With our previous guides about the cultural contributions of Brazilian, Syrian, and Vietnamese creative people living in Berlin (and many others) we have already shed some light on the benefits of living in a city that embraces its international community. With this new feature, we are drawing a wider circle by highlighting some extraordinary talents from Europe’s black diaspora that will come together these days for the poesiefestival Berlin.
In a time like now, it becomes abundantly clear that we urgently need to listen more to Black voices. And what better voices to listen to, than those of poets and thinkers. The online edition of the 21st poesiefestival in Berlin that will be celebrating its opening night today has a beautifully diverse program with talents from all around the world. But one event has especially caught our attention.
Congolese poet Fiston Mwanza Mujila has been mapping the poetry of poets of African origin in Europe for some time now, as he found that black poets are not represented enough in the European poetry circuit. He found a lot of powerful texts that need to be heard, experiences from Africa and Europe that need to be shared. For the event “Unheard Poetry: Europe’s Black Diaspora” he is bringing some of the Black poets he found together, and I think it’s really important we listen to them.
In this feature, we want to introduce you to the talented Black poets that will present their work in this special event, as well as a few other events from the program of the festival. With each poet, we included a link to the event they participate in where you can watch the live stream, or a recording later on. Now it’s up to you, to listen.
Read on…
by Michalina | People
While everyone and their mom are currently on voluntary house arrest (you better be!) we’re already running out of ideas what to do at home. It’s not that there isn’t an endless list of possible chores we could finally get to now that we really have no more excuses left anymore. But honestly, we’re close to losing our mind, so clearly now is not the time for chores…
It’s just been a week or two depending on when you started, but somehow now, time decided to pass really slowly right now, so we’re filled with nostalgia of better days and a real sense of withdrawal from all our usual activities and adventures in Berlin’s bars, stages and clubs.
While the club scene has successfully transitioned into the digital space with their United We Stream, we’re missing all the fun cultural entertainment from our favorite queer darlings from the world of comedy, drag, performance, and voguing. But luckily, those bitches ain’t sleeping, within a week many of them have come up with streaming alternatives to their regular shows and we are HERE FOR IT! This way we won’t miss the cute Darvish, the hilarious Daniel-Ryan, the fantastic Venus Boys and many more…
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by Frank | Events
Jorinde Voigt, KÖNIG GALERIE, photo: Roman März
Because of the general lockdown caused by the coronavirus, the entire world has recently become increasingly dependent on the wonders of the Internet. But even Netflix can get boring after some time. Luckily, many Berlin artists and institutions make their collections and performances available online – so you can finally go to that museum or gallery you’ve always been intrigued by but never visited!
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by Michalina | Art, Theater
photo: Artem Gavrysh.
With the current quarantine in place, Berlin culture makers have to get creative for the coming weeks. It didn’t take long before those who are used to live events decided to explore the potential of live streaming. The Hebbel theater, various clubs led by the Clubcommission Berlin, musicians who had to cancel their concerts, as well as local performance artists were the first ones to re-organize themselves and offer live stream versions of their planned programming. I think it’s certainly a great alternative to stay connected with the cultural scene of Berlin instead of just mindlessly binge-watching things on Netflix.
We will use our event calendar in the coming weeks to present to you some of the most interesting live streams coming from Berlin, including DJ sets, performances, concerts, workshops, comedy shows and so much more. We hope this will keep you entertained at night.
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by Frank | Events
