This is Berlin Culture Crawl's last post. Thanks to all who stopped by!
Oct 7, 2011
Jun 22, 2011
Catch the Piano Fever
The Kulturforum comes alive with Klavierfieber, a week-long festival linking art works in the Neue Nationalgalerie, the Alte Nationalgalerie, the Pergamonmuseum and the Neues Museum with compositions for the piano inspired by them. Klavierfieber brings together six works of art, six young composers and six international pianists.
The concept is a novel one: the link between art and music is not intended to be merely decorative. Six composers were commissioned to create pieces for the piano, taking their inspiration directly from a painting or sculpture. The results are intriguing: Jens Joneleit (his opera Metanoia was premiered at the Staatsoper's opening at the Schiller Theater last year) created Schnitt ("Cuts"), using a Dada-ist composition form inspired by Hannah Höchs's Dada Collage; and the Danish-German composer Nils Eichberg presents his Nefertiti, to be performed by the brilliant 20-something Russian pianist Denis Kozhukin, who is making waves at all the top European competitions.
Compared to the large music/art festivals with long traditions in Berlin -- the Tanz im August, the Musikfest in September, the Art Forum in October, the Jazzfest in November -- Klavierfieber is diminutive: six evening and lunch/teatime concerts, six pianists, composers and works of art. But it has a special significance for Berlin cultural life. If the Klavierfieber proves infectious, it will rejuvenate the Kulturforum.
Klavierfieber is supported by the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation and Young Euro Classic. It takes place between Monday, June 20, and Sunday, June 26 in the Kulturforum -- in the museums as well as in the Staatsbibliothek (State Library) and the St Matthäuskirche (St. Matthew's Church).
The English page of the festival web site is here.
Jun 18, 2011
Taking Classical Music outside the Concert Hall (2)
The building opposite the Schlossplatz in which you find one of Berlin's premier music conservatories, the Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler, once housed the royal stables. The exterior is neo-baroque, the interior sleekly modern. In the Galakutschensaal (literally, the carriage hall) you can hear wonderful music for free.
The conservatory has a rich program of events all through the year: concerts, master classes, lecture concerts, workshops, international music contests -- and the standard is always high. There is a closer, more intimate relationship between the performers and audience than in the concert hall. I like sneaking in well before the concerts or master classes begin. The spacious quietness in the room -- soaring ceilings, parquet floors, two black Bösendorfer grand pianos. tall windows letting in a view of the Dom, the Spree and the green quadrant of the Schlossplatz -- is a first intimation of the purity of sound that will follow.
You can check Hanns Eisler's concert schedule here. The Hanns Eisler and the Universität der Künste have teamed up to form the Jazz-Institut Berlin on the Einsteinufer, and some great free concerts are on offer at this location, too. The Jazz-Institut's program is available here.
An unusual series outside the concert hall takes place in the Bröhan-Museum in Charlottenburg. In Berlin's museum for Art Nouveau decorative arts, music students give concerts on the first Thursday of every month. In their interaction with the audience, musicians make imaginative connections between the 30-minute program and a selected museum piece. The next concert is on Thursday, July 7, at 14:00. Tickets (which includes entrance to the museum) are 4 EUR.
My last tip for this post is the "Jour Fixe" free concert series at the Musikinstrumenten Museum (or the MIM) every other Wednesday afternoon. Once again, the performers are from Berlin's music conservatories. Originally, the program was reserved exclusively for the piano; now it includes a broad spectrum of solo and chamber music.
The concerts begin at 15:30, but this is a very popular little series for those "in the know." So get there at 14:30 to pick up your ticket, then wander around the museum (or find something interesting to do around Potsdamer Platz) till doors to the music auditorium open. The next "Jour Fixe" is on Wednesday, June 29. Check MIM's concert calendar here.
You can check Hanns Eisler's concert schedule here. The Hanns Eisler and the Universität der Künste have teamed up to form the Jazz-Institut Berlin on the Einsteinufer, and some great free concerts are on offer at this location, too. The Jazz-Institut's program is available here.
My last tip for this post is the "Jour Fixe" free concert series at the Musikinstrumenten Museum (or the MIM) every other Wednesday afternoon. Once again, the performers are from Berlin's music conservatories. Originally, the program was reserved exclusively for the piano; now it includes a broad spectrum of solo and chamber music.
