The Next Day #30: Berlin Weekend Guide
Your weekend guide with some of the best events in Berlin from 14th until 18th December. Cover: Suzanne Ciani
Hi,
I confess I'm struggling with these short days. While Mateus enjoys warm, sunny days in Brazil, I try to combat the melancholy caused by the lack of light.
Fortunately, a lot is happening around, and it’s an excellent time to catch exhibitions before they end. Our favorites include Mary Ellen Mark at C/O, Sirani at Galerie Judin, Kaloki Nyamai at Galerie Barbara Thum, and General Idea at Gropius Bau. Any exhibition tips? Share them with us. •‿•
Two must-attend events are sold out this weekend, but if you're feeling lucky, try your chances at the door: Suzanne Ciane at Volksbühne (Thursday) and Kolorit Festival with Parra for Cuva at Silent Green (Saturday). I will be at Volksbühne.
Onstage, the highlight is Ice Cube celebrating 50 years of hip-hop.
For theater, check out Fiddler! A Musical and Bucket List. If loneliness is a struggle,
, our guest of the week, hosts the workshop . Also, our partner "20% Berlin" will host their official party this Saturday, offering a great chance to share some laughs and connect with new faces.We've also listed some markets for music lovers and Christmas markets I plan to visit this weekend.
Don't miss the Jazzrausch Bigband's Christmas concert next Tuesday at the Philharmonic.
See you next week.
Lalai
Sonic Parings #1
Thu-Sat, 14-16.16, 8 pm. HAU2, Hallesches Ufer 34. Ticket: 13/30 €.
Hau's new concert series is a mixtape of Berlin’s underground. On each two-part evening, talents from different music scenes come together on the stage. It’s a chance to know bands that you’ve never heard about, but you like them. 🎧 "Excellent Choices." #postpunk #jazz #newbands
Ice Cube: High Rollers Tour
Friday, 15.12, 8 pm. Max-Schmeling-Halle, Falkplatz 1, Prenzlauer Berg. Ticket from 79.44 €.
This year marks the 50th anniversary of hip-hop, and what better way to celebrate than with a grand party featuring one of the genre's legends: Ice Cube. Joining him on the same night are The Game, De La Soul, and D12. Get ready for a cascade of hits! 🎧 This is Ice Cube. To keep the vibe after the show, join this party at Gretchen.
PYTHO #5 – Lazy Susan: Staged concert for computer controlled music machines and light
Friday, 16.12, 8 pm. Theater im Delphi, Gustav-Adolf-Strasse 2, 13086 Berlin. Ticket: 8/12 €.
Gamut Inc's PYTHO music series, "Lazy Susan," transforms the stage into a musical machine. Drawing from their recent album, the music oscillates between noise textures, harmonic fields, and rhythmic repetitions. A blend of diorama-like visuals and algorithmic processes creates an ever-evolving continuum. #experimental
More concerts?
🤘 Brokenchord for a night with an experimental rock project. Thursday, 14.12, 9-11:59 pm. arkaoda, Karl-Marx Platz 16. Ticket: 10 €. 🎧 When you sleep
🎹 Heavenphetamine X Morwan: For those seeking something new, this concert brings krautrock and post-punk to the stage. Thursday, 14.12, 8 pm. Panke, Gerichtstrasse 23. Ticket: 12/15€. 🎧 Heavenphetamine live
🎹 The Dogmatics | Sink: 🎧 Dogmatics blends piano expertise, while 🎧 Sink creates an improvised sound with minimal chords, electronic timbres, and percussion. Friday, 16.12, 8 pm. KM28, Neukölln.
🎸 Ikua and Ryu, a Berlin-based guitar/vocal music duo from South Korea, are a great choice for a cozy night with good drinks. Sat, 17.12, 8:30 pm, Kallasch& - Moabiter Barprojekt. 🎧 In such a night
ungesund with Brusca, Morten B
Thursday, 14.12, 11pm-7am. ://about.blank, Markgrafendamm 24c, 10245. Ticket: 13€.
Ungesund, an event and podcast series, centers around Deep, Dub & Detroit Techno. The upcoming party, dedicated to Dub Techno, will feature DJ Brusca, a live set by Morten B., and the resident DJs nuúm and Elias. 🎧 Morten B
Closing Mensch Meier
Fri-Mon, 15-18.12, 10 pm - 6 am. Mensch Meier, Storkower Str. 121, Prenzlauer Berg.
