At the edge of function and fiction, Gülbin Ünlü’s new commission for the staff entrance of Haus der Kunst unfolds in a space of ongoing suspension – where access is withheld and completion deferred. The work lingers at a dwelling in a state of anticipation that never resolves.
Nostralgia expands space and time through subtle interventions in the museum’s overlooked thresholds. Beginning at the staff entrance, Gülbin Ünlü invites visitors to navigate the building through inaccessible, yet fully present, doors. It is an invitation to move through the institution without destination, to attend to the act of encountering. The work becomes a quiet choreography of stillness, exploring the latent potential of spaces when activated through presence and liveness.
Rooted in the idea of portals in science fiction, the work invites unexpected encounters – with erased histories, alternate realities, and speculative futures. By drawing attention to non-exhibition spaces, Ünlü encourages a shift in perception: to slow down, look again, and experience the architecture not as fixed, but as a site where parallel worlds hover – unrealised, constantly shifting, tracing connections not through what is shown, but shaped by the way we choose to see.
Gülbin Ünlü works with a range of mediums, weaving together motifs and interlacing painting and prints into layered images that take on sculptural forms and performative possibilities. Her approach connects techno-orientalism with erased or sidelined cultural imaginaries. Ünlü’s portals do not open, and yet they pull us in. They gesture toward timelines that diverged, toward systems that entered standby before they ever activated. These doors remain closed to the body, but open to speculation. They are invitations not to cross, but to dwell – to remain in the tension between what is visible and what is withheld.
The site-specific commission series for the staff entrance was initiated in 2021 with the intention to support young artists from the region during the pandemic, as well as to provide the team with an uplifting moment upon entering and leaving the building during challenging times. It continues as a support structure for local emerging artists since. Ünlü’s commission outlines the entire building as a speculative device: a structure to be navigated not only through its corridors and functions, but through the unrealized realities it holds in its walls.
Following an initial activation of the work during the opening performance on 8.5.25, Ünlü invites the band TAF (Turkish-Armenian Friendship) to further activate the portals through sound, movement, and presence as part of Open Haus on 27.6.25. What begins behind closed doors – faint pulses, flickering gestures – seeps out slowly.
Nostralgia unfolds across several locations within the building. As marked in pink on the map, portals are located in the two locker rooms on the ground floor, to the left and right of the ticket counter.
Additional portals are installed in the Terrassensaal and can be viewed both from inside and outside.
Three more portals are located around the staff entrance, which can be reached via the parking lot behind Haus der Kunst. The staff entrance is only accessible from the inside during the Open Haus events.