The concerts begin at 15:30, but this is a very popular little series for those "in the know." So get there at 14:30 to pick up your ticket, then wander around the museum (or find something interesting to do around Potsdamer Platz) till doors to the music auditorium open. The next "Jour Fixe" is on Wednesday, June 29. Check MIM's concert calendar here.
May 14, 2011
Taking Classical Music Outside the Concert Hall
You can ditch the jacket and tie, the black dress and string of pearls, for these great low-key concerts that take place outside the concert halls or during lunch hours.
To begin with, there are noontime concerts presented by leading Berlin orchestras such as the free Lunch Concerts at the Berlin Philharmonie. Judging by swelling audience numbers, the Philharmonie's Lunch Concerts are no longer a well-kept secret -- a favorite with tourists, office workers on breaks and visitors to the Kulturforum. Every Tuesday at 13:00, you can stop by to hear soloists of the Berliner Philharmoniker in a 30-40 minute chamber music concert. The mini-concerts also feature soloists from the Deutsche Symphonie Orchester (DSO) and the Staatskapelle Berlin or conservatory students. Seats go fast, but you can find stairs and coat-check counters on which to sit, or look out over the foyer from the first floor. There's a fine lunch to go with the music, but unlike the arts the lunch is not for free.
The fourth floor of the Maison de France on Kurfürstendamm is the venue for the DSO's own lunchtime series. La Bonne Heure takes place every first and third Wednesday of the month, beginning at 12:45. The program, featuring mostly French chamber music, runs about 45 minutes and is accompanied by French catering in a wonderfully retro 1950-s bar and a view over Ku'damm. Taking your seat at La Bonne Heure is like taking a deep breath in the midst of a busy day.
Another series to watch out for: the Espresso Concerts at the Konzerthaus on Gendarmenmarkt, beginning in the 2011-12 season. Sebastian Nordmann, who recently took over as director, has given programming at the Konzerthaus an overhaul, letting in a fresh breeze. The 2011-12 season, called "Open", aims to bring the public into the Konzerthaus throughout the day instead of only during evening performance hours, and the Espresso Konzerte are one of these open invitations. These 45-minute midday concerts will take place on the last Wednesday of each month at 14:00. The ticket price includes an espresso -- a welcome freebie for those who have to return to the office, library or practice room.
There's lots more: concerts in museums, studios and music conservatories. So stay tuned.
The next Lunch Concert is on Tuesday, May 17. Entrance is free. The program is usually announced shortly before the concert. This series runs till June 28, 2011. For more information see the Berlin Philharmonic's website.
The next La Bonne Heure is on Wednesday, May 18. The Masion de France is on Kurfürstendamm 211. Tickets are 6 EUR and you should make a reservation. For more information see the DSO's website.
The Espresso Konzerte series begins in the 2011-12 season. For dates, check the Konzerthaus website, the season brochure, or the monthly program calendar available at the concert hall. The program is advertised only shortly before the concert. The concert location is revealed only after you get your ticket. The concerts move from month to month between the smaller halls within the Konzerthaus.
To begin with, there are noontime concerts presented by leading Berlin orchestras such as the free Lunch Concerts at the Berlin Philharmonie. Judging by swelling audience numbers, the Philharmonie's Lunch Concerts are no longer a well-kept secret -- a favorite with tourists, office workers on breaks and visitors to the Kulturforum. Every Tuesday at 13:00, you can stop by to hear soloists of the Berliner Philharmoniker in a 30-40 minute chamber music concert. The mini-concerts also feature soloists from the Deutsche Symphonie Orchester (DSO) and the Staatskapelle Berlin or conservatory students. Seats go fast, but you can find stairs and coat-check counters on which to sit, or look out over the foyer from the first floor. There's a fine lunch to go with the music, but unlike the arts the lunch is not for free.
The fourth floor of the Maison de France on Kurfürstendamm is the venue for the DSO's own lunchtime series. La Bonne Heure takes place every first and third Wednesday of the month, beginning at 12:45. The program, featuring mostly French chamber music, runs about 45 minutes and is accompanied by French catering in a wonderfully retro 1950-s bar and a view over Ku'damm. Taking your seat at La Bonne Heure is like taking a deep breath in the midst of a busy day.
