You know we love a good party, and you can imagine being locked up for the last 1,5 years has been a challenge. It has been itching under our fingernails now for a while, so when our former iHeartBerlin party writer Suz asked us if we wanted to do a Halloween party with her at Backyard it was pretty much a given we would jump at the opportunity.
Backyard has a place in our hearts because we celebrated so many parties here, most famously the iconic Last Days parties. Those of you who have been around here for a while might even remember the various party photo sets we published in those days. It was certainly something that shaped iHeartBerlin and its place in the Berlin blog and magazine world.
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by Frank | Party, Photos
illustration: Berk Karaoglu.
With this cursed year coming to a close, Berlin descends into one of the most magical times of the year: the holidays. Normally complete with Glühwein, freezing cold, and Christmas markets, this winter is going to feel far from normal (except the freezing cold). Although the holidays may be a bit different this year, it’s still the season to give back to the people you love and the city we all love. We’ve compiled this gifting guide featuring small businesses from Berlin if you’re looking for an alternative to Amazon. All the businesses listed in the following guides are small, ethical, locally owned, and sure to make your loved ones (and their owners) smile.
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by Adri | Christmas Present
Berlin is known as the LGBTQIA+ capital of the world, with its reputation dating 100 years back. The city welcomes all types of people, making it the perfect place for otherwise marginalized groups to feel not only at home but also celebrated and – why not? – normal. Its nightlife is famous for being open to all sorts of experimentation.
In the 24h+ parties, people from all walks of life express themselves freely and expansively. Everybody can exist, take up space, and move however they feel comfortable.
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by Guest Author | Art, People
photos: Guen Douglas.
Berliners are known to have a certain affinity for tattoos. Luckily for us, the city attracts some of the world’s most amazing tattoo artists whose designs truly transcend the visuals. One particular artist whose works are especially brilliant – bold, beautifully executed, and abounding in cultural references, is definitely Guen Douglas from the Taiko Gallery studio. We had a little chat with Guen to find out more about her background, style, and some inspirations behind her designs. Read on!
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by Michalina | Art, Design
Berlin is a melting pot and center for all kinds of creatives: One of the things the city is definitely not lacking are amazing tattoo artists. Right at the top of the vibrant scene is Myra Brodsky, the grande dame of Berlin, who is about to publish her first book with tattoos and illustrations of the past five years. Myra, who is based in Berlin and grew up in Germany has always been scatching but got into tattooing by accident, while studying visual communication.
After a friend got her the first machine in 2008, she started by tattooing herself and developed her own style in the following four years: Old school customs with a new school edge, combining details found in 1920s Art Nouveau paintings with Baroque and Renaissance art, the Victorian era and Rococo with a modern taste. Over the past seven years, Myra has inked hundreds of amazing tattoos – from handheld masterpieces including unique unicorns, mermaids, wartime nurses and card-trick magicians to full-on body works, including butterfly back pieces. More of her work and all the details of the book release after the jump… Read on…
by Kate | Art, Books
Barber shops, food vendors, tattoo parlors, furniture makers, micro brewers, barista – these are all big trends right now, not only here in Berlin but in other major cities all over the world. And contrary to the other common favorite dream jobs such as designers, architects and artists none of these require a university degree. Common trades and craftsmanships are having a big comeback and rightly so!
The Pilsner Urquell Werkstatt at Fluxbau is exactly about these kinds of trades that had a dusty old image for the longest time but are now becoming totally hip again. From June 5-13, 2015 they are showcasing a colorful mix of crafts and trades in their Werkstatt. You will be able to look over the shoulder of barbers, carpenters, cheese and sausage makers, smiths, leather makers, glass engravers and many more. Of course in the end of the day there is always gonna be some beer as well as a music program that includes the Berliner Kneipenchor, Frankie Chavez, Phia, TÜSN and many more.
But here comes the best part: Some of their trades and crafts you can even learn how to do yourself in workshops that you can participate in. Learn how to make tattoos, how to brew, how to bake the perfect bread, how to make woodblock prints, how to upcycle bottles and how to roast coffee. Sounds fun? Click on to find out how to win tickets for the workshops and the detailed program of the Pilsner Urquell Werkstatt!
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by Frank | Events
photo: Georg Schober
A tattoo is an irreversible act bound to a body and a life, and who better to remind us of this than Berlin-based tattoo artist Valentin Hirsch? It’s not easy to establish yourself as a tattoo artist these days, especially with the new wave of styles, technique and talent the past few years have brought us. Hirsch found his niche in the form of haunting animal motifs, geometry and avant-garde collages, all brought to life with beautifully refined dot work and clean lines. 2010 marked the transition from illustrations on paper to skin, and this change in medium acted as the distinctive turning point in the artistic development of Hirsch’s work, which resulted in tattoos drawn with disturbing symmetry and abstraction. His first monographic book SYMMETRIES highlights the transition from drawing to tattooing as an inevitable next step in his evolution as an artist, which is defined by consistency and reinvention in equal measure, with an essay by Gunter Damisch and an interview with the artist by Uta Grosenick. Click on to see more of his designs and find out how you can get a copy. On Saturday, June 27, 2015 Valentin is celebrating the release of the book together with iGnant.
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by Skylar | Art, Books
Perception of reality is a funny thing. One day the whole internet is upside down for an optical divergence causing people to see a dress in different colors depending on their eyes and just a day later nearly all German news are scandalising the video showing the lead singer of the East German band Pentatones getting a full circle tattooed on her face at a Berlin tattoo parlor.
The opinions in social media on the video are extremely different. Some praise the braveness of the singer, others are shocked, perplexed and so disgusted that they have to harangue insults. Experts of tattooing and of the music business claim that the video is a hoax just to promote the new tour and the recently released album. Watch the shocking video and read my opinion about it after the jump.
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by Claudio | Music
I got sucked into the tattoo world via stick n poke (read: prison tat) of a very unintentionally abstract and barely identifiable jellyfish. Who would have guessed that this regrettable arrangement of dots poked into my arm (with an unsanitary sewing needle and pen-ink) by a strange boy in our inebriated stupor would have lead me into the world of what is now one of my favourite forms of art: tattoos. We all have different approaches to tattoos—some of us sit on an idea or design for months, even years before getting it permanently engraved into our bodies, and some of us (myself included) have been known to get inked on impulse. Acquiring a collection of tattoos on your body has become a prominent form of self-expression, especially in the art and fashion world, and it came as no surprise that we found many tattoo artists taking root in Berlin, rendering a whole spectrum of life to their art and etching stories into blank canvases of skin. Click on to check out 10 Berlin-based tattoo artists and studios that really grabbed our attention.
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by Skylar | Art, Shops
Did you ever notice that some of the freckles, marks and moles on your body resemble star constellations? Well, I for once did. This must also have been the inspiration for the Constellation Search, an art performance at White Rabbit Gallery tonight at 20h. If you go there your body will be explored for star signs and then tattoo artist Oliver of the Sky will mark them with little dotted lines. That’s so sweet! More infos and a suprise video after the jump.
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by Frank | Art, Events
