Art not just in Galleries

The Art Forum Berlin is on this weekend: the fifteenth edition of the international art show, featuring contemporary painting, sculpture, photography, video art and installations from 130 galleries from around the world. And, as so often in Berlin, the international event is accompanied by local satellite events. This weekend, there are at least three.


The Big Draw
The inspiration for the Big Draw festival comes from the Campaign for Drawing, a charity organization in England, whose ambition is to get people to lose their inhibitions about picking up a drawing pencil and to use it as a tool for thought, creativity and social engagement.

The first Big Draw in Berlin was held in 2009, during the Long Night of the Museums. This year, festival director Anna Chrusciel has gone a step further, transforming more public spaces into art studios for all -- including the Deutsche Bank's atrium off Unter den Linden and the Grüner Salon at Rosa-Luxemberg Platz. Berliners of all ages can be seen in galleries, cafes, U-Bahn stations, even the Botanical Gardens, recklessly wielding sketching pencils, felt pens, highlighter markers, post-it notes, clay, scissors and glue.

Artists lead workshops where you can experiment with working on an animated film, comic strip or poster ad. Fun!






A Taste of Grunge

The Score .03 urban art fair is on all weekend, next to the U-Bahn Gleisdreieck. Its profile piqued my curiosity -- a combination of live painting, street art and graffiti. Berlin has some great street art, if you know where to look for it -- or know people who do --  (my best guides have been a couple of intrepid freshmen students), but this festival tries too hard to be edgy to be genuinely interesting. Not recommended if you don't lean toward techno music and grunge appeal.

Art in the Hangars
Preview Berlin, an exhibition of works from 60 galleries in 19 countries, takes place in the light-filled, freshly painted Hangar 2 of Tempelhof Airport. Use of this space to showcase young gallery-owners without large-scale resources -- including several from eastern and central Europe -- and artists not yet established in the art world is a stroke of genius.

All three events are on till 10 October 2010. For more information, see:
www.thebigdrawberlin.de
www.stroke03.com
www.previewberlin.de