5 Highlights of the Berlin Art Week 2020 Not To Miss

5 Highlights of the Berlin Art Week 2020 Not To Miss

SUCCESSION, photo: Samuel Smelty. 

To be perfectly honest, the fact that Berlin Art Week is even happening this year feels like a highlight in itself. Since Berlin Art Week’s first edition in 2012, we’ve already got used to a few early autumn days packed with unique contemporary art events – and we’re so glad this year is no exception, with the Berlin Art Week taking place between 9th and 13th September. Of course, some elements of the festival are very characteristic of 2020, like the entire digital program along with the hygiene precautions and time-slot tickets. But what remains are the inspiring exhibitions – in this article, you’ll find our 6 recommendations.

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A Hidden Place of Unheard Sounds: Experiencing Sound Art at Monom

A Hidden Place of Unheard Sounds: Experiencing Sound Art at Monom

When the entire nightlife pressed the pause button a few months ago, we really had to completely rethink how we experience Berlin. This was especially noticeable to us when we were putting together our event listings. All of a sudden the calendar was empty, then slowly it filled up again with streaming events, and eventually, IRL events returned, but not in the same way as before.

The sound installation “Eleven Songs” that happened at Halle am Berghain a few weeks ago was one of these events that stood out: Through its iconic venue it bridged the longing for a return of the club culture and our craving for a cultural and artistic experience. It was, as to be expected, a huge success.

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Studio Berlin: Entire Berghain to Transform into Giant Gallery for Remainder of Lockdown

Studio Berlin: Entire Berghain to Transform into Giant Gallery for Remainder of Lockdown

The club lockdown has put the entire nightlife scene into the most difficult situation it has ever been. While other countries are already back to partying the Germans haven’t released their clubs yet from their enforced hibernation. In our previous two stories, we already took a look at what the Berlin clubs are up to during their closing and what Berlin’s party people are doing without their clubs.

As if by magic the big news broke yesterday, that Berlin’s most famous club – Berghain – will transform into something else for the remainder of the club lockdown starting on September 9th: Berlin’s biggest gallery. In collaboration with the private art collectors Boros who are showcasing their pieces in yet another big grey cement building that used to be a nightclub – the bunker – the new exhibition will, most likely, include Berghain’s resident artists such as Wolfgang Tillmans who has his abstract artworks at Panorma Bar, Joseph Marr who made the sugar men sculptures inside the Klobar, and Norbert Bisky who has his large painting downstairs opposite the cloakroom, as well as Sven Marquardt, Marc Brandenburg, and Piotr Nathan.

UPDATE: After a closed period during the second lockdown the exhibition will now be open again from June 18th, 2021. Book your tickets here.

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Dreaming in Quarantine: Wilden Renate’s Overmorrow Installation

Dreaming in Quarantine: Wilden Renate’s Overmorrow Installation

Wilden Renate’s Overmorrow is an immersive walkthrough art experience created by over 40 artists, from well-known collectives like Bad Bruises and TrashEra to newcomers. The installations, performances, and exhibitions occupy most of the indoor spaces of Wilde Renate, and offer about 1 hour of exploration in dark, morphing spaces.

The audience enters in groups of two, with 5-minute intervals, which is about the time allocated to each room, and makes their way through the 17 interwoven “Positions.” The Positions range from exhibitions of oil paintings through interactive installations to performances, and are loosely tied together by the themes of isolation and future. They often overlap, reflect on each other, and can be seen or heard in advance, which adds to the dreamlike nature of the journey.

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11 Awesome Queer Local Businesses That You Should Support

11 Awesome Queer Local Businesses That You Should Support

Supporting local businesses has always been a priority at iHeartBerlin, even more so when they are owned by queer folks. Naturally, this has become even more important in times of an ongoing global pandemic. That’s why we’re looking forward to joining the upcoming QUEER Market! There, you will be able to check out creative products from queer designers in a friendly environment implementing all the current safety and health precautions.

