Berlin’s Lost Places: Stattbad Wedding

Berlin’s Lost Places: Stattbad Wedding

You might have heard the news recently: After its closing last year the beloved Stattbad Wedding is currently being demolished and will soon have disappeared entirely. For the last couple of years if was filled with a lot of subcultural and nightlife projects including artists studios and workshops, offices for start-ups, a nightclub and bar, a space for concerts, exhibitions, screenings and dinner and whatever other project you can imagine inside the 4 tiled walls of a giant empty swimming pool. From my perspective its exactly these types of projects that use an abandoned relic of the past as a grow house for new progressive and alternative creativity that make Berlin what it is today. A hub for creative minds and alternative approaches from all over the world. It’s more than sad that places like Stattbad Wedding are not appreciated or supported by city officials and I’m worried that this will be harmful to the uniqueness of the city in the long run.

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The Stattbad Chronicles

The Stattbad Chronicles

Robert Montgomery, All Palaces, photo: Kai von Rabenau,
courtesy Neue Berliner Räume

You’ve probably heard the news by now: The glorious Stattbad Wedding has recently closed (UPDATE Sept 2016: and now news broke it’s being demolished). This weekend the party makers of the club nights Stattnacht are throwing the last two parties in their temporary exile at one of the previously unused halls of Neue Heimat and after that an era has ended. I feel quite sad about this sudden development because the Stattbad was one of those locations that I have recommended through its entire run here on iHeartBerlin, for parties, exhibitions and other crazy stuff happening there. The old public swimming pool found a new purpose in the hands of the makers of Stattbad and the place including all its institutions such as the Open Walls gallery, the Stattbar and the Statt.lab was a wonderful experimental playground for a whole generation of creative Berliners and therefor an important part of the youth culture of Berlin for the past 6 years. It’s a shame that the place has closed so unexpectedly and there is not even a chance to have a final good-bye party there. So as an alternative we went back into our archive and compiled a huge best of from all the coverage and photos we have dedicated to Stattbad over the past 6 years and then some. Enjoy the Stattbad Chronicles after the jump and don’t feel ashamed to shed a tear for this amazing place on the final Stattnacht party on Saturday night and the open air on Sunday. We will miss you, Stattbad Wedding.

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Young Persian Artist Exhibition at Stattbad Wedding

Young Persian Artist Exhibition at Stattbad Wedding

Artworks Zahra Shafie

Art openings are usually not the kind of events I feel very excited about. While at the theater I have a certain expertise, with contemporary art I have quite a lot of curiosity but feel that I lack in knowledge to appreciate most of the artworks. Since any good rule needs an exception, I have to say that I am really thrilled  about tonight’s opening of the Young Persian Artist at Stattbad and I hope I can get you a little bit interested as well. The curator Mahsa Mergenthaler-Shamsaei choose four exceptional talents. From March 5-15, 2015, Young Persian Artists will host its first pop-up show featuring the rising stars from Tehran, under the title Hope Dreams Desire.

The group show features the artists Adel Younesi, Romisa Sakaki, Zahra Shafie and Ali Esmaeillou. These four represent a new generation of artists that have emerged in Iran with a loud, strong voice and urgency in their work which is hard to ignore. Even if they have not seen the war or revolution they still have inherited the society marked by these epochal events. The show features also new works around the theme of hope-dreams-desire, universal feelings, experienced and expressed by the artists in different and unique ways. If you are still not convinced that this is the place to be, you should check out the little preview selection after the jump.

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One Year of Stattbad

One Year Stattbad

Last night the Stattbad Wedding celebrated its one year anniversary with a big event including exhibitions, performances, a BBQ, concerts and of course an after party that felt a lot like the great parties I had been to in the last year in late summer and fall. The concert of Barotti Island with its dry drowning performance was a lot of fun even though that naked golden dancer was kind of aggressive and kicking the audience around. See more impressions after the jump.

