Leaving Berlin
Leaving Berlin is a video installation and performance by Graw Lim Böckler that reflects on the desire for a change. It is a collaboration between performer Denise Lim and artist duo Graw Böckler.
Denise Lim is a performer from Singapore who has been living in Berlin for 5 years. She is driven around the suburbs and through the forest, reflecting on her time in Berlin and exploring options for finding a new center of life. She aims to obtain a German driving license with the goal of leaving the city by car. Denise performs in car wash facilities, in a parking garage, in a garage village and drives on a newly built Highway. Her activities revolve around a metallic grey VW Golf.
Watching Leaving Berlin is an immersive experience. The film centers on the same grey VW Golf, from which it can be viewed in a one-car drive-in cinema installation. You need to enter the car to watch the film. The sound comes from the car stereo system. There is also a live element: from time to time, the installation becomes the stage for a performance. The performance is based on the mixed feelings about finally leaving Berlin for Gießen — a small town near Frankfurt where Denise Lim will study at the university.
Dates
2026 Skabninger Samlinger, Astrid Noacks' Atelier (Copenhagen, Denmark)
2025 graw böckler garage (Berlin, Germany)