The Next Day #147: Berlin Weekend Guide
Must-see events in Berlin: April 09-12, 2026
Another full week in Berlin, and I’ve written down more than I can actually get to.
Thursday is almost unfair: ELISION Ensemble at KM28 on the same night Vegyn and Francis Hornsby Clark perform the full Headache album live at silent green. Pick one, regret the other.
Friday splits two ways: Sama’ Abdulhadi at Gretchen, and Jens Harzer alone on stage reading Wilde’s De Profundis at the Berliner Ensemble. Saturday, Polar Inertia closes a fifteen-year cycle at MaHalla, and earlier in the day, Vincenzo Latronico is at Voo Store talking about Perfection, one of my favorite reads of last year. I’ll be there.
Sunday, I’m going to see Mohammad Reza Mortazavi at Between Bridges, Wolfgang Tillmans’ space in Kreuzberg.
In the galleries, the last chance to see Katalin Ladik at LEVY and Anna Bella Geiger at carlier | gebauer before they come down. Two living pioneers.
Lalai & Mateus
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🎹 LIVE
Headache
Thursday, 09.04, 8 pm. Silent Green, Gerichtstraße 35, Wedding. €35
Vegyn and poet Francis Hornsby Clark present their sophomore album “Thank you for almost everything,” spoken word folded into broken electronics. Rare format for a full album presentation.
Duda Beat — European Tour 2026
Saturday, 11.04, doors 7 pm. Maaya, Revaler Str. 99, Friedrichshain. €17.50–35
Brazilian author-pop at full force, she’s the voice behind “Sinto Muito.”
🔊 FREQUENCY
ELISION Ensemble
Thursday, 09.04, 8 pm. KM28, Karl-Marx-Straße 28, Neukölln. Donation-based (˜€15)
The Australian contemporary ensemble, among the most committed interpreters of complex new music anywhere, performs works by Liza Lim, Richard Barrett, Golnaz Shariatzadeh, Matthew Sergeant, Einar Torfi Einarsson and John Rodgers.
Acephalic Headspace
Thursday, 09.04, 8:30 pm – 2:30 am. Bar Neun, Pücklerstraße 34. €13
Three live sets before midnight: elisanyhm on FM synthesis and voice, Zustand D. looping clarinet through feedback, Krushak in experimental noise. Don't DJ and Anna Butter carry it into the dancefloor hours.
Subverted x KLEM Dark Ambient Listening Event
Friday, 10.04, 7 pm. Venue tba (Telegram). €11 listening/25 (listening + club night)
Trans-led Queer label and event series in two acts. First: a dark ambient listening session with KLEM featuring drones, cushions, and stillness with Inverno and muderkinq. Then the club night kicks with Eve Schwarz, ЖIWI, and Nicki Black on industrial-noise-techno duties.
Polar Inertia – Post Transmission ★
Saturday, 11.04, 6:30 pm – 12 am. MaHalla, Wilhelminenhofstraße 76. €18–25
Polar Inertia closes a cycle in an undisclosed structure with a three-hour live set tracing fifteen years from experimental soundscapes to post-techno, inside a bespoke light and smoke installation. Afterparty with Cio D'Or, Mama Snake, Xenia Reaper, and a second Polar Inertia set shaped for the club.
transCULT by Babylon Orchestra feat. Nesrine & Momo Djender
Saturday, 11.04, 4 pm – 11 pm. MONOM, Nalepastr. 18. €18-21
A 3D audiobook of Tahar Ben Jelloun's The Sacred Night, with the story of Zahra, born a woman but raised as a son until her father's death, opens a door to freedom. Composed by Mischa Tangian and RUSNAM, performed by the big band Babylon Orchestra. Literature, gender, and spatial sound in one piece.
Mohammad Reza Mortazavi
Sunday, 12.04, 8 pm (arrive by 7 pm). Between Bridges, Adalbertstraße 43
10179 Berlin. Donation (€15 suggested) - RSVP is needed here.
Iranian virtuoso who invented over thirty new techniques for tombak and daf — Philharmonie, Panthéon, Sydney Opera House on his CV. Here in an intimate room at Wolfgang Tillmans' space, RSVP only. Persian percussion bridging classical rhythm and contemporary sonic meditation.
💦 SWEAT
Sama' Abdulhadi
Friday, 10.04, 11:59 pm. Gretchen, Obentrautstr. 19–21, Kreuzberg. €31–34
Sama’ Abdulhadi is a Palestinian DJ and producer, born in Jordan, raised in Ramallah. Full-bodied techno with emotional weight.
TB10: Touching Bass meets SHUSH
Friday, 10.04, 6 - 2 am; Saturday, 10 pm - 6 am. Venue tba (near Jannowitzbrücke, Mitte). €17-57
Touching Bass turns 10. What Errol and Alex Rita built from a Brixton backroom now curates for Frieze and White Cube. Berlin stops with SHUSH across two days, featuring food, live music, and dance. Maxwell Owin brings South London's broken beat-jazz lineage. Naima Adams on the bill.
