It's a Rollercoaster of Emotions

Sung Tieu has been selected to represent Germany at the Venice Biennale with a solo exhibition in the German Pavilion. In an interview with Monopol, she discusses how her personal biography—as a Vietnamese-German artist—informs her practice, which examines Vietnamese migration to East Germany, the rise of right-wing extremism, and the cold, bureaucratic language of state power. The exhibition will bring these themes to an international audience in Venice.

This selection matters because it marks a significant shift in how Germany presents itself on the global art stage, choosing an artist who directly confronts the country's complex migration history and contemporary political tensions. Tieu's work challenges the traditional national narrative of the pavilion, using it as a platform to address systemic racism, state control, and the legacies of Cold War geopolitics. Her participation signals a broader institutional willingness to engage with critical, identity-based art at the highest level of international exhibitions.