This is your final chance to dance on Mensch Meier’s dancefloor. They are closing their doors after ten years, and they're doing it with an extensive lineup and three days of non-stop partying. 🎧 Alma Linda #techno #house
Ukrainian Sound Garden Vol. 5
Saturday, 15.12, 4 pm - 5:30 am. ACUD, Veteranenstraße 21, Mitte. Free entrance.
Ukrainian Sound Garden blends music with a Christmas fair featuring Ukrainian food and souvenirs, aiming to raise funds in support of a hospital in Dnipro. An afternoon filled with live music, disco, funk, and soul, all for a good cause. 🎧 Zbaraski - Cofein
Fiddler! A Musical
Until 17,12, 7 pm. HAU 1, Stresemannstrasse 29, 10963. Tickets: 11€.
English / With translation / Further languages / approx. 180 mins. (incl. intermission)
“Fiddler! A Musical” reimagines theater, loosely honoring “Fiddler on the Roof.” Exploring 20th-century Jewish performances across Russia, Berlin, and New York, it tackles themes of exile and state violence. The show features special guests like Peaches and Solistenensemble Kaleidoskop, celebrating a decade of Ariel Efraim Ashbel and friends' creative journey.
The opening
Thursday 14.12 (Premiere) to Sunday 17.12, 7 pm. In English/German. DOCK 11 Kastanienallee 79, 10435 Berlin. Tickets: 15€.
'The opening' instantly transforms the audience’s night dreams into choreographic situations, cultivating a sense of community, intimacy, and openness. Spectators are invited to bring their dreams to the theatre, and these dreams become content for the stage work. Directed and Performed by Anna Nowicka.
urubus in visible
Saturday, 16.12 8 pm. Acker Stadt Palast Ackerstrasse 169/170, 10115 Berlin. Tickets: 10€ - 25€.
urubus in visible is a dance performance designed especially for audiences with visual impairments, the performance is dedicated to the sensations that the presence of the dancers, costumes, objects and their sound evoke in the audience. Freely adapted from the text Urubus by Carla Bessa.
Bucket List
Thu-Satu, 14-16.12, 8pm. In German and English with German and English surtitles. Schaubühne am Lehniner Platz, Kurfürstendamm 153, 10709. Tickets: 7€ to 49€.
A man wakes up on a Saturday morning, and the world around him has changed beyond recognition. His reality is shattered. What he believed to know has completely disintegrated. Nothing is what it used to be. »Bucket List« is a musical hallucination about an overwhelming reality. Directed by Yael Ronen.
DORT, WO DAS NICHTS IST: Yen Chun Lin and Tanja Nis-Hansen
Until 4.02.24, Mon-Sun, 10 am - 8 pm. Galerie im Turm, Frankfurter Tor 1 10243.
The exhibition questions contemporary projections, from documenting a black hole to translating nothingness into sound and visual codes. Yen Chun Lin and Tanja Nis-Hansen explore nature's fragility and the collapse of ecological realities. Lin's soundscapes challenge scientific axioms, while Nis-Hansen translates psychological responses into semiotic signs.
NOX
Until 14.01, Kranzler Eck, Joachimsthaler Straße 7, 10623. Ticket: 10/15 €.
NOX is an expansive exhibition that imagines the psychological consequences of a future populated by smart systems and intelligent machines. Across three floors, it invites audiences into a facility where Farsight Corporation, a fictional artificial intelligence (AI) conglomerate, trains and treats their sentient self-driving cars.
Karl Horst Hödicke
Opening Friday, 16.12, 6-8 pm. König Telegraphenamt, Monbijoustrasse, 11, Mitte.
Adjacent to Museumsinsel and housed within the premises of Hotel Telegraphenamt, the new König Galerie’s location presents artists from inside and outside the gallery’s roster, alongside group exhibitions.
DOC.Berlin
Thursday, 14.12, 8-9:45 pm. Babylon Berlin, Rosa-Luxemburg-Strasse 30, Mitte. Ticket: 4 € including one free drink at the bar.
The film festival Doc.Berlin aims to highlight the relevance of different perspectives with which viewers and people in general look at factual situations. This Thursday, seven short films will be exhibited, including "What If Women Ruled The World?" by Giulia Magno, featuring Judy Chicago and Nadya Tolokonnikova (Pussy Riot), and "A Body Like Mine" by Maja Classen, a poetic and fairy-tale-like documentary.
