’t simply about decolonizing narratives but also broadening how we understand identity itself. By highlighting Indigenous practices that embrace fluidity, Millán invites us to question rigid Western constructs of gender, an idea that aligns with the intersectional frameworks I’ve explored in my Media, Gender and Identity class. Standing in front of this installation, I found myself reflecting on how media simplifies and erases nuance, reducing complex histories to easily digestible stereotypes.

The photograph “Internetcafé, Joachimsthaler Strasse, Charlottenburg, 1993” pulled me into a different kind of conversation. The image shows three women seated around an early desktop computer, navigating a digital space that was, at the time, still new and undefined. There’s something quietly revolutionary in their presence, given the male-dominated narratives of early internet culture. Their curiosity and engagement with technology upend the assumption that the digital world was built solely by and for men. This image, though simple, encapsulates how identities—especially gendered ones—are negotiated within spaces historically closed off to them. It felt like a visual counterpart to the discussions we’ve had about media as a site of ideological struggle.

Another photograph from Berlin’s Schwarzer Rabe Café in 1992 shifted the focus to personal intimacy amid broader societal forces. A couple sits together, but the shadow of a looming figure dominates the background. It’s subtle yet powerful, evoking how public spaces and historical contexts shape private lives. The café, a traditional setting for intellectual exchange and quiet rebellion, becomes a metaphorical space where identities are constructed and challenged. The shadow feels like the weight of history intruding on personal moments, a reminder of how societal structures define even the most intimate connections.

Aenne Biermann’s work, meanwhile, presented an antidote to the artificiality of mainstream media. Her focus on unposed, everyday moments reminded me of the value in the overlooked. These images didn’t just document life; they dignified it, showing that representation doesn’t always need grandeur to carry weight.

At day’s end, I’m of the opinion that C/O Berlin’s exhibitions went beyond being mere static displays. They were provocations, compelling me to confront my assumptions about identity and media. Programs like CIEE make these encounters possible, offering an education that feels alive and unfiltered. And if you want something similar, there’s nothing stopping you from applying. Auf Wiedersehen!

EXPLORE BERLIN