Sung Tieu Monument to Immigrant Workers Venice Biennale Interview 2026

Sung Tieu, the Vietnamese-German artist representing Germany at the 2026 Venice Biennale, has transformed the German pavilion into a powerful monument to immigrant workers. Her installation is a painstaking replica of the Gehrenseestrasse housing estate in Berlin, where she lived as a child. The work honors the Vertragsarbeiter generation—contract workers from Vietnam, Mozambique, Angola, and Cuba who helped rebuild East Germany after World War II but were largely forgotten after reunification.

Tieu’s personal story is central to the installation. For three years, she shared a single bed with her mother in a tiny room of the abandoned complex. “Two metres by 90cm, can you believe it?” she recalls. The estate, now a ruin where paintballers play at war, is a site of deep memory: neighbors cooking bánh bao on camping stoves, children playing cards through locked doors, and neo-Nazis throwing molotov cocktails at the windows.

The Gehrenseestrasse Complex: A Monument to Migration

The Gehrenseestrasse complex was built in the 1970s to house East Germany’s guest workers. At its peak, it held thousands of Vietnamese, Mozambican, and Cuban laborers. After the Berlin Wall fell, the workers were dismissed, and the estate fell into decay. Tieu calls it “a monument” to their sacrifice and invisibility.

For the Biennale, Tieu collaborated with the late artist Henrike Naumann, who died of cancer at 41. Together, they covered the German pavilion with three million mosaic stones made in Ravenna, replicating the estate’s grey concrete and graffiti. The effect is both haunting and beautiful, forcing viewers to confront the hidden history of migrant labor in Europe.

From TV Star to Political Artist

Before becoming a visual artist, Tieu appeared in the hit German comedy series Turkish for Beginners as a character named Ching—a name that is not Vietnamese. She describes the role as an “exoticised cliche.” Now, her art tackles the stereotypes she once embodied. “I wanted to reclaim my narrative,” she says. Her work often explores colonialism, migration, and memory through installations, sound, and video.

Tieu’s journey from a cramped bed in Berlin to the Venice Biennale is a testament to resilience. She studied at the Berlin University of the Arts and has exhibited globally. Her pavilion is already being hailed as one of the most politically urgent works of the 2026 Biennale.

Why This Pavilion Matters

The German pavilion traditionally showcases the country’s artistic elite. By centering the immigrant experience, Tieu challenges Germany’s national identity. The installation asks: Who gets to belong? Who is remembered? And what happens to the spaces where they lived?

Critics have praised the work for its emotional depth and historical accuracy. The mosaic facade is a literal and metaphorical rebuilding of a forgotten place. Visitors walk through a corridor that mimics the original, complete with sounds of children playing and the smell of dumplings—a sensory journey into the past.

Key Themes in Tieu’s Work

• Memory and erasure: How societies forget their migrant workers
• Architecture as witness: Buildings that hold invisible histories
• Identity and representation: Rejecting stereotypes in media and art
• Collective trauma: The legacy of East Germany’s labor policies

FAQ: Sung Tieu and the Venice Biennale

What is the Vertragsarbeiter program?

The Vertragsarbeiter program was a Cold War-era agreement where East Germany recruited workers from socialist countries like Vietnam, Mozambique, and Cuba. These workers were given fixed-term contracts and limited rights. After reunification, most were forced to return home or faced discrimination.

Why did Sung Tieu choose to replicate the Gehrenseestrasse complex?

Tieu lived there with her mother from ages 6 to 9. The estate symbolizes the invisibility of immigrant workers. By recreating it at the Biennale, she forces a global audience to confront this hidden history.

How did Henrike Naumann contribute to the pavilion?

Naumann was Tieu’s collaborator and a fellow artist. She died before the pavilion’s completion. Tieu dedicated the work to her, saying Naumann’s vision of memory and architecture shaped the final design.

The 2026 Venice Biennale runs through November. Sung Tieu’s pavilion is a must-see for anyone interested in art, migration, and the stories we choose to tell.