André Kirschner, Garilla, 2014

Berlin | 2014

A collaboration with Art van Demon // Berlin on an exhibition and series of events exploring the changing identity of the city of Berlin as a capital of “coolness”.

Vernissage on Wednesday, 13. August 6pm  Finissage, Sunday 17. August, 6pm
Venue: Gustav-Adolf-Str. 2, 13086 Berlin

This exhibition addressed the debates taken up by various recent press commentaries, blogs and critics worldwide. After years of being regarded as the “in” place to be, Berlin has now been declared “out”, meaning it is no longer considered to be cool.Rolling Stone featured an article on Berghain to this effect, to which the blog Gawker asks if “Berlin is over”, then “what’s next”? It is strange how these verdicts from abroad, passed by various media sources, have arrived at the same time…and arguably quite late. It is also interesting how Berliners, including the city’s numerous artists and cultural managers, react to this “news”. They seem to be both relieved, if not amused, as demonstrated by Deutsche Welle author Lavinia Pitu, and critical, as illustrated by finding berlin. In any case, they highlight that, for a long time, there has been a feeling that Berlin’s reputation for being cool has come from the outside, without asking the people who actually live in the city what they have to say about it. What is also worth noting is the corresponding cultural shift where city quarters that lie outside of the centre (which is still subject to the majority of external focus) are the subject of growing internal recognition within Berlin’s cultural community. 

ARTISTS
Marisa Akeny I Jakob Michael Birn I Alex Bodea I Julia Bulik I SA Custance I Clara Escalera I André Kirchner I Jorgos Loukakos I Franziska Judith Paul I Jenerator Paulsen

The exhibition was accompanied by workshops, discussion panels and lectures in collaboration with institutions based in Berlin’s periphery areas. You can find more information on the exhibition and programme of events here.