Advert. photo: Fabian Brennecke.
This summer in Berlin has undoubtedly been more eventful than ever. In the last few weeks, we have attended more events and parties than we have in a long time, and I can’t remember the last time I had so much fun and beautiful moments.
We owe many of these events to the Kultursommerfestival, which has just celebrated its half-time. Since the end of June, around 100 cultural events have been taking place throughout Berlin, free of charge and outside. There is a lot to experience here until September 3, and to give you an overview, we have picked out 10 highlights for you that you should definitely visit.
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by Frank | Events
It’s the news we have all been waiting for for months now: There is a light at the end of the tunnel for the seemingly endless lockdown of all nightlife and culture venues. As many media outlets reported yesterday, the Senate has announced to start re-opening venues for public events in combination with rapid covid tests. The first venues to be part of the trial are the big stages of Berlin including the Staatsoper, Deutsche Oper, Berliner Ensemble, Volksbühne, Philharmonie, and the Konzerthaus.
But what we are most excited about is that there will also be a trial at Holzmarkt’s Säälchen in collaboration with the Berliner Clubkommission. Hold your horses, it’s not a party, it’s “just” for a concert. But still. This is the first step we have been craving for, and if all goes well it will mean that soon more events can happen and more venues will be able to re-open.
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by Frank | Events, Pandemic
A few months ago I published a story about how the lockdown has seemed to have created a new dogma of system relevance that discriminates against arts and culture workers. This was a story very close to my heart and close to what matters to all of us at iHeartBerlin.
While some cultural institutions were able to re-open since then, although under challenging circumstances, the overall situation has not improved for the majority of the scene. Especially in the alternative and underground scenes, it’s still quite dramatic. While publicly funded institutions don’t really have to worry about going under, it’s those independent arts and culture makers that really have to fear for their livelihoods. Rents and bills still need to be paid, but to produce shows and events is still often not possible, and support programs by the government have so many blind spots and leave a lot of people behind or are simply not enough. For many, the situation is really serious. And considering we are only at the beginning of the second (most likely bigger) wave that will bring new challenges and restrictions you don’t even want to begin to imagine how much worse it could get.
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by Frank | Art, Pandemic, Videos
A couple of weeks ago, on the hight of the lockdown tension, I had a curious conversation on a late-night ride with a driver that I simply can’t get out of my head. It was related to one of these “wonderful” new terms that came up in the course of the pandemic that has been once thought up, maybe not as considered, by politicians, but then spread wide and far by the media. The first one that comes to mind is, of course, Social Distancing (coincidently, the German version “Kontaktverbot” is as misguided a term as the English one), but the one I’m addressing here is “essential jobs” (or as we call it in German “Systemrelevante Berufe”).
I was on my way home, responsibly avoiding public transport, using one of the available ride services. It was during the period, where Berlin was actually pretty empty, both on the streets and on the sidewalks. In those weeks there was so much uncertainty and fear, that you could tell people actually didn’t dare to go out.
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by Frank | Stories
While reading fairy tales as a child I never understood why the girl protagonist was so weak and defenseless and had to wait for a prince to come save her to achieve happiness. At that time I did not understand that society wants girls to be helpless and dependent on men. Even if sexism and inequality between men and women exists in all societies, there are different realities in several countries. But what strikes me the most is the inequality that can exist inside one country, for instance between the countryside and the cities. Take Turkey for instance, where Istanbul is a free and modern city and the countryside still has the mentality of medieval times.
A wonderful but sad description of this circumstance of Turkish society is shown in the movie Mustang by female director Deniz Gamze. The movie was nominated for many awards this past season: the Oscars, the Golden Globes and in Cannes, where it premiered and even won. Nonetheless it was rather a coincidence that I went to a small independent cinema in Friedrichshain called Ladenkino to see this movie. My impressions of this film, after the jump.
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by Claudio | Movies
