here&now at the KitKat Club: Photography as lived performance

On August 9 2025, the KitKat Club opened its doors for the vernissage here&now by Sahin Dellemann and transformed into a space where projections, prints, fabrics, skin, sound, and movement collided. In our preview coverage, we had already announced that this would not be a classic exhibition. And that is exactly how it turned out. Naturally, we were also there in person to experience the spectacle for ourselves.

The roughly 350 guests did not encounter a sterile gallery atmosphere but instead a setting tailor-made for a kinky audience. The atmosphere felt more like a performance than a gallery and made it clear that this was about visibility. And about a shared experience that cannot be confined to conventional categories.

An evening for the community at the KitKat Club

The photographs themselves opened different chapters of the upcoming photobook, including “faces,” “wohngemeinschaft,” and “after hours.” They revealed a mix of kinky scenes, intimate moments, unrestrained lust, the togetherness of a chosen family, and the pulsating life of shared nights. Some images were created in private spaces, others in the club. Always oscillating between closeness and ecstasy, between staging and lived freedom.

After a brief welcome from the artist, the portrayed individuals took to the stage one by one, canvases in hand, and in doing so became part of the staging themselves. On the back of their T-shirts, the artist statement was printed, a manifesto that blended directly into the performance.

At the same time, photography wandered onto clothes, bodysuits, and T-shirts, carried into the space by the protagonists themselves. Some framed their bodies with empty picture frames. Art that was not just to be looked at, but lived. Among the participants was also Berlin porn actor Jason Steel, who, like everyone else, shaped the evening with his presence.

Performance meets kinky club culture

Between the presentations, performances by Andrea Spartà and IXA provided sensual highlights. Body, music, and image merged into a Gesamtkunstwerk that cannot be reduced to a single art form. When the official part ended, the party seamlessly took over. To the beats of DJ Don Basti, it went on until the early hours of the morning.

here&now was more than a vernissage. It was an evening that brought together communities from the BDSM and fetish scene, art forms, and energies. A celebration for everyone who does not just want to look at photography but to experience it. Raw, glamorous, and intense.