Another series to watch out for: the Espresso Concerts at the Konzerthaus on Gendarmenmarkt, beginning in the 2011-12 season. Sebastian Nordmann, who recently took over as director, has given programming at the Konzerthaus an overhaul, letting in a fresh breeze. The 2011-12 season, called "Open", aims to bring the public into the Konzerthaus throughout the day instead of only during evening performance hours, and the Espresso Konzerte are one of these open invitations. These 45-minute midday concerts will take place on the last Wednesday of each month at 14:00. The ticket price includes an espresso -- a welcome freebie for those who have to return to the office, library or practice room.
 |
| Sol Gabetta, artist-in-residence at the Konzerthaus next season. Photo: copyright, Marco Borggreve: with kind permission of the Konzerthaus Berlin |
There's lots more: concerts in museums, studios and music conservatories. So stay tuned.
The next Lunch Concert is on Tuesday, May 17. Entrance is free. The program is usually announced shortly before the concert. This series runs till June 28, 2011. For more information see the Berlin Philharmonic's website.
The next La Bonne Heure is on Wednesday, May 18. The Masion de France is on Kurfürstendamm 211. Tickets are 6 EUR and you should make a reservation. For more information see the DSO's website.
The Espresso Konzerte series begins in the 2011-12 season. For dates, check the Konzerthaus website, the season brochure, or the monthly program calendar available at the concert hall. The program is advertised only shortly before the concert. The concert location is revealed only after you get your ticket. The concerts move from month to month between the smaller halls within the Konzerthaus.
Mar 6, 2011
Potsdam 2011: Celebrating the Silver Screen
On 12 February 1912, the sound of the clapperboard rang for the first time through the Glasatelier (glass-roofed studio) -- Europe's oldest film studio at Babelsberg in Potsdam. Asta Nielsen, Europe's first leading lady, stepped forward for the first take of the (now lost) silent film Der Totentanz. This year, Potsdam celebrates that historic moment by declaring 2011 the Year of Film.
But wait a moment, you say, sharpening your keen powers of observation. Shouldn't the Year of Film then be 2012?
Ah, yes. Except that Potsdam is already gearing up for a huge celebration in 2012 -- the 300th birthday of Frederick II, Emperor of Prussia -- and two momentous occasions may be one too many. Besides, the foundation stone of the Babelsberg studios on the site of what was once a spinning and weaving factory, was actually laid in November 1911 -- thus giving Potsdam a reason to move up the celebration date.
Bärbel Dalichow, head of Potsdam's Film Museum, is delighted that the city can finally draw attention to the star role it has played in European film history. "We are proud to look back on a 100-year history of moving pictures that have moved audiences everywhere," she says.
Babelsberg: the German Dream Factory
No other film studio is so bound up with a country's turbulent history -- cinematic, social, cultural and political. Babelsberg survived a monarchy, the Weimar Republic, the Nazi era and the Communist regime of the German Democratic Republic (GDR). Fritz Lang's monumental silent movie Metropolis was filmed here, as was Leni Riefenstahl's propagandist Triumph des Willens or Triumph of the Will (commissioned by Hitler), and Josef von Sternberg's Der Blaue Engel (The Blue Angel), starring Marlene Dietrich. The role of Lola-Lola rocketed Dietrich to international fame and a contract with Paramount Pictures.
From the end of the war till German reunification, Babelsberg was the GDR's film studio, the Deutsche Film AG -- or DEFA, as people still refer to it. During this time the prolific DEFA produced no fewer than 1,240 TV and feature films, including Jakob der Lügner (Jacob the Liar), the only GDR film nominated for an Oscar.
Since 2007, some of the big-name blockbusters have been filmed here: Stephen Daldry's The Reader, Quentin Tarantino's Inglorious Bastards, Roman Polanski's The Ghost Writer, and Roland Emmerich's Anonymous are just a few.
Potsdam 2011: the City of Film
One of the highlights of the year-long celebration is the "Agentennacht" (Night of the Secret Agents) on May 14. The studio, using special effects, recreates history on the Glienicker Brücke (also known as the Bridge of Spies) where US-occupied West Berlin exchanged captured spies with Soviet-occupied Potsdam during the Cold War.
May 21 is Open Day at the Babelsberg campus, where you can explore behind the scenes at all 16 studios, watch 3.000 film crew members at work, and gawk at elaborate props and collection of 250.000 costumes.
Get a unique perspective on Silver Screen history by joining one of Babelsberg's quirky walking tours. Between 16 April and 16 October, the 3-hour tour "Film Stars, Political Borders and the Stalin Villa" takes you into several fascinating homes and buildings connected with political and film history, including the residences of Truman, Churchill and Stalin during the Potsdam Conference (1945).
