In the next two weeks, besides exhibition openings & closings, we will have another festival to liven up the city. This time the program is focused on the rich variety of performing arts in Berlin. And after the Performing Arts Festival ends, Berlin Biennale and Manifesta in Zürich will follow shortly. No FOMO; we are just as excited and will keep you updated with our tips.

THURSDAY 19.05

19.00 PUBLIC SPEAKING - Artist Development, Lecture-Performance by Richard Pettifer @ District

WHY: An Eastern European philosopher, communist, and fervent Marxist intellectual makes an argument about art activism and political art. He examines self-help methods for artists – ranging from theater of the oppressed (Augusto Boal), relational aesthetics (Nicolas Bourriaud), and participatory art (Claire Bishop) – within the context of a neoliberal reality constructed to validate our identity whilst manipulating us according to its own purposes. With some jokes from the former Yugoslavia.

District / Bessemerstr. 2-14, 12103 Berlin, U Alt-Tempelhof / more info

FRIDAY 20.05

19.00 unexpected others @ L'Atelier-ksr

WHY: "unexpected others" is the second iteration of a project series addressing the ongoing dissolution between the biologic and the synthetic. Following the group exhibition ‘BlueMajik’ (L’Atelier-ksr, Berlin, 2015), ‘unexpected others’ pushes the conversation further, reflecting upon relations existing between organic and non-living entities.

L'Atelier-ksr / Grossbeerenstr. 34, 10965 Berlin, U Mehringdamm / open through 16.07 /  free entry / more info

19.00 Jan Lemitz – “Europakorrektur” @ Loris

WHY: At the heart of Jan Lemitz' installation lies the history of the idea of the Eurotunnel between Calais (France), and Dover (Great Britain). With material from various sources, photographic traces link supposedly unrelated events. As an umbrella term, “Europakorrektur” refers to the concentration of fractures and contradictions on the surface of a seemingly coherent European identity and to the need to replace existing narratives with informal ones – whether political, narrative or visual.

Loris / Potsdamer Str. 65, 10785 Berlin, U Kurfürstenstr. / open through 11.06 / free entry / more info

SUNDAY 22.05

19.00 Glueheads @ Scotty Enterprises

WHY: “Glueheads” is an ongoing curatorial research / collage project bringing together artists, aiming to build an artistic platform and community around the specific field of collage. The concept is: one day – one exhibition – one zine. For each exhibition different artists are handpicked by the curator of the project, Anelor Robin. This Sunday brings us the launch of the third Glueheads book, and Glueheads exhibition #4.

Scotty Enterprises / Oranienstr. 46, 10969 Berlin, U Moritzplatz / free entry / more info

MONDAY 23.05

19.00 Performing Arts Festival Berlin @ Various locations

WHY: The Berlin Performing Arts Festival presents the work and artistic positions of the independent performing arts community in a shared festival with over 120 theater, music theater, performance and dance productions at more than 50 performance venues and event locations in Berlin. The Newcomer’s Platform for new and newly arrived talent in Berlin will kick off the festival from May 23 – May 25 at Ballhaus Ost, HAU Hebbel am Ufer, Sophiensælen and Theaterdiscounter.

Performing Arts festival Berlin / Various locations / ongoing until 29.05 / more info

WEDNESDAY 25.05

19.00 Reijiro Wada – HaL Hofskulptur #1 @ Haus am Lützowplatz

WHY: The Japanese sculptor Reijiro Wada opens a new exhibition format in Haus am Lützowplatz with the sculpture titled "Portal Landscape. On a yearly basis, the paved square in the courtyard will serve as a platform for a sculpture that will be on display during the summer months, regardless of other projects hosted at the time in the gallery space.

Haus am Lützowplatz / Lützowplatz 9, 10785 Berlin, U Nollendorfplatz / free entry / more info

19.00 Heidi Mumenthaler - “New Paintings” @ Meinblau Projektraum

WHY: Heidi Mumenthaler creates her paintings out of spontaneous gestures, her figures emerge in a kind of scenic self-talk in which the artist reflects observations and thoughts. Often inspired by theatre plays, she invents a unique world of creatures whose monologues start in the head of the viewer. Born 1963 in Basel, the artist is trained as screenprinter, and studies acting in Salzburg. After various contributions in theatre production, she turned her focus to painting.

MEINBLAU Projektraum / Christinenstrasse 18-19, 10119 Berlin, U2 Senefelder Platz / open through 05.06 / free entry / more info

THURSDAY 26.05

20.00 Concert with Willem Schulz & Valentin Masé @ Katharina Maria Raab

WHY: This Thursday a concert with Willem Schulz and Valentin Masé takes place at the gallery Katharina Maria Raab as a part of the ongoing exhibition – “Das Kleid” – an interdisciplinary, intercultural art project by Elisabeth Masé, which includes a series of paintings, a participatory performance, handicrafts, a film, and photographs. At the heart of the project is a prototypical, timeless, simple linen dress designed by Elisabeth Masé.

Katharina Maria Raab / Keithstr. 5, 10787 Berlin, U Wittenbergplatz / free entry / more info

SATURDAY 28.05

19.00 Leslie Thornton - “Reappear” @ ROCKELMANN&

WHY: ROCKELMANN& and Winkleman Gallery, New York, present “Reappear”, a solo exhibition by an innovative and highly influential filmmaker, Leslie Thornton. The artist's project deals with the relationship between chronology, technology, mediation, and with the "historical" as an artifact of the cinematic/digital image. The main work presented in this exhibition is a three-channel installation titled “Luna”. Also shown in this exhibition, “SNAP: Oil/Air/Water” made its world premiere at Thornton’s solo show at the Serpentine Gallery.

ROCKELMANN& / Schönleinstr. 5, 10967 Berlin, U Schönleinstr. / open through 16.06 / free entry / more info