Gropius Bau

For more than three decades, Rirkrit Tiravanija has been expanding the possibilities of what can happen in an exhibition space. As part of his practice, the artist creates situations that offer space to eat and drink, play and rest. They encourage chance encounters, relationships and their failure – in other words: life.

The exhibition DAS GLÜCK IST NICHT IMMER LUSTIG (Happiness is not always fun) presented more than 80 of the artist’s works created between 1987 and 2024. Throughout his work, Tiravanija, who lives and works partly in Berlin, has often referred to cultural clichés and politics in Germany. In this vein, the exhibition takes its title from the opening sequence of Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s film Ali: Fear Eats the Soul (1974), an important point of reference for Tiravanija.