Starting October 12, the very first thing you meet when you walk into MoMA will not be a quiet gallery — it will be a breathing swamp. The museum is presenting Wetland, a brand-new installation by Danish artist Jakob Kudsk Steensen in the Agnes Gund Garden Lobby, where it will run through March 7, 2027.
The heart of the show is Berl-Berl, an ever-changing digital ecosystem the artist has been growing since 2021. It reimagines the forgotten wetlands that once lay beneath Berlin — a city whose very name comes from an old Slavic word for “swamp.” Built with macro photography, 3D scanning, and game-engine technology, the landscape never repeats itself: it pulses, sings, and shifts in real time across wall-spanning screens.
The piece grew out of months of fieldwork in Berlin’s remaining wetlands, research into Sorbian and Slavic folklore, and a collaboration with the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin and the musician Arca, whose vocals drift through the soundscape. It is a reminder that even the most modern cities were built on wild, watery ground — and that traces of it are still right beneath our feet.
Wetland is part of MoMA’s Hyundai Card Digital Wall series and is organized by Juyeon Song and Lydia Mullin. It is free with museum admission — and free for children 16 and under.
Photo: MoMA
