16 Amazing Creative Responses to the Pandemic from Berlin

This year was quite different, wasn’t it? There was a lot of crazy stuff happening, but we can all agree on what the most significant thing was: the pandemic. If you would have told me a year ago that this would happen, I probably would not have believed you. But here we are, 9 months into a global outbreak of an airborne viral disease that has turned the world upside down.

Of course, this pandemic brought us a lot of negative things, but I don’t want to focus on those – you can simply turn on the news for that. I want to focus on the things that were good, specifically on how people responded to the crisis in positive ways. While a lot of us were struggling with our lives, our work, and our mental health, some people gathered their creative energies to come up with great things to brighten the days of everyone else and show some optimistic spirit.

One of the first responses to the initial lockdown in March came from the nightlife scene. I was very impressed with how quickly the United We Stream project emerged from the Berlin club scene and how it spilled over to Germany and the rest of the world. It gave the party people something to hold on to while the clubs were closed and it generated a lot of money for those nightlife makers that were suffering.

The next group of people from the cultural scene that was affected by the lockdown that came out with something amazing was the dancers, led by the Staatsballet Berlin and followed by many other companies and independent dancers. They came out with wonderful performance videos shot at their homes or in nature.

We also received a lot of submissions by visual artists that created photo series dealing with the lockdown or other aspects of this new reality, one of the most beloved the one from Lovis Ostenrik who shot people stuck in their houses during the first lockdown in their windows.

Last but not least there were your own stories that you shared with us and that we compiled into a mini-series of articles we called Quarantine Diaries. We loved to read about how you dealt with the situation and we hope it also made a couple of other people not feel so alone in isolation.

Below you’ll find our collection of articles about these amazing creative pandemic responses from Berlin that gave us a lot of hope and inspiration this year.

These Berlin Clubs are the First Ones to Re-Open

These Berlin Clubs are the First Ones to Re-Open

photo: Birgit & Bier.  Despite many different efforts and many alternative concepts, it's the Berlin club scene that is probably suffering the most from Berlin's cultural landscape during the pandemic as the majority of the places have been locked down now for...

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Rave Space: Berlin Opens Its First Virtual Club

Rave Space: Berlin Opens Its First Virtual Club

If you thought that the DJ streams of United We Stream, digital drag shows on Twitch, and the Minecraft versions of Berghain and Griesmuehle were the last efforts at bringing Berlin's nightlife into the virtual space, you should think again. With Rave Space, a...

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Lockout Not Lockdown: An Outcry of Berlin’s Club Culture

Lockout Not Lockdown: An Outcry of Berlin’s Club Culture

photo: Keith Telfeyan.  While the effective vaccine rollout has already brought back some normalcy to people in the UK, Germany is still struggling with the pandemic and tries to tackle it with various new restrictions. These change so often that they’re sometimes...

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FUCK 2020 – The New Magazine by Pornceptual

FUCK 2020 – The New Magazine by Pornceptual

photo: Nonothing.  Pornceptual is launching its fourth magazine issue FUCK 2020 - a sentiment many of us can relate to - bringing us inclusive pornographic artwork by over 100 contributors from 33 countries and 5 continents. Without a doubt, the pandemic has had a...

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The Big Corona Quiz: What Quarantine Type Are You?

The Big Corona Quiz: What Quarantine Type Are You?

The second lockdown is holding on to our sorry asses and it looks like it will continue to do so for the foreseeable future. It's a bleak outlook, I know, but what can you do other than trying to make the best of it, right? Did I just hear you say: "Shut up!"? Well,...

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The Staatsballett Berlin is Dancing Outside

The Staatsballett Berlin is Dancing Outside

photo: Jubal Battisti.  At the end of August, the operas and theaters of Berlin will be able to reopen again after the lockdown. We are really happy about this but it's not going to be the same with a lot of restrictions on stage and behind the scenes, as well as way...

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At a Distance: A Stripped-Down Look at Social Distancing

At a Distance: A Stripped-Down Look at Social Distancing

photos: Aja Jacques.  While the pandemic and the lockdown have been pretty devastating for artists and creative professionals economically, they certainly have not been lacking in being an inspiration. In the last weeks, we received quite wonderful submissions from...

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Face Masks for Queer Visibility

Face Masks for Queer Visibility

With literally every single queer bar, club and venue closed until further notice and all Pride parades and other queer festivals canceled this year, it looks pretty dim on the queer visibility front right now. But all clubs and bars are closed and festival canceled -...

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Stay at Home: Portraying Berliners through their Windows

Stay at Home: Portraying Berliners through their Windows

photos: Lovis Ostenrik.  These last couple of weeks it became almost a mantra: Stay at home! Angela Merkel said it, viral expert Drosten said it, your mom said it, we said it. It's in everyone's ears, and in everyone's mouths. But what does "staying at home" mean for...

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<a href="https://www.iheartberlin.de/author/admin/" target="_self">Frank</a>

Frank

Author

Frank is the founder and editor-in-chief of iHeartBerlin. He takes photos, makes videos, and writes texts mostly about what's going on in Berlin. His vision and interests have shaped iHeartBerlin since its conception back in 2007 - and he hopes to continue bringing you the best of Berlin for many years to come.