Monira Al Qadiri - oil tanker visions in Hero at Berlinische Galerie
Published on 08/29/2026 at 14:15 | Editorial responsibility: Rafael Müller, Editor-in-Chief AD HOC NEWS
Monira Al Qadiri anchors Berlinische Galerie’s summer program with her solo exhibition Hero in Berlin. As the museum’s 2026 exhibition overview and an e-flux announcement confirm, the show runs from July 11, 2025 to August 17, 2026 and centers on the motif of the oil tanker as emblem of petro-capitalism. Berlinische Galerie exhibition overview 2026
The solo exhibition Hero in Berlin
Hero occupies Berlinische Galerie as a major institutional solo exhibition for more than a year, an unusually long run for a single-artist project at the museum. The institutional overview describes it as a complex ensemble of sculpture, video and painting that examines crude oil as both engine of prosperity and driver of exploitation and inequality. e-flux exhibition announcement
At the center of Hero stands the oil tanker as a recurring sculptural and pictorial motif, treated as a floating behemoth whose toxic legacy affects oceans, air and human bodies, according to Berlinische Galerie’s text. The museum frames the tanker as a narrative protagonist of excess, power and decay in Al Qadiri’s work, extending her long-standing research into the sociocultural dimensions of the global oil industry. Berlinische Galerie exhibition overview 2026
Work series around petro-culture
Across recent exhibitions, Al Qadiri builds entire work groups around petrochemical forms, from levitating drill heads to molecule-like sculptures and iridescent surfaces that echo oil’s sheen, as her studio’s shows listing indicates. In Berlin, these formal strategies converge in Hero, where tanker hulls and industrial infrastructures appear as sculptural bodies and mural silhouettes rather than documentary images. Monira Al Qadiri studio shows page
The Berlinische Galerie overview stresses how the exhibition traces connections between crude oil, consumer capitalism and colonial dynamics. Al Qadiri approaches these themes through speculative visual narratives rather than didactic diagrams, developing a vocabulary of glowing surfaces, enlarged industrial components and choreographed spatial sequences that immerse viewers in a petro-cultural atmosphere.
All news and background on Monira Al Qadiri
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The broader practice beyond Hero
Al Qadiri’s official shows listing situates Hero within a dense sequence of solo exhibitions focused on oil and extraction, including Holy Quarter at Haus der Kunst in Munich and the solo presentation at Museo Guggenheim Bilbao, both revolving around desert landscapes and drilling infrastructures. Her work also appears in biennial contexts such as the 24th Biennial of Sydney, where ecological and geopolitical themes intersect. Monira Al Qadiri studio shows page
Alongside these institutional projects, she develops public sculptures like First Sun for Public Art Fund in New York and permanent installations such as Ocean Knight in Esbjerg harbor, Denmark, translating her petro-cultural research into outdoor works that confront everyday urban and maritime environments.
Where the artist stands now
Monira Al Qadiri’s solo exhibition Hero is on view at Berlinische Galerie in Berlin until August 17, 2026, according to the museum’s 2026 exhibition overview and the e-flux announcement.
Key facts on Monira Al Qadiri
- Artist: Monira Al Qadiri
- Medium / Genre: Sculpture and installation (petro-culture focus), video and performance
- Born: 1983, Dakar, Senegal
- Place(s) of practice: Studio in Berlin
- Active since: mid-2000s, with early video and performance works shown in festivals and institutional exhibitions
- Key work groups: Holy Quarter, Haunted Water, Mutant Passages, Hero
- Current/last exhibition: Hero, Berlinische Galerie, Berlin, July 11, 2025 - August 17, 2026
- Major collections: Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, Museum Frieder Burda (Baden-Baden), Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg, Mori Art Museum (Tokyo), Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art (Brisbane)
- Awards: Future Generation Art Prize finalist (2019), various festival and biennial inclusions documented in institutional records
- Next date: August 17, 2026, closing day of Hero at Berlinische Galerie, Berlin
Frequently asked questions about Monira Al Qadiri
Where can Monira Al Qadiri’s exhibition Hero be seen and until when?
The solo exhibition Hero is on view at Berlinische Galerie in Berlin from July 11, 2025 through August 17, 2026, as documented in the museum’s 2026 exhibition overview and confirmed by an e-flux announcement.
How does Monira Al Qadiri use the motif of the oil tanker in Hero?
Berlinische Galerie describes the oil tanker in Hero as an emblematic figure of the present, a monstrous vessel whose toxic legacy impacts oceans, air and bodies, while Al Qadiri reimagines it poetically as protagonist of a narrative about excess, power and decay.
Which other recent exhibitions frame Monira Al Qadiri’s petro-cultural work?
Her shows listing includes solo exhibitions such as Holy Quarter at Haus der Kunst in Munich, Haunted Water at UCCA Dune in Beidaihe and Mutant Passages at Kunsthaus Bregenz, alongside participation in the 24th Biennial of Sydney and other biennials, indicating sustained institutional engagement with her petro-cultural themes.
This article was produced with a.i. support and editorially reviewed. All statements without guarantee; auction results, exhibition dates and awards may change at short notice.