For more information on the 2011 Potsdam: Jahr des Films events, check their website.
But wait a moment, you say, sharpening your keen powers of observation. Shouldn't the Year of Film then be 2012?
Ah, yes. Except that Potsdam is already gearing up for a huge celebration in 2012 -- the 300th birthday of Frederick II, Emperor of Prussia -- and two momentous occasions may be one too many. Besides, the foundation stone of the Babelsberg studios on the site of what was once a spinning and weaving factory, was actually laid in November 1911 -- thus giving Potsdam a reason to move up the celebration date.
 |
| Asta Nielsen in her Berlin apartment Photo: Wikimedia Commons |
Babelsberg: the German Dream Factory
No other film studio is so bound up with a country's turbulent history -- cinematic, social, cultural and political. Babelsberg survived a monarchy, the Weimar Republic, the Nazi era and the Communist regime of the German Democratic Republic (GDR). Fritz Lang's monumental silent movie Metropolis was filmed here, as was Leni Riefenstahl's propagandist Triumph des Willens or Triumph of the Will (commissioned by Hitler), and Josef von Sternberg's Der Blaue Engel (The Blue Angel), starring Marlene Dietrich. The role of Lola-Lola rocketed Dietrich to international fame and a contract with Paramount Pictures.
Since 2007, some of the big-name blockbusters have been filmed here: Stephen Daldry's The Reader, Quentin Tarantino's Inglorious Bastards, Roman Polanski's The Ghost Writer, and Roland Emmerich's Anonymous are just a few.
Potsdam 2011: the City of Film
One of the highlights of the year-long celebration is the "Agentennacht" (Night of the Secret Agents) on May 14. The studio, using special effects, recreates history on the Glienicker Brücke (also known as the Bridge of Spies) where US-occupied West Berlin exchanged captured spies with Soviet-occupied Potsdam during the Cold War.
May 21 is Open Day at the Babelsberg campus, where you can explore behind the scenes at all 16 studios, watch 3.000 film crew members at work, and gawk at elaborate props and collection of 250.000 costumes.
Get a unique perspective on Silver Screen history by joining one of Babelsberg's quirky walking tours. Between 16 April and 16 October, the 3-hour tour "Film Stars, Political Borders and the Stalin Villa" takes you into several fascinating homes and buildings connected with political and film history, including the residences of Truman, Churchill and Stalin during the Potsdam Conference (1945).
For more information on the 2011 Potsdam: Jahr des Films events, check their website.
Feb 13, 2011
C for Currywurst, E for Exportweltmeister
Twenty-five million apple-cheeked garden gnomes grace our front yards; 95,000 new titles appear every year in our bookstores; 130 professional orchestras perform in our concert halls; and over 300 theaters are open every night for a stage production. Who knew?
You would, if you had stopped in at the small exhibition called "Deutschland für Anfänger" (Germany for Beginnners) at the Forum Willy Brandt on Unter den Linden. Arranged in a sequence that runs through 26 concepts, each representing a single letter in the alphabet, the exhibition is a romp through German history and culture -- informative (but never dry), imaginative, playful and interactive. Instead of shying away from cliches it presents them tongue-in-cheek.
You'll learn the story behind Berlin's favorite fast food, the curry wurst, and discover why German soccer was never the same after the 1966 World Cup game in England's Wembley stadium. You can hear our eight principle dialects and hum along to versions of the Loreley legend in popular music. You can test your knowledge of the ten German winners of the Nobel Prize and watch archived material from the 1960s and 70s on the daily television news show, the Tagesschau.
Visitors to Berlin will enjoy this exhibition -- it's easily combined with a shopping spree on Unter den Linden, and convenient to reach as the S-Bahn Brandenburger Tor is at its doorstep -- but I guarantee that even long-time residents will be surprised by what they can discover by popping in. I bet they couldn't tell you where the first garden gnomes appeared, for instance (Thüringia, in 1872), and why. Drop in and find out!
"Deutschland für Anfänger" is at the Forum Willy Brandt, Unter den Linden 62-68, and runs till 27 February 2011. The exhibition is open from Tuesday to Sunday, 10 am to 6 pm, and entrance is free. Getting there: The Forum is located at the S Brandenburger Tor's exit on Unter den Linden.
The exhibition is organized by the Goethe Institut and the bpb (Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung). In addition to the exhibition, there is an excellent documentary film on Willy Brandt, former German Chancellor, for whom the Forum is named.
