Illustration: Laura Breiling.
Today we are proud to announce our next major group exhibition “Fantastic Playground Berlin” which will celebrate the unique diversity of Berlin’s creative scene. It’s now been a few years since our last major exhibition Uncensored Berlin, so we thought it was time to do a new one. The past two years during the pandemic with its various lockdowns and restrictions have not been easy for the arts and culture scene – nor have they been easy for us. This new show is our effort to reclaim space and bring attention to the creative people we care about so much.
For decades, Berlin has been Europe’s secret creative hub. From music to art. From theater to architecture. From tech to science. Berlin has become the place where cultures collide – but in a good way.
Souls in a Box – Alessandra Mannisi
Especially the creative scenes that worked away from the mainstream and big institutions made Berlin the special place it is today. Free spirits from all over the world have come here to express themselves and discovered a city that, despite its troubled past, is a safe space for the marginalized and undesirable.
Our new exhibition Fantastic Playground Berlin features over 40 works by 20 visual artists (photography, illustration, design, sculpture, video art). An immersive part of the exhibit will come to life on opening night when 8 different performance artists including belly dancer the Darvish, pole dancer Robyn and drag queen Santana Sexmachine invite the public to experience the Fantastic Playground Berlin – a playground of possibilities and adventures to explore.
The Darvish – Andrej Russkovskij
Berlin – An insufficiently protected creative ecosystem
The selection of participating artists focuses on feminist and intersectional positions. In addition to topics such as homosexuality, nightlife, subculture and identity, the exhibition also addresses the question of why Berlin must protect and defend its existing artistic diversity in the future.
We’ve been writing about Berlin’s creative scene for 15 years and have always found that neighborhood artist and creative studios that don’t find themselves in the international spotlight of the art scene are always the first to be affected by urban displacement. But it is precisely these creatives that make Berlin so unique!
Dorit Bialer – Berliner in a Box
The Fantastic Playground Berlin offers a stage for these artists from the neighborhood, but also wants to document the current creative scene in Berlin. Whether through the intimate glimpses of Berlin’s creative salons, as in the photo series “Souls in a Box” by photographer Alessandra Mannisi. Or in the photo series “Meet the Berlin Kids” by Andrej Russkovskij, which portrays queer creatives who have moved to Berlin and are trying to find their way through the urban jungle. The so-called antagonists of the creative scene are also taken for a playful ride: In Dorit Bialer’s iconic “Berlin in a box” for example, the real estate shark or the employee of the immigration office are transformed into Playmobil figures.
For us, this exhibition is a retrospective of our own work for the blog over the past 15 years and a tribute to Berlin’s creative scene – without it, Berlin wouldn’t be the same. We’ve featured almost every participating artist on the blog at some point and this is the first time we’ve brought them together in a show in this way.
Javier Alejandro Cerrada
Participating artist
Kseniya Apresyan, Josefine Aspvik, Mischa Badasyan, Laura Breiling, Dorit Bialer, Javier Alejandro Cerrada, Annique Delphine, Luke Emden, Sophia Halamoda, Alessendra Mannisi, Rory Midhani, Nicola Napoli, Jessie Omamogho, Bruno Pinto da Cruz, Richard Quittenton, Benedikt Rugar , Andrej Russkovskij, Divers & Gould, Very ugly plates, Xuehka
Appointment
The opening event will take place on June 4 from 6 p.m. (entry is by guest list only, if you wish to join the guest list for the opening, you must register at our newsletter below)
The exhibition will be open to the public every day from June 7 to 10 from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Free entry.
Location address:
The exhibition venue is marcel of berlin Friedrichstraße store, specially redesigned for the event.
Marcell von Berlin – Store, Friedrichstraße 172, 10117 Berlin Mitte
Support & Funding
The realization of Fantastic Playground Berlin is supported by the Mitte district office, which wants to give a cultural boost to the city center and above all to make the traffic-calmed Friedrichstraße a unique place in Berlin’s creative landscape.
