The BVG has done it once again! Seemingly not shying away from raising the level of self-ironic absurdity with each new “Weil wir dich lieben” ad campaign, their new video shows how a normal subway ride turns into the U-Bahn version of Mozart’s “Magic Flute”. Does that sound a bit odd to you? Well, then you should watch it maybe.
The Berlin U-Bahn, actually it’s nothing more but a daily necessity, bringing us from A to B. But, a necessity that takes up a lot of our time, on uncomfortable seats, in crowded stations watching little yellow wagons rush in and out. We love to hate it, ….and kind of hate to love it. With their campaign the BVG aren’t afraid to ridicule themselves, their flaws, and “Schienenersatzverkehr”, while also making a ‘lil fun of us, the ever complaining Berliners, who kind of act like the world is gonna end just because we missed one U-Bahn (and the next one is 4 long minutes away).
Anyone whose funny bone is tickled by the thought of a collection of Berlin folks randomly going all ‘Anne Netrebko’ in the underground should watch this video.
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by Andy | Videos
Photographers are supposed to be active on the internet nowadays. You have to have at least a tumblr, flickr, Instagram and a blog to share your work with the world and get noticed. Surprisingly, there are still few young photographers out there where you have to go outside into the “real” world to discover their breathtaking pictures.
This happened to me with Heji Shin. Even though I knew her before through the Zeit Magazine conference were she was one of the speakers, I never had the chance to take a proper look at her work. But one day I walked into an empty subway station and was intrigued by the above picture hanging there. The merge between the street culture of Berlin of the people sitting in Görlitzer Park and enjoying life and the empty Opera house of Deutsche Oper was beautiful and twisted at the same time. So many hidden messages disclosed in front of my eyes in this quiet, beautiful but at the same time haunting photograph.
Looking over the full campaign Heji Shin shot for the theatrical season 2014/15 I have to say that these images really speak to me. They tell me the story about the multitude of creative culture in Berlin. About the collective, vibrating energy making the city shift into a myriad of shapes. But even though new things happen here all the time, some old things never change. One of them is the Deutsche Oper which is still one of the best Opera Houses in Europe. Even though the photos don’t relate to a specific piece they present the people working backstage and made me curios again for the big old Opera house far away in the West of the city. Maybe you think that you’re not even that interested in Opera. But I recommend you to go there at least once in your life. Because of course it’s great to check out all the new and exciting stuff going on. But it would be dull to forget about the cultural heritage and history which made Berlin the meeting place for the creative creme de la creme of good old Europe since the Twenties until today. It makes sense to put Berlin’s raw beauty on the center stage of the Opera. Both things are connected and go hand in hand, even if people sometimes tend to forget it way to easily. After the jump the magical campaign photos showing Berlin and the Deutsche Oper from its most transparent side.
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by Claudio | Art, Music, Theater
photo: Sebastian Gabsch
I am actually kind of sick of people just going to theater or to classical music events when there is something crazy or fun involved in it. But I have to admit that these kind of concepts such as the Yellow Lounge are giving classical artists a new and interested audience which is definetly a good thing. I am curious about the upcoming Opera Lounge this Thursday that will take place at the Deutsche Oper. Up-and-coming artists and musicians present a multifarious program ranging from Opera to Jazz, Mozart to Weill and DJ LPLD to drinks. More details about time and location after the jump.
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by Claudio | Entertainment, Music
Being a fairy tale expert and a psychologist I was always indulged by the strong female characters appearing in Grimm’s fairy tales. I appreciated their impact in the stories as an evil and intense element of the plot. One of my favorites has always been the evil queen of Snow White who is obsessed with her vanity to the point where she loses everything. Of course it was an absolute pleasure for me to have the chance to meet the first solo dancer of the Staatsballet Berlin Beatrice Knop who portraits the evil queen in the new Snow White ballet. In her backstage wardrobe she was applying the final touches of her make-up and posing for us in the gorgeous Jean Paul Gaultier costume she is wearing on stage. For more backstage pictures and my impression of the piece just go after the jump.
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by Claudio | Entertainment, Events, Theater