You would, if you had stopped in at the small exhibition called "Deutschland für Anfänger" (Germany for Beginnners) at the Forum Willy Brandt on Unter den Linden. Arranged in a sequence that runs through 26 concepts, each representing a single letter in the alphabet, the exhibition is a romp through German history and culture -- informative (but never dry), imaginative, playful and interactive. Instead of shying away from cliches it presents them tongue-in-cheek.
 |
| Photo: with kind permission of the Goethe Institut |
 |
| Photo: with kind permission of bpb | copyright: Jan Konsitzki |
Visitors to Berlin will enjoy this exhibition -- it's easily combined with a shopping spree on Unter den Linden, and convenient to reach as the S-Bahn Brandenburger Tor is at its doorstep -- but I guarantee that even long-time residents will be surprised by what they can discover by popping in. I bet they couldn't tell you where the first garden gnomes appeared, for instance (Thüringia, in 1872), and why. Drop in and find out!
 |
| Photo: with kind permission of bpb | copyright: Jan Konsitzki |
"Deutschland für Anfänger" is at the Forum Willy Brandt, Unter den Linden 62-68, and runs till 27 February 2011. The exhibition is open from Tuesday to Sunday, 10 am to 6 pm, and entrance is free. Getting there: The Forum is located at the S Brandenburger Tor's exit on Unter den Linden.
The exhibition is organized by the Goethe Institut and the bpb (Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung). In addition to the exhibition, there is an excellent documentary film on Willy Brandt, former German Chancellor, for whom the Forum is named.
Jan 25, 2011
C/O: Address Unknown
C/O, one of Berlin's most unique art centers, will soon become an endangered species -- yet another space for the creative arts forced out by gentrification and soaring real-estate prices.
From Leibovitz to Lindbergh, Magnum to Mapplethorpe
The photo gallery on Oranienburgerstrasse opened in 2000 in the spectacular 19th century building which had once housed the postal office, the Postführamt -- from where the name C/O derives.
Photographer Stefan Erfurt stumbled on the empty building while looking for space in which to exhibit photographs from the Magnum agency archives. That was back in 2000. Over the next ten years, C/O became one of Berlin's top photo galleries. The exhibition of works by Annie Leibovitz in 2009 had viewers lining up around the block. The "On Street" exhibition featuring Peter Lindbergh opened last September but had so many visitors that it had to be extended by a week this January. And just last weekend began a brilliant retrospective of works by the legendary Robert Mapplethorpe.
Visual Dialogue
C/O showcases the work of photographers, architects and designers, and draws attention to nexus points between the three. One of the first talks in its lecture series was by star architect Daniel Libeskind in 2002. Lectures and workshops accompanying the exhibitions make C/O more than "just" a museum or gallery. Its dynamic team prefers to call it an "International Forum for Visual Dialogue."
Curiosity, Passion and Professionalism
These three words are set off against the gallery's logo, and they describe to a T the team behind C/O's success: photographer Stephan Erfurt, designer Marc Naroska and architect Ingo Pott. Against incredible odds, they have kept the gallery running as a private enterprise, without the infusion of state funds. Instead, they have relied on their ingenuity, the ability to find creative solutions for financial crises, a vast network of contacts and sponsors, and a high volume of visitors (30.000 in its first year, 180.000 in its tenth).
Alas, curiosity and passion have been outdone by crass commercialism. The site has been purchased by an Israeli investment group, El-Ad, whose plans are to build a luxury hotel and shopping center. C/O faces eviction, come this Spring.
A Child of Mitte
Erfurt calls C/O a "child of Mitte," referring to the phenomenon in Berlin Mitte, where creative improvisation made arts centers out of unrenovated buildings, post-1989.
While the Postführamt has an imposing exterior, walk inside and you will find internationally acclaimed photographs mounted on walls of peeling and pock-marked plaster. The wallpaper is faded, and sculpted pillars are in a state of grand disrepair. The upstairs gallery space has obviously been converted from an old basketball court, and the hoop backboard still remains on the wall.
But the phrase also refers to a repeated pattern of gentrification in Berlin Mitte -- first a state of neglect and low rents, then the artists, then the tourists, then skyrocketing real-estate rates and commercial deals, which finally edge out the cultural institutions that made the district attractive in the first place.
This same pattern happened down the road from C/O where Tacheles, the former department store which became an arts squat, post-1989, housing a cinema, theater, bars and 30 artists' studios, has been taken over by HSH Nordbank. The new owner intends to sell the property for 35 million Euros. The building must be empty by the end of this month.
