During her residency, Sukma Smita will develop Counter-Prints: Claim, Reclaim, Remain, a research-based project that investigates the role of printed matter in Berlin’s diverse public spaces. Moving beyond the realm of the art print, the project focuses on vernacular and ephemeral forms such as posters, flyers, stickers, and signage—materials that may appear ordinary but play a crucial role in shaping civic life. In Berlin-Wedding, a neighborhood marked by layered histories and vibrant diasporic presence, these prints serve as traces of aspiration, negotiation, and contestation among different actors: the state, commercial forces, and everyday citizens. Hosted by SAVVY Contemporary, the project treats public space as a living archive in which claims and counter-claims are continuously inscribed, erased, and re-inscribed. Sukma’s methodology combines visual observation, field documentation, and archival research—both within SAVVY’s collections and other archives in Berlin—to trace how printed matter circulates as a civic technology of voice, visibility, and resistance.
This project is part of the REFLEKT residency program by Goethe-Institut Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines together with SAVVY Contemporary.