‘Art & Culture’ Archives
Berlin’s Most Interesting Person
Paul Sullivan talks to Stuart Acker Holt about his Most Interesting Person project in Berlin... What makes a person interesting? It's a very good question, and one that a new 'long-trail' film series called Most Interesting Person (MIP) sets out to answer. A series of innovative films that provide insights into the lives of exceptional people and the impact they have had on our cultural landscape, the project has taken its founder Stuart Acker Holt to New York, LA, London, Sao Paulo, Tel [...]
Was ist ein Literaturhaus?
Susan Bernofsky explores Berlin's literature houses... "House of Literature" has a vaguely Eastern Bloc ring to it, but in fact "literature houses" are an important part of the cultural landscape throughout Germany and particularly Berlin, which wound up with three of them after unification and now has four. So what is a Literaturhaus? Generally it's a staffed building devoted to literature, offering a regular reading series (or a number of them) that is open to the public, and it usually [...]
Kino Babylon
William Thirteen pays tribute to one of Berlin's oldest and best-loved cinemas... When the Kino Babylon opened its doors in Spring of 1929 Berliners couldn't complain of a shortage of cinemas. If anything, there was a surplus. The Reichs-Kino-Addressbuch of that year gave the official count as 378, and there were already film palaces at Alexanderplatz and Rosenthaler Tor, as well as innumerable "flea cinemas" in nearby Münzstrasse. But by a fortuitous coincidence of urban planning and [...]
Peter Broderick: Musical Minimalist
Peter Broderick has swiftly made a reputation for himself as one of the most adventurous musicians around. Born in Portland, Oregon, he now lives in Berlin, though only when he’s not touring or collaborating with artists like Efterklang. He’s just released two albums: How They Are is a ‘stop-gap’ release, according to the label behind it, Bella Union, and its stark but beautiful arrangements have won him further plaudits, not only thanks to the inclusion of a song written from the [...]
When Grandparents Fall in Love
Susan Bernofsky spends some time on Cloud 9... The East Berlin setting of German director Andreas Dresen’s 2008 film Cloud 9 doesn't particularly jump out at you. What we mostly see of it is the view from the window of the apartment that the film’s protagonist, 60-something-year-old Inge, shares with her partner of 30 years, showing the S-bahn tracks that come to stand for the ever-sameness of a marriage that has been stuck on the same track for years. Inge’s partner Werner [...]
Teller – A Plateful Of Stories
A Q&A with Katherine Hunt and Ruby Russell founders of brand new Berlin 'story-telling' magazine, Teller... When did you decide to start Teller Magazine? The idea was brewing in the back of Ruby’s mind for years – having worked in the photo industry she thought it a shame that all the good photography magazines were so expensive and aimed exclusively people with an interest in photography. The great thing about photography is that it’s an art form that anyone can appreciate, [...]
The Virtues Of Writing Slowly
In an age of unreflecting haste, there are many good reasons for authors to take their own sweet time, says Andrew Gallix... I recently expressed concern at the accelerating pace of publishing and called (half-jokingly) for the creation of a Slow Writing Movement (SWM), modelled on the Slow Food phenomenon. Word processing probably enables people to write faster than ever, and the internet provides the sometimes dubious means of instant publication. As a result, what often passes for [...]
Justin Bieber’s “Slowth Spurt”
Berlin-based music writer Philip Sherburne explores Slow Music via Justin Bieber's U Smile... August is always a slow news cycle, so it's somehow fitting that this month's big viral sensation was about a really slow song. The song in question is Justin Bieber's "U Smile," but you've never heard it like this before. Using a free audio application called PaulStretch, a musician named Nick Pittsinger has slowed the tune 800%, stretching the 3:16 tween-pop ditty to over half an hour long. (You [...]
The Badeschiff
Looking to beat the summer heat? Try Berlin's Badeschiff - a swimming pool in the Spree... Badeschiff - literally "bathing ship" - opened in 2004 as an art project organized by Berlin's Stadtkunstprojekte (City Art ProjectSociety), the AMP Architectos (Teneriffa), architect Gil Wilk and local artist Susanne Lorenz.The initial aim was to enliven city life along what was then a long-neglected stretch of the Spree, between the former Osthafen (East harbour) and Flutgraben, a small [...]
Kunst Werke Institute For Contemporary Arts
A jewel in Mitte's art scene crown... Berlin’s Auguststrasse isn’t short on galleries. This well known Mitte street is a main artery for contemporary art in the city, long ago earning the sobriquet “East Berlin's art mile” for its impressive wealth of independent galleries that line both sides of the street and show everything from sculpture and fine art to photography. Of all the street’s venues, the Kunst Werke Institute For Contemporary Arts at number 69 is perhaps the most [...]