Restaurants and Pub Crawls
A plan to relocate C/O to the empty Jewish girls' school in the Gallery Quarter on Auguststraße in the Hackesche Höfe area proceeded for a while, raising hopes. Then, just before Christmas, the Jewish community announced that it was selling to the gallery owner, Michael Fuchs, instead. Fuch's commercial plans include gallery space as well as a branch of the restaurant Grill Royal.
Malls, five-star hotels and royal grills -- not exactly edgy -- and a far cry from the best of Berlin's alternative art scene."Once we move and Tacheles has closed ... Oranienburger Strasse will just be Indian restaurants and tourist pub crawls," says Erfurt.
The unconventional and unbureaucratic financial structure of C/O cannot survive without an attractive location. Unless the city moves fast to help secure new digs, the future of a unique cultural institution is at stake.
C/O Berlin is at Oranienburgerstr. 35-36 (S Oranienburgerstraße) and is open daily from 11 am to 8 pm. Entrance is 10 EUR (reduced rate: 5 EUR). See the C/O Berlin website for more details and for more on the Mapplethorpe exhibition, which runs from 22 January to 27 March 2011.
From Leibovitz to Lindbergh, Magnum to Mapplethorpe
The photo gallery on Oranienburgerstrasse opened in 2000 in the spectacular 19th century building which had once housed the postal office, the Postführamt -- from where the name C/O derives.
Photographer Stefan Erfurt stumbled on the empty building while looking for space in which to exhibit photographs from the Magnum agency archives. That was back in 2000. Over the next ten years, C/O became one of Berlin's top photo galleries. The exhibition of works by Annie Leibovitz in 2009 had viewers lining up around the block. The "On Street" exhibition featuring Peter Lindbergh opened last September but had so many visitors that it had to be extended by a week this January. And just last weekend began a brilliant retrospective of works by the legendary Robert Mapplethorpe.
Visual Dialogue
C/O showcases the work of photographers, architects and designers, and draws attention to nexus points between the three. One of the first talks in its lecture series was by star architect Daniel Libeskind in 2002. Lectures and workshops accompanying the exhibitions make C/O more than "just" a museum or gallery. Its dynamic team prefers to call it an "International Forum for Visual Dialogue."
photo: with kind permission of C/O Berlin
Curiosity, Passion and Professionalism
These three words are set off against the gallery's logo, and they describe to a T the team behind C/O's success: photographer Stephan Erfurt, designer Marc Naroska and architect Ingo Pott. Against incredible odds, they have kept the gallery running as a private enterprise, without the infusion of state funds. Instead, they have relied on their ingenuity, the ability to find creative solutions for financial crises, a vast network of contacts and sponsors, and a high volume of visitors (30.000 in its first year, 180.000 in its tenth).
Alas, curiosity and passion have been outdone by crass commercialism. The site has been purchased by an Israeli investment group, El-Ad, whose plans are to build a luxury hotel and shopping center. C/O faces eviction, come this Spring.
A Child of Mitte
Erfurt calls C/O a "child of Mitte," referring to the phenomenon in Berlin Mitte, where creative improvisation made arts centers out of unrenovated buildings, post-1989.
While the Postführamt has an imposing exterior, walk inside and you will find internationally acclaimed photographs mounted on walls of peeling and pock-marked plaster. The wallpaper is faded, and sculpted pillars are in a state of grand disrepair. The upstairs gallery space has obviously been converted from an old basketball court, and the hoop backboard still remains on the wall.
But the phrase also refers to a repeated pattern of gentrification in Berlin Mitte -- first a state of neglect and low rents, then the artists, then the tourists, then skyrocketing real-estate rates and commercial deals, which finally edge out the cultural institutions that made the district attractive in the first place.
This same pattern happened down the road from C/O where Tacheles, the former department store which became an arts squat, post-1989, housing a cinema, theater, bars and 30 artists' studios, has been taken over by HSH Nordbank. The new owner intends to sell the property for 35 million Euros. The building must be empty by the end of this month.
Restaurants and Pub Crawls
A plan to relocate C/O to the empty Jewish girls' school in the Gallery Quarter on Auguststraße in the Hackesche Höfe area proceeded for a while, raising hopes. Then, just before Christmas, the Jewish community announced that it was selling to the gallery owner, Michael Fuchs, instead. Fuch's commercial plans include gallery space as well as a branch of the restaurant Grill Royal.
