CHARLOTTE PAINTS: LIFE? OR THEATRE?

An interdisciplinary concert performance about Charlotte Salomon’s life and her paintings (recording from 20 June 2026 at St Johanniskirche, Alt-Moabit)

Charlotte Salomon, a Jewish painter living in exile, transformed existential threat into creative energy between 1941 and 1942 by creating 769 gouaches that combined image, text, and music. Her response to persecution, displacement, and a family history of depression was an extraordinary act of artistic resistance through creativity.

Inspired by this remarkable body of work, the artistic team from the Mädchenchor III der Sing-Akademie zu Berlin developed a transdisciplinary choral performance with young female singers. Charlotte Salomon’s paintings, music, movement, drawing, and theatre come together to create a unique artistic experience, inspired by her groundbreaking visual language, which incorporates cinematic techniques and elements of the graphic novel.

Just as Charlotte Salomon left her mark through her work, we too leave traces—in our own lives, in the lives of others, and in the world around us. These traces give meaning to our lives, and we have the ability to shape them consciously. In this performance, drawing becomes the visible trace of music—a metaphor for the lasting traces left by our actions and the choices we make.

Through drawing, singing, and dancing, the young performers discover their own inner strength—their own force. Artistic expression becomes a powerful counterforce to fear and uncertainty. With humour, imagination, and vitality, art becomes a source of resilience, self-discovery, and the conscious act of leaving one's own unique mark.