Tresor meets Resonance of Dub
Friday, 10.04, 11 pm – 12 pm. Tresor / Globus, Köpenickerstrasse 70, Mitte, 10179. €22
Globus handed to Resonance of Dub with DJ Sotofett and Gilb’R playing across twelve hours. Two encyclopedic selectors deep in dub, echo and sound system culture. Tresor floor with Ireen Amnes, Mary Lake and Matrixxman.
giegling in berlin
Saturday, 11.04, 10 am – 12 am. Haus der Visionäre, Eichenstr. 4a. €25-35
The Weimar collective brings 20+ names to the canal featuring Cassy, Ulla, Coco Maria, Zoe Polanski, Lawrence, Leafar Legov, Map.ache, Stella Zekri. A fantasy roster under open sky.
Hoe__mies
Saturday, 11.04, 11 pm – 8 am. OXI, Wiesenweg 1-4, Lichtenberg. €25
One of Berlin's reference queer parties returns after a five-month hiatus. Bianca Oblivion, Animistic Beliefs, ZOBAYDA, Sub Sahara, Oluwa and Miss T Delight on the decks. Bass-heavy, politically grounded, built by and for the community it serves.
NEON TIDES 2
Sunday, 12.04, 2 pm – 10 pm. Badehaus, Revaler Str. 99. €15
Sunday afternoon deep house com Jus-Ed no Badehaus. A good one for the heads.
Gentle Reminder
Sunday, 12.04, 4 pm – 1 am. Paloma, Skalitzer Str. 135, Kreuzberg. €13
Queer tea dance in the American tradition with Continental Baths to SF's End Up. Alison Swing, Bézier, Jo Bubbles and Gag Reflex on the decks. Open to all queers and allies.
👁️ WATCH
Der traurigste Junge der Welt (The saddest boy in the world) by Martin Nadal
Fri-Sat, 10-11.04, 7 pm. Until 25.04. In DE without surtitles. Monbijou Theater. €16
Nathan, an aspiring songwriter working as a life model, confronts the harsh realities of a demanding, often overlooked profession. The Saddest Boy in the World explores identity, vulnerability, and the tensions between exhibitionism, narcissism, and self-sacrifice in art.
De Profundis 🌟
Friday, 10.04, 7:30 pm. Berliner Ensemble, Bertolt-Brecht-Platz 1, Mitte. EN surtitles. €9-57
Jens Harzer alone on stage, reading Wilde’s letter from prison to the lover who destroyed him. Written in 1895 after two years of incarceration for loving men. 1h50, no break.
Marcos Morau: Wunderkammer
Saturday, 11.04, 7:30 pm – 9 pm. Komische Oper / Schillertheater, Bismarckstr. 110. €30–98
Choreographer of the Year returns as Staatsballett's Artist-in-Residence. Cabaret meets club culture on the opera stage. Morau transforms the Schillertheater into a cabinet of curiosities.
Goodbye Berlin by Constanza Macras
Saturday, 11.04, 7:30 pm. Volksbühne Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz, Mitte. Surtitles in DE and EN. (+ 19-25.04), €11-€35.
Constanza Macras' farewell to the Volksbühne: Weimar cabaret, Berghain nights and the fear that history is repeating itself.
🖼️ LOOK
War Sensing: Panel at Schinkel Pavillon
Friday, 10.04, 7 pm. Schinkel Pavillon, Oberwallstraße 32, Mitte. Exhibition ticket. In EN
How the war in Ukraine is sensed and recorded through digital systems. With Asia Bazdyrieva, Miglė Bareikytė and Nazar Holianych. Moderated by Lesia Vasylchenko.
Gallery Weekend Berlin lands on 1 May, which means we’re in the quiet stretch before the storm. Six strong shows closing in the next few days:
Katalin Ladik — POEMIM
Until 11.04. LEVY, Alt-Moabit 110. Wed–Sat, 11 am – 6 pm. Free
Hungarian-Serbian pioneer of the Central European feminist avant-garde, using body and voice as instruments since the 1960s. Documenta 14 alum, still actively making work at 83.
Yalda Afsah — PAN
Until 11.04. CCA Berlin, Breitscheidplatz. Thu–Sat, 11 am – 6 pm. Free
The German-Iranian filmmaker turns her lens on Paneurhythmy, a Bulgarian mountain ritual. Synchronised movement and “cosmic energy”, filmed without irony or judgement.
Anna Bella Geiger — Typus Terra Incognita
Until 18.04. carlier | gebauer, Markgrafenstrasse 67. Tue–Sat, 11 am – 6 pm. Free
At 93, the Brazilian conceptualist gets her first solo in Germany. Five decades of using maps to undo the colonial logic of cartography itself.
how to see — Robert Filliou
Until 15.04. Barbara Wien, Schöneberger Ufer 65. Tue–Sat, 1 – 6 pm. Free
The French Fluxus artist who invented the Eternal Network and treated art as a daily practice. A useful antidote to a scene that sometimes takes itself too seriously.