Malls, five-star hotels and royal grills -- not exactly edgy -- and a far cry from the best of Berlin's alternative art scene."Once we move and Tacheles has closed ... Oranienburger Strasse will just be Indian restaurants and tourist pub crawls," says Erfurt.
The unconventional and unbureaucratic financial structure of C/O cannot survive without an attractive location. Unless the city moves fast to help secure new digs, the future of a unique cultural institution is at stake.
C/O Berlin is at Oranienburgerstr. 35-36 (S Oranienburgerstraße) and is open daily from 11 am to 8 pm. Entrance is 10 EUR (reduced rate: 5 EUR). See the C/O Berlin website for more details and for more on the Mapplethorpe exhibition, which runs from 22 January to 27 March 2011.
Jan 6, 2011
The Big "B"
Watch out for the Big "B" as it appears in mid-January in locations around the city, beginning with Potsdamer Platz. The letter B, in toothpaste white, gleams against a red background, from the heart of which white rays fan out, creating the optical illusion of concentric circles like the twists of candy mints.
This is the new poster for the Berlinale 2011, Berlin's International Film Festival, and it's sure to catch your eye. The artwork was designed by the Boros Agency and harks back to poster art of the 1920s and 30s, the golden age of film. In fact, you can see the same design elements in an early 1930s poster for Scho-Ka-Kola, a popular Berlin chocolate company.
The strobe-like effect, according to Boros, gives visual form to the festival's magnetic draw for talent from around the world.
Boros's concept has already been given the thumbs up by graphic designers and Berlin's avid festival fans, who like the reference to pre-war Berlin but also to the very contemporary flirtation with the Golden 20s. It completely overshadows last year's motif, which combined mint green and lilac blocks of color, painstakingly stitching the names of all 15.000 films showed in 60 years of the Berlinale into the title -- not exactly easy on the eye.
The Berlinale is a long-cherished institution. It opened with Alfred Hitchcock's "Rebecca" back in 1951, when Berlin was still struggling to emerge from the rubble and destruction of World War II. What makes it special is that, unlike Cannes, where tickets are available for invitees only, the Berlinale is a festival for all and has one of the largest film festival audiences in the world. This year, its 61st appearance, it runs from February 10-20 and features over 400 films from across the globe. Mark the dates on your calendar!
The Berlinale runs from February 10-20, 2011. The premiere film is the Coen brothers's "True Grit". Tickets run from 7-11 EUR and are available at the central ticket counter at the Arkaden shopping mall (Potsdamer Platz) or at various theater box offices (listed in the Festival catalog) but will also be available online. Students receive half-price tickets at the box office. See the Berlinale website for more details.
This is the new poster for the Berlinale 2011, Berlin's International Film Festival, and it's sure to catch your eye. The artwork was designed by the Boros Agency and harks back to poster art of the 1920s and 30s, the golden age of film. In fact, you can see the same design elements in an early 1930s poster for Scho-Ka-Kola, a popular Berlin chocolate company.
photo: copyright, Frank Vincentz (Wikimedia Commons)
The strobe-like effect, according to Boros, gives visual form to the festival's magnetic draw for talent from around the world.
Boros's concept has already been given the thumbs up by graphic designers and Berlin's avid festival fans, who like the reference to pre-war Berlin but also to the very contemporary flirtation with the Golden 20s. It completely overshadows last year's motif, which combined mint green and lilac blocks of color, painstakingly stitching the names of all 15.000 films showed in 60 years of the Berlinale into the title -- not exactly easy on the eye.
The Berlinale is a long-cherished institution. It opened with Alfred Hitchcock's "Rebecca" back in 1951, when Berlin was still struggling to emerge from the rubble and destruction of World War II. What makes it special is that, unlike Cannes, where tickets are available for invitees only, the Berlinale is a festival for all and has one of the largest film festival audiences in the world. This year, its 61st appearance, it runs from February 10-20 and features over 400 films from across the globe. Mark the dates on your calendar!
The Berlinale runs from February 10-20, 2011. The premiere film is the Coen brothers's "True Grit". Tickets run from 7-11 EUR and are available at the central ticket counter at the Arkaden shopping mall (Potsdamer Platz) or at various theater box offices (listed in the Festival catalog) but will also be available online. Students receive half-price tickets at the box office. See the Berlinale website for more details.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
