On the border between function and fiction, Gülbin Ünlü's new work for the staff entrance of Haus der Kunst unfolds in a state of perpetual suspension--a place where access is denied and completion is postponed. The work lingers in a moment of expectation that never resolves. Nostralgia expands space and time through subtle interventions into the often-overlooked thresholds of the building. Starting from the staff entrance, Ünlü invites visitors to explore the institution through inaccessible yet present doors. It is an invitation to traverse the institution aimlessly and engage in the act of encounter. The work becomes a silent choreography of immobility that explores the latent potential of spaces--activated by presence and liveliness.

Rooted in the science fiction idea of portals, the work opens unexpected encounters--with erased histories, alternative realities, and speculative futures. By drawing attention to non-exhibition spaces, Ünlü prompts a changed perception: to pause, look again, and understand architecture not as a rigid structure, but as a place where parallel worlds hover--not realized, constantly changing, shaped not by what is shown but by how we see.

Ünlü works with a variety of media, intertwining motifs and bringing together painting and prints into multifaceted images that adopt sculptural forms and performative possibilities. Her approach connects techno-Orientalism with erased or marginalized cultural imaginations. Ünlü's portals do not open--but they draw us in. They refer to timelines that branch out, to systems that were put on standby before they could be activated. These doors remain closed to the body yet open to speculation. They are not an invitation to cross but to linger--in the tension between the visible and the hidden.

Ünlü's work regards the entire building as a speculative entity: a structure navigated not only through its corridors and functions but also by the unrealized realities it harbors within its walls.

Curated by Lydia Antoniou.

During Open House, every last Friday of the month, Ünlü invites the band TAF (Turkish-Armenian Friendship) to activate the portals through sound, movement, and presence.

Performance step through with TAF (Turkish-Armenian Friendship)--what begins behind closed doors, quiet impulses, flickering gestures, slowly seeps outward--on Friday, 27.06.2025 at 18:00 (Staff Entrance, until 22.02.2026).