Art and the City

Monuments, performances, street art and artists shape and change the cityscape permanently or temporarily. Art in urban space is omnipresent. But how does art in public space actually affect one’s own attitude to life? Do you feel better when you encounter it in your everyday life in the city?

Experts from the fields of neuroaesthetics, art, architecture, urban planning and urban policy will discuss these questions at the Art and the City event. Together with the participants, they want to find out whether and how art is perceived in urban space and what future perspectives result from this for life in cities.

The guests are Dr. Joerg Fingerhut (cognitive scientist and professor of philosophy of mind), Dr. Ute Müller-Tischler (head of the department of art, culture, history in Berlin-Mitte) and Yasha Young (curator and founding director of Urban Nation Berlin). The discussion will be chaired by Claudio Rimmele (Editor and Creative Director at the future agency Observism).

Free Admission

UNARTIG – Street & Art Festival

by Michalina | Exhibition

For the opening of the exhibition celebration, the UNARTIG – Street & Art Festival will take place around the museum. The program includes 17 murals designed by 21 artists, workshops and performances by artists such as Yoann Bourgeois, as well as guided urban art tours through the neighborhood of the URBAN NATION Museum. There will be discussion panels, street food, music and much more.⁠
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Participating artists:
Boa_One, Captain Borderline, Cathrine Lupis Thomas, Claire Chaulet, Drew.LabOne, Hülpman, Isakov, Ju Mu, Krashkid, LAPIZ, Leiti, m05k, Mots, Paul Punk, Peter Fahr Junior, Rich Thorne, Vera Kochubey, Vikunia

OPENING: TALKING… & OTHER BANANA SKINS

by Michalina | Exhibition

URBAN NATION presents TALKING… & OTHER BANANA SKINS, curated by Michelle Houston. The colorful and vibrant exhibition provokes dialogue through urban and contemporary art. The exhibition will function as a catalyst and serve as a host for discourse about the most pressing issues of our times. It presents a new facade commissioned by the internationally renowned collective BROKEN FINGAZ CREW from Israel (Haifa). The exhibition shows paintings, installations, sculptures and video works across the breadth of urban and contemporary art. Highlighted artists include ROCCO AND HIS BROTHERS (Berlin), ICY AND SOT (Tabriz/NY), VARIOUS AND GOULD (Berlin), JOSÉPHINE SAGNA (Hamburg) and LOW BROS (Hamburg).

Escaping Narrow-Mindedness: A Tribute to Art

by Guest Author | Art

Labyrinth of Lies, artwork: Sven Sauer.

A small mind always remains trapped in its subjective views. Trapped in a world that it believes to be reality. It relies on its own personal experiences and opinions. But paradoxically, one’s own opinion is often merely an eager repetition of seemingly good opinions of seemingly good people. The fewest of them actually defend their own viewpoint. Not to mention that they rarely critically assess said viewpoint or perhaps admit an error in reasoning.

“The thinking man changes his opinion,” Friedrich Nietzsche said.

But this occurs extremely rarely, in fact. Instead, someone’s own thinking is continuously confirmed and reinforced by others with similar thoughts.

Berlin Global: The New Interactive Exhibition About Berlin and its Place in the World

by Frank | Mitte, Museums

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Since our first blog post, we have been dedicated to capturing and documenting Berlin in its many facets so that the whole world can have a glimpse of this wonderful city. It has always been important to us that we address both the residents of this city, as well as visitors, no matter how long they are here and no matter where they originally come from. Our special focus is on those people who have come here and brought a piece of the part of the world they came from with them when making their projects. Because Berlin is never just Berlin – it’s a potpourri with influences from all over the world. And that’s a good thing.

The new interactive exhibition BERLIN GLOBAL, which ceremoniously opened last week in the new Humboldt Forum, takes exactly the opposite approach here, showing Berlin with all the footprints that this city has left behind in the world. We find this approach extremely exciting, which is why we took a closer look at the exhibition.

Opening Weekend – “Martha Cooper: Taking Pictures”

by Michalina | Exhibition

With “Martha Cooper: Taking Pictures” URBAN NATION presents the world’s most comprehensive retrospective of Martha Cooper’s photographic work. The exhibition traces Cooper’s life with the help of photographs and personal items – from her first camera in 1946 to her current reputation as world-famous photographer.

With “Martha Cooper: Taking Pictures”, the museum’s program is given a new focus under director Jan Sauerwald. Thanks to the expertise of the curators Steven P. Harrington and Jaime Rojo (Brooklyn Street Art), and thanks to the close collaboration with martha cooper herself, an extraordinary exhibition was created.

On the opening weekend the URBAN NATION Museum will be there for you with extra long opening hours for the new exhibition on the legendary photographer Martha Cooper!

A Guide to Berlin Art Week 2019

by Franziska | Art

The Berlin Art Week is upon and will once again reflect on the current contemporary art world. This year, during the 11th-20th September, the great contemporary art museums, project spaces, art associations and private collections will host a nearly endless amount of openings and events that it’s easy to be overwhelmed with all the options. But don’t worry, we dug through the many programs and invitations to pick some of the most significant ones you shouldn’t miss. Here are our 12 favorite exhibitions and events of this season!

The Highlight Events of Pride Week 2019

by Frank | Events, Party

This week is Pride Week in Berlin which means there is a whole string of fabulous queer events happening. In fact, there are so many events and parties that it might be hard to figure out which ones to go to. But don’t worry, we got you covered. We selected the highlights that you can trust will extra cool!

A Guide to the Best Running Routes in Berlin

by Guest Author | Wellness

photo: Vismante Ruzgaite.

Whether you are just getting into running or are already a regular runner, Berlin is the right place for you. The city has one of the largest and most dedicated running communities in the world. Berlin is the only city in Europe besides London to be part of the World Marathon Majors, the world’s most prestigious running events. Some of the most popular running groups were born in Berlin and then spread around the world. Nowadays, running goes beyond sports, it’s a lifestyle. Everywhere you go in Berlin, you can really feel the presence of the running culture. For me, running has been a great way to discover a city, to connect with its people and of course, stay fit!

I am happy to share with you my top 5 running routes in Berlin that I enjoy the most.

10 Highlights of the Berlin Art Week 2018

by Michalina | Art, Events

Lee Bul, photo: Maxie Fischer

The current (already seventh!) edition of the Berlin Art Week (26th to 30th Sept) is enticingly lurking around the corner! Get ready for a few days full of exhibitions, performances, and other special events that will undoubtedly astonish you with the abundance of creative endeavors going on in this vibrant city. You can check out the full program here, but since the number of all the events is quite staggering, we’ve chosen some highlights that we consider especially worth your while – get a sneak peek into Berlin’s creative extravaganza below: