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
With the new social distancing measures during the extended second lockdown, the idea of meeting a stranger is pretty much a contradiction. But how come the craving for social interactions is so big right now? Is it the season, is it the allure of something forbidden, or a simple case of “you don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone”?
Visual artist Tanya Sharapova has decided to explore this idea as a reaction to the second lockdown which has proven to be such an odd and testing time. The first lockdown already prompted a string of artists to come out with wonderful photo series such as the window photos from Lovis Ostenrik, the daytime/nighttime outfits by Kseniya Apresyan, the nude social distancing portrait by Aja Jacques, and the Together A Part series by AnaHell and Nathalie Dreier. But the second lockdown has been quieter in terms of creative output – even for ourselves. So we are glad to be able to share Tanya’s series “Strangers” here with you.
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by Frank | Art, Photos
photos: Aja Jacques.
While the pandemic and the lockdown have been pretty devastating for artists and creative professionals economically, they certainly have not been lacking in being an inspiration. In the last weeks, we received quite wonderful submissions from photographers and artists all dealing with the different aspects of the pandemic and how they influence our life, among them the Stay At Home series, the corona comics, and a curious techno song. The latest project we want to introduce you to today is dealing specifically with one of the measures to contain the spread of the virus: social distancing.
Aja Jacques is one of the artists from our Uncensored Berlin exhibition that we hosted back in 2018 and that dealt with censorship of artists through social media platforms. Aja was not only one of our muses acting as a model for several of our photographers, but she also exhibited her own photos. Her new project “At A Distance” is a series of analog nude self-portraits she took with several fellow Berliners in prominent public places – at a safe distance of two meters. We talked with her about the series and about how the quarantine has been for her so far.
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by Frank | Art, Pandemic, People, Photos
photos: Lilika Strezoska.
History has proven to us time and time again that necessity truly is the mother of invention. In 2020 this saying strikes again, as these spectacularly unusual times have driven people to find solutions for the limitations that the wake of the pandemic has brought upon our daily lives. As the routines of our private and work life have been rethought, we want to shed light on ways especially creative people have found, to still exercise their craft. The no contact rule has sparked ideas, that allow our creative Berliners to pursue their passions even in times of crisis.
One fantastic example is Lilika Strezoska. The talented photographer has moved to Berlin one and a half years ago to study Communication Design at the University of Applied Sciences – way before the pandemic changed our lives. Given that we are all to stay home and facetime, rather than meet in person, she came up with a simple solution to still take pictures of what she loves most in photography: people.
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by Franziska | Art, People
photos: Lovis Ostenrik.
These last couple of weeks it became almost a mantra: Stay at home! Angela Merkel said it, viral expert Drosten said it, your mom said it, we said it. It’s in everyone’s ears, and in everyone’s mouths.
But what does “staying at home” mean for everybody? It’s certainly not the same for everyone. If you’re living alone in a dark studio apartment in the backyard it can certainly start to feel claustrophobic at some point. But if you’re lucky to live in a big bright Altbau with balcony (or even better: a garden) together with loved ones, it can also be pretty ok in the end. No matter if it’s a big sacrifice or just a small one, the importance as one of the most significant measures to battle this pandemic cannot be denied.
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by Frank | Pandemic, People, Photos, Stories
photos: Andrea Lavezzaro.
One thing we can easily agree on: Brexit fucking sucks. The idea to separate from a union like the EU in times of global uncertainty is just… well: a bad one! Especially considering the way it went. Of all the things that have gone wrong in the EU, this is certainly the most tragic one to date.
We are still not sure if anything is going to happen. With all the delays it feels like a bit of an irony that Brits can vote for European Parlament this week, not even sure if they will be part of it much longer. But what is also uncertain, and this is the biggest sting for us as such a multicultural platform, is the future of all these non-British people living in Britain and all the British ones living in other EU countries. When Brexit goes through, it seems like the days of free movement within Europe are over when it comes to Britain. It feels like a massive set-back.
Andrea Lavezzaro is a Brasilian photographer specialized in street and documentary photography who lives and works in Berlin, but often also in London. For her Brexit means traveling and working in London will become more complicated. This circumstance prompted the idea to talk with other people who will be affected by Britain leaving the European Union. For her new portrait series “Brexit in Berlin” she talked to Brits living in Berlin who voted to remain in the EU about how the change will affect their lives. To bring the whole political debacle into a more personal perspective we want to share their stories with you here.
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by Frank | People, Stories
This Instagram account has only been around for two months and already managed to become an insider amongst the techno crowd in Berlin – meet @nachtclubsberlin! This account is dedicated to showcasing spontaneous pictures of all kinds of party people before and after clubbing in the biggest techno clubs of Berlin. Behind the camera, we met photographer Sabrina Jeblaoui. The former Parisian fell in love with Berlin upon visiting the city several times in the past until she decided to move here on a whim in the Summer of 2017.
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by Franziska | Party, People
photos: Ema Discordant & Michal Andrysiak for Buttons
Berlin nightlife draws adventurous minds to our city like moths to the flame, craving to understand the myth of a Berlin night. Week after week, countless Berliners go down, down the rabbit hole to sweat, to move, to dance. Buttons at ://about blank is one of Berlin’s most infamous party nights. They have not only created a place where people of all sexualities and backgrounds can come together on the dance floor but established a diverse community of like-minded people. Their monthly photo reports are a unique visual collection of those who have a strong, personal connection to Berlin nightlife. Every dance floor has a unique story to tell, whether good or bad, a story of liberation, or escapism. We wanted to get to know these stories and asked around. Let’s go on a journey through the mind of a Berlin night.
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by Andy | Party, People
photos: Leon Kopplow
It will not come across as any revelation that the U8 is my favorite U-Bahn line. And I’m not alone in this claim: your response to the profile of U8 we featured in our article What Does Your Ubahn Line Say About You? proves that you too have a high appreciation for this crazy train that can take you all across Wedding, Mitte and Kreuzkölln. And this sentiment is strongly dependent on all the passengers of the U8 – each of them has a unique story, often reflected in their bold outfits. Just who are they exactly?
The photo series by Leon Kopplow, previously covered on Notes of Berlin, is a simple yet quite wonderful homage to the great many colorful people that take the U8 every day. For whatever reason – whether to get to work, uni, party, or a tinder date. As you’re scrolling through the pics, you might be wondering about their various purposes, but one thing remains clear – they all constitute a beautiful in its diversity image of Berlin.
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by Michalina | People
photos: Dario-Jacopo Laganà.
Despite Berlin’s ever changing face throughout history, the city has always been a destination for people searching for a place where they can truly be themselves and find their own identity. In times when the way we create and perceive our own image is so affected by everyone’s perfectly polished presence on digital platforms, anyone situating him or herself outside the norm might experience this search even more as a burden. This is why open, liberal places like Berlin help us all the more to find out who we really are and how we want the world to see us.
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by Andy | Art, People, Stories
