Truth be told, we might not have the picture-perfect summer these days, but this city has its ways of making it hot even when it's not. An art book fair and a music festival will light up the weekends, while the days in-between are swarming with gallery action. See what's where, when, and why. 

THURSDAY 13.07

17.00 Revolte – Group Show @ Galerie EIGEN + ART

WHY: Six artists were brought together for EIGEN & ART’s summer group show, „Revolte“, to explore the ambivalent and ambiguous relationship between aesthetics and social reality, power and democracy. Through their works, the artists Birgit Brenner, Stef Heidhues, Christine Hill, Lada Nakonechna, Ricarda Roggan, and Jörg Herold navigate the problem of sustaining a critical moment of aesthetic experience without legitimising mass culture, mass production – or its supposed opposite – art for its own sake.

Galerie EIGEN+ ART / Auguststr. 26, 10117 Berlin, U Rosenthaler Platz / open through 30.08 / more info

FRIDAY 14.07

17.00 Miss Read – The Berlin Art Book Fair @ Haus der Kulturen der Welt

WHY: „Miss Read: The Berlin Art Book Fair“ brings together an exciting selection of 240 artists/authors, artist periodicals, and art publishers, accompanied by a series of lectures, discussions, book launches, and workshops exploring the boundaries of contemporary publishing and the possibilities of the book. In conjunction, the „Conceptual Poetics Day“ will explore the imaginary border between visual art and literature.

Haus der Kulturen der Welt / John-Foster-Dulles Allee 10, 10557 Berlin, S+U Brandenburger Tor, Bus 100 / July 14-16 / more info

19.00 Language Matters @ SomoS

WHY: SomoS presents the work of the two current artists in residence, Alexandre Baptista and Syed Shoaib Mahmood, in the first installment of the gallery's new exhibition series “Language Matters”. Mahmood and Baptista share an interest in translation, wordplay, the tension between text and image, lthe role of language in the construction of identity and the way context changes the meaning of language and imagery.

SomoS / Kottbuser Damm 96, 10967 Berlin, U Schönleinstr. / open through 21.07 / more info

THURSDAY 20.07

18.00 Social Geometrism: Thresholds @ Meinblau Projektraum

WHY: As an extension of „Social Geometrism“ presented during the Gallery Weekend 2017 at Reinbeckhallen, Meinblau Projektraum introduces „Thresholds“, an exhibition hosting the work of Juan Varela and Gonzalo Reyes Araos. „Thresholds“ displays a set of geometrical forms based on social phenomena. The two artists investigate topics related to the body – presence, distance, physical experience – and its encounter facing concrete or virtual spaces.

Meinblau Projektraum / Christinenstrasse 18-19, 10119 Berlin, U Senefelderplatz / open through 23.07 / more info

19.00 Klassensprachen @ District Berlin

WHY: The first group exhibition of this new project at District opens in conjunction with the launch of the magazine „Klassensprachen“, whose first issue will establish alliances in and beyond Berlin. The opening weekend will feature a program of artistic and theoretical contributions – in the form of lectures, discussions, and presentations – which will chart the contested terrain of class languages and put up for debate its potentialities and problems. The exhibition will close with a discussion and concert on September 16.

District Berlin / Bessemerstr. 2-14, 12103 Berlin, S Südkreuz / open through 16.09 / more info

19.00 Park @ Galerie im Turm

WHY: Park is controlled fantasy, a guided gaze and isolated play. Hyperreality and simulacrum, to be experienced three-dimensionally. In times of radical convergence of work and play, the exhibition at Galerie im Turm looks at parks – spaces designed for leisure –  in spatial strategies of sound, scent, and sculpture, as well as photography and film. With works by Lola Göller, Kathrin Günter, Lilli Kuschel, Sara-Lena Maierhofer, Klara Ravat, Randi Renate, and Kay Walkowiak.

Galerie im Turm / Frankfurter Tor 1, 10243 Berlin, U Weberwiese / open through 03.09 / more info

FRIDAY 21.07

18.00 Wassermusik X: Arto Lindsay & Band, Romperayo, Eli Pavel @ Haus der Kulturen der Welt

WHY: Wassermusik brings back a number of the artists who have provided special, spine-tingling moments in the past ten years, as well as some new exciting acts. Wassermusik X is not restricted to music: once again there will be a film program, a word program (this time curated by Flussbad Berlin and dedicated to the theme of rivers), the Wassermarkt market, and even a fashion show. The opening night features  Arto Lindsay & Band, Romperayo, and Eli Pavel.

Haus der Kulturen der Welt / John-Foster-Dulles Allee 10, 10557 Berlin, S+U Brandenburger Tor, Bus 100 / ongoing until 13.08 / more info

19.00 Speisekino Moabit #12 @ ZK/U Zentrum für Kunst und Urbanistik

WHY: How are resources coming to our cities and how are they leaving them? A series of documentary films will explore how different resources such as water, energy, waste, and minerals are mobilized from different parts of the world and transformed into commodities to sustain contemporary urban life. The screenings are accompanied with a lush vegetarian menu. Registrations for dinner at speisekino(at)zku-berlin.org.

ZK/U Zentrum für Kunst und Urbanistik / Siemensstrasse 27, 10551 Berlin, U Birkenstr –  S+U Westhafen / more info