SOMA Exhibition & Festival 2026

SOMA
Happiness as anaesthesia.

SOMA takes its name from the drug in Aldous Huxley's Brave New World: a state-issued euphoriant that erases every form of suffering in exchange for social stability. Read alongside Orwell's 1984, this dystopian literature becomes a lens on the present, where control works not through fear and censorship but through pleasure and induced contentment. It is from this lens that the project takes shape.

For two weeks SOMA takes over two halls of Kunstfabrik HB55, a former margarine factory in Berlin-Lichtenberg. One hall becomes a temporary art gallery: a contemplative journey through works by different artists, across graphics, photography, sculpture, masks and installation. The other is a space for live performance and workshops. The programme runs across two weekends, arced from anaesthesia through distortion to awakening.

Exhibition (open across the run)
Durd · Liliana Lietz · Luca Arcamone · Claudia Virginia Vitari · Leon Emanuel Blanck · Fade Out Label · Valentina Berthelon

Live & performance
23 Jul · Pareal, ritual opening · Luca Arcamone feat. Marta Scherillo, ritual dance
24 Jul · Coquinati
25 Jul · Bam Bam's Boogie · Corazón de Robota
31 Jul · MATTAM
1 Aug · Marco Bruno feat. Pareal · Eric Oder · Lucio Vidal

Workshops
26 Jul · Corazón de Robota, DIY electronics
30 Jul · Aum Garden Project, shamanic sound-healing

Essential info
Kunstfabrik HB55, Herzbergstrasse 55, 10365 Berlin-Lichtenberg
23 July – 2 August 2026
Entry by donation

Concept & artistic direction: Eric Oder