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The iconic Potsdamer Platz has such a rich history of transformation and reinvention – it’s almost a part of its identity. Berlin-based artist Jill Senft has now become another creative force in a long line of people who laid their hands on the famous quarter and gave it a fresh look. We recently joined a guided tour by the artist herself showcasing several of her sight-specific pieces that are spread all over the place – many of which are inside and around the newly opened The Playce that some of you might remember as the former Potsdamer Platz Arkaden – a place that has gone through its own mighty transformation in the last years.
The style of artist Jill Senft can be described as colorful, joyful, bold, and whimsical – a style that could not be more suitable for a busy place like that with so much going on and so many different people passing through. She was one of many artists that pitched their visions for the artist take-over and her idea was the one that struck a chord.
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by Frank | Art
The end of the year is coming. Not long now and the old familiar feelings are spreading: a bit of melancholy, a touch of longing, but above all the anticipation of the new year. It’s not called “New Year, new happiness” for nothing, is it?
And even if you already had a lot of joy in 2022, I’m sure we all share the desire to have even more of it in 2023. Be it through traveling, festivities, reunions, work or time for ourselves. We just shouldn’t lose track of all our plans. And what better way to keep organized than with the enchanting calendars of Berlin’s artists? We have looked around and compiled the most beautiful among the beauties for you.
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by Paula | Art, Products
As some of you already know we are right in the middle of our new group exhibition Fantastic Playground Berlin that you can still visit until Saturday at the Marcell von Berlin Flagship Store on Friedrichstraße 172. We have been planning this show for a long time now and we still can’t believe that it finally materialized, and it looks so much more amazing than we ever could have wished for.
This exhibition is really special to us because for the first time we had a theme that allowed us to create something like a retrospective of our work for iHeartBerlin for the past 15 years. Berlin is a playground of ideas – this has always been an important theme for us as we featured all these wonderful and inspiring projects from different creative scenes that make up Berlin. It’s so diverse and fun and colorful. To us, it’s the essence of Berlin and why this city is so special. It feels like everyone can find their space on this wild playground.
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by Frank | Art, Events, Party, Photos
illustration: Laura Breiling.
Today, we are proud to announce our next big group exhibition “Fantastic Playground Berlin” which will celebrate the unique diversity of Berlin’s creative scene. It’s been a couple of years now since our last big exhibition Uncensored Berlin so we thought it was about time to do a new one. The last two years during the pandemic with its various lockdowns and restrictions have not been easy for the art and culture scene – nor have they been easy for us. This new show is our effort to reclaim spaces and draw the attention back to the creative people that we care about so much.
For decades Berlin has been the secret creative hub of Europe. From music to art. From theater to architecture. From techno to science. Berlin became the place where cultures clash – but in a good way.
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by Frank | Art
As the gift-giving season approaches, we’re all on the lookout for fun and sustainably produced presents for friends and family. Wonderpieces, the new collection of feminist and socially conscious puzzles by the publishing house Familiar Faces might be exactly what you’re looking for!
The idea for this innovative puzzle collection came from Marie and Yvonn, the founders of Familiar Faces. These two Berlin moms have been known for creating products that bring the whole family together, starting with customizable childrens’ books. Now, Familiar Faces are addressing a wider audience with puzzle designs that celebrate feminism and inclusivity.
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by Michalina | Design, Products
Even though clubs have been closed for over a year now, surprisingly, we haven’t really run short on news about Berlin’s famous nightlife places. From photography projects on clubber outfits, empty dancefloors, or outdoor raving, to virtual clubs and nightlife activism – there is always something to write about. And we are glad to keep the spirit alive this way, even though we’re all really craving for a party right now.
Artist and illustrator Nicola Napoli has also dedicated some of his time during the lockdown to work on a new nightlife-related piece. He’s blessed us already with various party-themed artworks in the past, but his most notable work might be the iconic line at Berghain that he first came out with back in 2014. It was one of our most successful articles of the time and it prompted a collaborative event and exhibition that we hosted together with him showcasing a new elaborate 10-meter long artwork.
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by Frank | Art, Party
Weird, strange, freaky, magical, playful – I think many of us living in Berlin can agree that such words perfectly describe some of the unique personalities that inhabit this city. This sentiment is also captured in 26-year-old artist Olga Ivanova’s rendition of the map of Berlin.
Ivanova’s alternative map is populated with mysterious little creatures enjoying themselves throughout the city. Looking at the map, I’m sure many of us will recognize our own Berlin adventures whether it’s queuing up for Berghain, enjoying a coffee with a friend, hanging out with some fellow weirdos you just met at Hermannplatz or skating along Tempelhofer Feld.
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by Aisha | Design, Products
illustration: Virginie Kypriotis.
Berlin’s nightlife has served as inspiration for many art forms. Multiple illustrators have managed to convey the atmosphere of the wild parties that go on for days, among them Virginie Kypriotis with her fantastic visions of Berghain. The new project ENTER THE CLUB has made her work even more enthralling by turning it into a virtual reality experience.
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by Michalina | Art, Party
Berlin’s nightlife and club culture have been a driving force for many young people coming to Berlin hungry for new experiences. There is so much history and intrigue about it, it’s like it has developed its own myths and stories, some of which we captured in the chapter “Party Like A Berliner” in our new book Like A Berliner that we published in collaboration with illustrator Sophia Halamoda. One of the comics from this chapter is dedicated to the different stages that you live through while waiting in the club queue. Of course, if you wait in front of a club for several hours you have way too much time to think, so some very interesting emotional states will kick in ranging from anticipation, joy, doubt, struggle, panic and of course dread when you realize you might get bounced and waited for nothing. We deciphered these stages for you and want to show you 10 of them.
The Club Queue comic is also available as a poster (70x50cm) at Hallesches Haus and Urban Spree, as well as in our webshop.
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by Frank | Party
illustrations: Sophia Halamoda.
The history of the German division and the Berlin Wall is – to put it mildly – a rather complicated one. Especially since even today, 30 years later, it still feels the country has not completely recovered from it. I was only 7 when the wall came down so I feel my memory of life in the East is pretty much seen through the eyes of a child. I don’t remember life for my family being bad in any way, we were quite happy actually. There were a lot of things we didn’t have – but also we didn’t know about them, so we didn’t miss them.
But once the two German countries re-united, it did feel like something exciting and good was happening – at first. It took us all a while to understand what was really going on. On the surface, we were re-uniting but underneath it was more of a take-over. I don’t mean it in a hostile way, and I’m not blaming either side for what had happened. It is, as I said before, more complicated than that. But in the few decades, those two parts of Germany developed so differently under such different circumstances, that throwing them together again like that was just going to cause some collateral damage. If you only look at the election results or statistics such as unemployment rates you will see a country that is maybe not as united as it should be.
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by Frank | Stories
