If you decided to spend the prime vacation time in Berlin, the art capital will not disappoint you. While everyone is getting heat crazy and summer lazy, Berlin - eventful as always - keeps it non-stop cool. Art events of all kinds will keep you entertained, as well as various concerts and festivals (see our Music Tips). 

FRIDAY 17.07

19.00 Araq & Panties - do fard @ uqbar

WHY: Artist Anahita Razmi transforms uqbar into a temporary pop-up store for Iranian underwear brand "do fard" (english: "Two individuals"), which has been produced for more than fifty years. A small shop in the central bazaar of Tehran is selling pants and shirts in different shapes and colors. Based on its unique product range, the temporary "do fard" branch in Berlin is offering a limited contingent of imported underwear "Made in Iran". For the Project Space Festival, the shop will extend its opening hours with Iranian music, cocktails, and special sale offers on Iranian underpants.

uqbar / Schwedenstr. 16, 13357 Berlin, U Osloer Str. / open through 09.08 / free entry / more info

11.00 Rundgang - Days of Open Doors @ University of the Arts Berlin

WHY: Every year, the Berlin University of the Arts (UdK Berlin) opens its workshops, ateliers, studios, and rehearsal rooms to the public, providing an opportunity to meet young artists. Four colleges (Fine Art; Architecture, Media and Design; Music; Performing Arts), together with the Berlin Career College and the Inter-University Centre for Dance Berlin will show students' artworks and semester projects. Three days of intensive art experiences at various university buildings, plus the afterparty at Urban Spree on Saturday.

Various locations / ongoing until 19.07 / more info

SUNDAY 19.07

17.00 Tehran 94 - the First Persian Graffiti Exhibition in Berlin @ SomoS

WHY: The first exhibition of Iranian graffiti artists in Berlin will take place at SomoS Art House. Besides the presentation of works by seven artists, Iranian hip hop music and short films about graffiti culture in Iran will add to the unique experience. Participating artists are BamBam (Tehran), Cave2 (London), F-cker (Tehran), Hoshvar! (Tehran), Oham One (Berlin), PST (Toronto), and Rend One (New York).

SomoS / Kottbusser Damm 95, 10967 Berlin, U Schonleinstr. / open through 23.07 / free entry / more info

TUESDAY 21.07

19.00 ENTER the Real World @ Kleine Humboldt Galerie

WHY: "ENTER the real world" is a group exhibition conceived as an art festival, which highlights the subjective processes of curating and reception. The show opens with only a few works: a drawing by Mark Dion and the screening of a video by Ming Wong. Day by day additional works will be presented, and new constellations, references and readings from these spatial shifts will always arise. Special events will take place on five consecutive days. Something new will happen each day – you have to be there to experience it.

Kleine Humboldt Galerie / Unter den Linden 6, 10099 Berlin, U Französische Str. / ongoing until 31.07 / free entry / more info

THURSDAY 23.07

19.00 Randi Renate - "Ein Eigener Raum" @ ROCKELMANN&

WHY: Analogous to Virginia Woolf’s extended essay, "Ein Eigener Raum" is a room of one's own. Capturing the phenomena of what it means to 'feel at home', and further conflating the boundary between public and private space, Randi Renate employs architectonic installations and abstracted vignettes to transport the viewer into a familiar space of the home. Inspired by the artist's own biography, the work invites viewers to wander and to question their own construction of their place, memories, and comfort.

ROCKELMANN& / Schönleinstr. 5, 10967 Berlin, U Schönleinstr. / open through 20.09 / free entry / more info

FRIDAY 24.07

18.00 James Bridle - "The Glomar Response" @ NOME

WHY: The 'Glomar Response' was formulated in 1975 by the U.S. Government, and refers to the prerogative of power to "neither confirm nor deny" the existence of information. The exhibition tests the limit of that augmented vision, using law, research, and code to penetrate enclosed and classified spaces, while recognizing and attempting to visualize the boundaries of its own potential. With James Bridle's solo show "The Glomar Response", NOME presents a series of works which investigate and depict hidden networks, redacted texts, and legal architectures.

NOME / Dolziger Straße 31, 10247 Berlin, / open through 05.09 / free entry / more info

18.00 Art Spin Berlin @ Insel der Jugend (meeting point)

WHY: Art Spin Berlin is a community-based interactive bike and art tour of creative venues, art performances, and site-specific installations throughout various Berlin neighborhoods. For this year's edition, Art Spin Berlin will curate a selection of projects in Treptow, Planterwald and Oberschoneweide. The tour will include a DIY bike flag workshop, music and contemporary dance performances, a visit to G11 gallery in Oberschoneweide, music by Klara Geist sound factory and much more. It ends with an after party at Rummelsburg, where a few more artistic surprises are in store. Register online at: http://artspinberlin-2015.eventbrite.de

Insel der Jugend / Alt Treptow 6, 12435 Berlin / more info

SATURDAY 25.07

18.00 Lecture: Market Censorship and the Value of Art @ Decad

WHY: Alana Jelinek is a London-based artist and the author of "This is Not Art: Activism and Other 'Not-Art'". She is also a co-founder of the arts organisation Terra Incognita. At Decad she will discuss her current critical work on the social-economical significance of visual culture and its relation to her past research into art practice as a potential form of activism.

Decad / Gneisenaustr. 52, 10961 Berlin, U Südstern / free entry / more info