The stained glass windows in the Museum Nikolaikirche with works by Percy Nii Nortey
© Stadtmuseum Berlin | Photo: Oana Popa-Costea

Percy Nii Nortey: Break from Reality

In the course of the Dekoloniale Artist Residency 2024 “Colonial Ghosts – Resistant Spirits: Church, Colonialism and beyond” at the exhibition Dekoloniale – what remains?!, five selected guest artists present their works at the Museum Nikolakirche and also work with and in the public space of Berlin.

Percy Nii Nortey: Break from Reality

The foundation of Nortey’s art practice is the collaboration with various proletariat community members in Ghana, including car mechanics, charcoal sellers, and market women. He uses fabric stained from their daily work to reflect their labor and how essential it is for society as a whole.

By distributing fabric to workers and later collecting it stained with oil, fuel, and dirt, he transforms these materials, charged with personal histories, into proxies for collective memory. His approach actively engages the local community, fostering connections, and reshaping perceptions to highlight the importance of their labor in society, thus contributing to the decolonization of minds.

The art work

Break from Reality aims to dismantle colonial ideologies of white supremacy spread by European missionaries in 19th-century Ghana. The project empowers Black communities by portraying the Black proletariat as equals to the white man.

This transforms the Nikolaikirche, historically linked to colonialism, into an inclusive space celebrating Black resilience. The project challenges the erasure of Black narratives, asserting their rightful place in public discourse and reclaims agency over their identities.

Sound installations

The visual transformations are accompanied by sound installations that deepen the immersive experience of Nikolaikirche.

The soundscape also draws on two powerful sources:

These sound clips fused together provide a critical narrative on the role of religion and colonialism, challenging imposed ideologies and reinforcing the liberation of Black and African minds.

Percy Nii Nortey

Percy Nii Nortey is a multidisciplinary artist born and working in Kumasi, Ghana. His practice explores materiality, identity, labor, and memory, blurring the boundaries between performative objects, painting, sound installation, moving sculptures, and video installation. His practice is deeply rooted in his personal as well as environmental and economic conditions of Ghana and aims to decolonize minds and empower black communities to reclaim agency over their narratives and identities.

Find out more

Discover the exhibition

Info & Service

Opening Hours

daily | 10 am – 6 pm (also on public holidays)

Differing opening hours:
Tue – Fri | 10. – 13.06. | closed (change of exhibition)
Sat | 21.06. (Museum Festival / Fête de la Musique) | 10 am – 10 pm | free admission
Sat | 30.08. (Long Night of the Museums) | 10 am – 2 am
daily | 15.09. – 02.10. | closed (change of exhibition) 10. | closed (exhibition set-up)
Sat + Sun | 10.10. + 11.10. + 17.10 + 18.10. (Festival of Lights) | 10 am – 9 pm
Wed | 24.12. (Christmas Eve) | closed
Thu | 25.12. (Christmas Day) | 12 – 6 pm
Fri | 26.12. (Boxing Day) | 12 – 6 pm
Wed | 31.12. (New Year’s Eve) | closed
Thu | 01.01. (New Year’s Day) | 12 – 6 pm

The visitor rules of the Stiftung Stadtmuseum Berlin apply.

Directions

Nikolaikirchplatz
10178 Berlin

Contact

Infoline
+49 30 24 002-162
Mo – Fri | 10 a.m. – 6 p.m.
Write E-Mail

Tickets

Admission

Combi-Ticket
15 euros
Valid for our three museums in the Nikolaiviertel (Museum Nikolaikirche, Museum Ephraim-Palais, Museum Knoblauchhaus) on two consecutive days (please note opening hours)

Single Ticket
7 euros
Day ticket for the Museum Nikolaikirche

Free admission
With proof of reduction

For children & young people under 18, students, trainees, FSJ/FÖJ/BFD volunteers, Berlin-Ticket-S holders, severely disabled persons (with mark B) & accompanying person, refugees (with valid work or residence permit /eAT and Ukrainian passport or valid residence permit from Ukraine), recipients of residence permit /eAT and Ukrainian passport or valid residence permit from Ukraine), recipients of transfer benefits (citizen’s allowance, ALG I), holders of the Berlin-Brandenburg volunteer card, holders of the Super Holiday Pass / Berlin Family Pass, ICOM members, members of the German Museums Association, members of the Verein der Freunde und Förderer des Stadtmuseums Berlin e. V., KulturPass holders, media representatives with a valid press card