Gentrification is a huge and ongoing topic in Berlin, with the steady rise of rent prices, as just recently shown in the Rent Map the change becomes inevitable and crystal clear. But nevertheless stories are being constantly written, with new people coming and old people dealing with the changes, the melting pot becomes more diverse and offers endless potential: An interesting time and a good base for a portrait about Neukölln.
Arsenny Rapoport, a filmmaker from Israel fell in love with Berlin right from the start, he felt especially inspired by Neukölln. He started filming and writing his film debut Neukölln Wind in 2012, which tells the story of estate agent Kalle, who himself grew up in Neukölln before his whole house was cleared, due to Asbestos being used. He returns many years later and wants to buy his old house and other buildings. On his way down memory lane he crosses paths with many different souls and gets involved with their personal stories. The film is very close to reality and even the famous homeless Schmitti, who lived on Neuköllns streets for 27 years before he passed away in August gets to tell his story.
With his film debut Rapoport sets a memorial of change and captures the moment and interesting stories of his chosen home. The trailer and more Infos about the film premiere tonight after the jump…
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by Kate | Movies
Presenting art in abandoned Buildings ist not that new of a concept in Berlin. I remember the first art exhibitions I went to were actually happening all over some really cool artist houses and ateliers in Mitte like Tacheles. Last Sunday I visited the exhibition The Vacancy where 33 rooms of an old hotel were creatively filled with art objects of 33 different artists. Now that the district turned into the Upper East Side of Berlin it actually felt a bit wrong to go inside a house that was totally dismantled to experience some art exhibition. At home I thought about the experience and concluded that instead of constantly complaining we should reconsider the idea of art spaces as “Zwischennutzung” (inbetween use) as a valuable concept of urban development. Because if we let artists become the explorer and venturer of new or abandoned places, maybe the commercial use that will follow and which is unfortunately not stoppable might be less horrible. I know that a lot of people would love the city to stay forever at it is. But this kind of hippie-conservatism is not something that will contribute new ideas for Berlin. Still I hope the whole Vacancy exhibition is not something to make the real estate more valuable. But I am curious to hear your thoughts in the comments. After the jump you find the adresss, opening times and most importantly a wonderful selection of pictures from the exhibition taken by our photographer Anna Agliardi.
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by Claudio | Art, Mitte
photo: Silke Bauer
The monster of gentrification is eating Berlin’s free spirits and creative culture. Maybe this way of thinking is rather extreme, but what will happen to the so-called “cool neighbourhoods” when all people who are currently living there will not be able to afford it anymore. And much more important: what will happen to our city when the income will strictly determine where you can live. Not so much of a multi-cultural free society in the end. A horrible faith that happened already in so many cities before and that must be stopped in Berlin.
People have been protesting the rapidly rising rents for years at Kottbusser Tor in Kreuzberg. The theater collective copy &waste created an audio walk that guides right into a conflict zone for living space, money and love. Through the headphones you’ll hear just what it sounds like – the dividing of the loot. The audio walk is called “Nasty Peace” and it is in German, English and Turkish and is created with the participation of the Turkish community living in the neighborhood.
For Nasty Peace, copy&waste returned packing a great deal of research material: conversations with residents, observations of everyday life, sociological, scientific and philosophical texts about property and privatization play as significant a role as Berlin Circle, a piece by Charles Mee inspired by the same source as The Caucasian Chalk Circle and fantasy material such as Game of Thrones and Masters of the Universe. All the dates and the trailer after the jump.
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by Claudio | Kreuzberg, Theater
all art work: Gould
Sometimes I find Berlin absolutely amazing. Because the city gives people a chance. People who have a talent can show it here. Last year in summer I was at the graduation show of the Kunthochschule Weissensee and was allowed to let myself be inspired by a young artist named Gould and his exhibited series St. Nimmerlein. Gould stands out not just between his fellow students. The well-known artists should keep an eye on this newcomer. His saints reflect current problems based on the iconic painting of the Byzantine era. For me, a very successful and sophisticated artistic criticism of the system. More holy representations and contacts after the jump.
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by Claudio | Art