For this new guide, we’ve put together some of our favorite local queer businesses and labels. All of them will be part of the Queer Market on Sunday, July 26th, but there will be even more stands for you to explore on the day! iHeartBerlin will also be present with a booth and you’ll be able to get your hands on our books and other products.
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Walls Breathing Sound – A new Sound Exhibition at Halle am Berghain

Walls Breathing Sound – A new Sound Exhibition at Halle am Berghain

photo: Roman März. 

How can you manifest sound in space? The two Austrian born and Berlin-based sound artists Sam Auinger and Hannes Strobl found an answer in their new soundscape inside the Halle am Berghain that just opened this week for visitors. 

Halle am Berghain is a majestic piece of industrial architecture right next to the club-space that has been shut down now for over 4 months. Fortunately, exhibitions are allowed to open since a couple of weeks – and so I warmly recommend to go visit the work called “eleven songs – halle am berghain”.

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Martin-Gropius-Bau: An Interactive Exhibition About Rituals of Giving

Martin-Gropius-Bau: An Interactive Exhibition About Rituals of Giving

Installation view Lee Mingwei: 禮 Li, Gifts and Rituals, Gropius Bau, Berlin, 2020, photo: Laura Fiorio. 

The lockdown hit the cultural scene very hard. I am working in the art scene, so it made me particularly sad about not being able to visit exhibitions and museums. On the one hand, I’m amazed at how diverse the program is online: how close you can suddenly get to artists, museums, and galleries. Everything has become very personal and we can take a look behind the scenes. On the other hand, experiencing art on-site – the closeness to the work of art, the dimensions clearly in front of me – cannot be replaced.

All the happier I was finally being able to visit an exhibition: The first thing I chose was Martin-Gropius-Bau and Lee Mingwei’s exhibition: 禮 Li, gifts, and rituals (until July 12, 2020). Lee Mingwei is a Taiwanese-American, contemporary artist who dedicates himself to the rituals of giving and receiving gifts.

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Katharina Grosse Explodes with Colors at Hamburger Bahnhof

Katharina Grosse Explodes with Colors at Hamburger Bahnhof

When I saw the oversized artworks of Katharina Grosse for the first time back in 2014 at the St. Agnes church a.k.a. König Gallery I was so impressed that she instantly became my favorite Berlin artist. The intricate layering of colors was so spectacular, that you were just standing in awe in front of the large canvases.

With her new solo exhibition at Hamburger Bahnhof, that just re-opened after the lockdown this past weekend, she is going a size up and a step further. When you enter the main hall of the building you see a 3dimensional explosion of colors. It’s almost like a 3D animated glitch of reality. It’s like nothing I’ve ever seen.

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Together A Part: Extending The Physical Through Virtual Interaction

Together A Part: Extending The Physical Through Virtual Interaction

photos: Red Rubber Road. 

Today we want to share a photo series with you, that is a bit of the opposite of our Finally Together Again series from yesterday that celebrated a physical togetherness and how meaningful it can be in these trying times. What was possible for our team where all members live in Berlin, is not the same for those collaborators, friends, families, lovers that don’t live in the same country during the pandemic. The artist duo AnaHell and Nathalie Dreier where one of those that were separated by the quarantine measures of different countries. We published their Quarantine series at the beginning of the lockdown and it really hit a nerve. That series was actually produced way before in another context, but it perfectly captured the bizarre atmosphere of the early stages of the pandemic measures.

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Claude: Discover Hidden Art in the Streets of Berlin

Claude: Discover Hidden Art in the Streets of Berlin

Now that the quarantine rules seem to be easing down and more and more people start to brave the outdoors, we’re all turning our attention to the surrounding environment that some of us tried to avoid for many days. The art project Claude is making this experience more inspiring by placing artworks in the urban space for all of us to discover.

The project Claude is devoted to creating unconventional encounters between art and audiences. Rather than rescheduling their program of events due to the pandemic, the creators behind the project decided to tackle the challenge in a creative way and did not fail to bring the art ”closer to the people”.

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