Cihan Çakmak — Leaving was the only option left
Until 12.04. Haus am Kleistpark, Grunewaldstrasse 6–7. Daily, 10 am – 6 pm. Free
Self-portraits, video and text navigate the tension of a German-Kurdish biography exploring family trauma, collective memory, and the cost of leaving.
Bojan Šarčević — What Remains is the Threat
Until 11.04. BQ Berlin, Weydingerstraße 10. Tue–Sun, 10 am – 6 pm. Free
Violence not as an event but as architecture; sculptures and reliefs about how crisis gets absorbed into surfaces, systems and quiet rituals.
✨ MISC
Sisyphos Frühlings-Flohmarkt
Friday 10.04, 6 pm – 2 am; Sat–Sun 11–12.04, 2 pm onwards. Sisyphos, Hauptstraße 15. Free entrance.
Spring flea market spread across three days at Sisyphos with vintage, oddities, food, and drinks. Sunday closes with the afterparty from 8 pm.
VELOBerlin 2026
Sat–Sun, 11–12.04, 12 – 6 pm. Ehemaliger Flughafen Tempelhof, Platz der Luftbrücke 6. €12-€18 (free under 14)
Berlin's biggest bike fair takes over Tempelhof for two days with 400 exhibitors, 50,000 m², test tracks for everything from cargo bikes to e-bikes, the Airfield Race, and talks on sustainable mobility.
♡ GATHERING
Book Launch: For Those Who Hate a Little Bit of Everything by Travis Jeppesen
Thursday, 9 April, 7 pm. Ivallan’s Books, Schönleinstr. 32, Berlin. Free entrance.
Launch of Travis Jeppesen’s new collection of short stories & ficto-criticism, limited signed copies will be available.
Pieces Chess Club x Gyals Got Game (FLINTA only)
Friday, 10.04, from 6 pm. Refuge Worldwide, Niemetzstraße 1, Neukölln. Free, donations to Focus Congo.
First FLINTA-only edition of the Lisbon-born chess club, broadcast live from Refuge with DJ Suesss, Lola Homi, Ceyda Abla, and Nuh Delay. Tiny's Pizza on food.
Mary Katharine Tramontana — Do not write poems likening his body to god
Friday, 10.04, 6:30 – 9:30 pm. about_bookshop, Linienstraße 151, Mitte. Free
Book launch and photography show from the Berlin-based writer (NYT, Esquire) and photographer. Her second poetry collection began as a letter to seduce a Milanese neighbour. Reading, drinks, music.
Voo Book Club: Perfection by Vincenzo Latronico
Saturday, 11.04, 6 - 7 pm. Voo Store, Oranienstraße 24, Kreuzberg. Free
One of my favourite reads of last year. Latronico’s sharp novel follows a millennial couple in Berlin as they chase a curated, “perfect” life and the quiet dissatisfaction beneath it. Talk in English, moderated by Barbaros Altuğ.
Recycling and Reimagining: A Creative Workshop
Sunday, 12.04, 3 – 6 pm. KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Auguststraße 69, Mitte. Included with exhibition ticket. DE/EN. Ages 10+
Hands-on sculpture workshop using recycled textiles and everyday materials, developed in dialogue with the current Jean Katambayi Mukendi and Klara Lidén shows. Two artists on hand, three hours, all materials provided.
📌 SAVE THE DATE
Beverly Glenn-Copeland with damsel Elysium : The Black trans elder, jazz-folk-ambient composer and quiet legend in collaboration with Creamcake, joined by damsel Elysium. Monday, 13.04. Volksbühne, Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz, Mitte. €30-34
Festival International New Drama (FIND) hosted by Schaubühne from 16 to 26 April 2026, featuring works from Brazil, Canada, Greece, the United Kingdom, Italy, and Norway. Kurfürstendamm 156, Wilmersdorf. € 7-74.
The Infinite Now — Berlin Atonal x Unsound 30h non-stop featuring Marginal Consort, Keiji Haino, Actress, Terrence Dixon, Romeo Castellucci & Scott Gibbons, Brìghde Chaimbeul, Shane Parish playing Autechre, Joy Guidry, Marta Salogni, 7038634357. Kraftwerk, 16-17.05. Tickets: €127
The Infinite Now - Prelude Concerts: OPN presents Tranquilizer + Piotr Kurek (10.05). Hania Rani as Chilling Bambino + Torus (12.05). Sinfonietta Cracovia performs Gavin Bryars (14.05). Kraftwerk Berlin. Tickets: €43.
Pode mandar vir o "O menino mais triste do mundo" pro Brasil, estamos curiosos!