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Urban Affairs Closing Party at Stattbad

Urban Affairs extended Closing Party at Stattbad Wedding

So, Frank, do you actually go any place else then Stattbad Wedding these days? It starts to get boring… Well, to be honest, I do go elsewhere. But this is a really pleasant place to take pictures at. Also the Stattbad is closing down for a few weeks so this weekend was my last chance to dance between the sinks, tiles and pipes. The pretty redhead up there is Anna from Reigen, by the way. More after the jump.

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Disco Mystix Foam Party at Stattbad

Disco Mystix Foam Party at Stattbad Wedding

At first I was a bit sceptical about the foam thing at the latest Disco Mystix party at Stattbad Wedding, but when I dove into it myself the sight of the happy (and horny) people dancing in it changed my mind. At the end of the night I was soaking wet and my right arm was aching because I had to hold my camera really high over my head to prevent it from going under with me in the foam… More after the bubble.

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Urban Affairs at Stattbad

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JUST / just.ekosystem.org

If you think this week is only about fashion in Berlin you are wrong! Because tomorrow the Urban Affairs Extended Street Art Festival will open at Stattbad Wedding. We saw this last summer at Brauerei Friedrichshöhe and it was pretty amazing. The new location is also very promising as I have already experience a cool party there a few weeks back.

Some of Berlin’s most popular street artists will take part in this big group show, including Anton Unai, Nomad, El Bocho and Alias, as well as international street art hero Banksy. Go after the jump to see the full schedule. You can win tickets for the official party on Saturday here.

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Travel A Decade Back in Berlin With Google Street View

Travel A Decade Back in Berlin With Google Street View

photos: Google Street View. 

Berlin, much like many of its soul-searching inhabitants, is a creation always in progress, never quite complete. In fact, sometimes it’s quite hard to keep up with all the newest urban developments, so much so that even Google didn’t manage to update all of the Street View services to the present day state yet. We’ve taken screenshots of the most surprising sights – featuring the nostalgic memories of White Trash Fast Food and the Beate Uhse Erotic Museum – read on to see them and travel back to the not so distant noughties!

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The Berlin Club ABC

The Berlin Club ABC

Berlin is famous for many things but undeniably, these days Berlin’s most infamous reputation is due to its incredible nightlife. And, no nightlife without club spaces and dance floors to make us shake our booty into the early hours of Sunday… or even Monday… or in Berlin actually, just pick a day. However, before you can go out and get your fantasy decisions need to be made. The versatility of this city is both a curse and a blessing. It’s not as easy as the bar down the street with that cute bartender and a decent Spotify playlist. That’s like sitting in front of a box of delicious candy and only eating one thing. So, to get you started or to keep you on track, we tried to bring the hedonistic chaos of Berlin’s club life in (alphabetical) order accompanied by some informative, slightly subjective comments. Everything from bars with a dance floor to multiroom clubs made it into the list and, if not further noted (of course) Electronic Music will be played in Techno capital. Enjoy our little selection.

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Art Activism by Vermibus

Art Activism by Vermibus

Berlin-based artist Vermibus uses fashion advertisements as his canvas, transforming misinterpreted glamour and beauty into deformed, ghoulish entities. You may have already noticed his works in the streets and subway stations of Berlin – his intriguing advertisements are hard to miss. Not only that, these so-called “ads” are not what they seem. Using collected advertising posters from the streets as his base; Vermibus opposes the act of painting by erasing the images with solvent; a similar process that creates pieces by removing parts of the image to reveal a new character. In doing so, Vermibus initiates discourse on contemporary ads, criticizing the representation of humans through the media’s lens. The streets of Berlin play an essential role, as people stop and stare at his dehumanized figures that were already depersonalized, no longer seen as trivial photographs, which stripped the models of their identities, replacing them with the identities of the brands. Catch a glimpse of some of his works, and find out about his upcoming exhibition in Berlin after the jump. read more…