Sharing Our Loneliness: A Community Exploration
Thursday, 14.12, 7:30-10:30 pm. Lovers and Leaders Space, Torstrasse 101 10119 Berlin. Ticket: 22.49 €.
Why does loneliness dominate our current era? Despite high interconnectedness, we often sense detachment from ourselves, others, and societal institutions. In this workshop, Monika Jiang delves into this phenomenon, fostering new connections and revealing initial steps to comprehend loneliness as a collective human experience.
Release of Vol. 3 „FOG“ of ROT Magazine
Thursday, 14.12, 3 - 9 pm. Salon am Moritzplatz, Oranienstrasse 58, 10969 Berlin. Free entrance. Magazine price: 8 - 10€.
The magazine "ROT" presents its 3rd edition with the title "FOG". In cooperation with over 20 artists from all around the world they present various works surrounding the topic of fog. This is for you if you want to challenge your perception of FOG.
20% Berlin Presents: The News Quiz
Saturday, 16.12, 9:30 pm. Comedy Cafe, Roseggerstrasse 17, 12059 Berlin. Ticket: 10 €.
To celebrate the holiday season, Berlin's top English news newsletter presents a one-hour panel show—a comedic spin on 'Have I Got News for You.' After the show, the party continues with the festive spirit of 20 Percent's Christmas office party, despite the absence of an office or employees. In German and English.
Punk Rock Market #26
Sunday, 17.12, 1-9 pm. Cassiopeia, Revaler Str. 99, 10245.
Rock and punk enthusiasts, this market is your haven! Explore an indoor space with local vendors, DIY businesses, private sales, and artists from the scene. Unearth 2nd-hand treasures, collectibles, pins, records, clothes, and more. Plus, indulge in delicious food and drinks.
Sonic Matters: Independent Label Market
Sunday, 17.12, 2 - 8 pm. silent green, Kuppelhalle, Wedding. Free entrance.
Berlin's indie record labels unveil their collections at this inaugural record market. Explore experimental, ambient, and electro-acoustic sounds in vinyl, tapes, CDs, and merchandise. Discover new music, enjoy coffee or a drink at MARS, and stock up on musical treasures.
AI Kitchen: An Interactive Workshop on Artificial Intelligence with NEEEU
Sunday, 17.12, 4-6 pm. Gropius Bau, Resonance Room. Free entrance. In German and English.
AI Kitchen: Dive into the world of ChatGPT in this interactive workshop! Explore AI's versatility, collaborate with the algorithm, and craft text or generate images. Laugh over mishaps and discuss creative ownership. Uncover the brilliance and limitations of this AI tool together.
The Christmas Market we want to visit this weekend:
⛩️ Japanese Kōgei Christmas Market: Fri-Sun: 15-16.12, 12-8pm; 17.12, 12-6pm. Potsdamer Straße 93. Free admission;
🏛️ Advent Market at Dömane Dahlem: 15-17.12, Friday, 2 - 8 pm, Sat-Sun, 11 am - 8 pm. Ticket: 3.50€
🍽️ Merry Markthalle: Sunday, 17.12, 11 am - 6 pm. Markthalle Neun, Kreunzberg. Free admission.
Lalai invites Monika Jiang
Monika Jiang is a German-born Chinese writer, curator, and community builder who seeks to make more realities known, more faces seen, and more voices heard. Through Sharing Our Loneliness, she aims to spark conversations about the complexities of loneliness in our hyper-connected world, exploring how it can be a bridge to draw us closer together again—despite our differences.
She shared this precious list of her favorite places in Berlin:
📚 Homeless Books — Ever since the summer of 2021, David, who I’m happy to call my friend now, has been setting up his bookshop at the corner of Böhmischer Platz in Neukölln during his very fixed working hours. Meanwhile, he’s built a neighborhood library in the adjacent theater, and offers programming from children’s summer activities, Sunday movie nights, and concerts. To me, his spirit brings life to this neighborhood in a way that only he can.
🎷 Donau115 — I only discovered it last year, but I have been loving it so far as a place to support local musicians. Join for Two Song Tuesdays, especially the first ones of the month, as it’s the Women and Queer Folks edition and has never disappointed.
🥡 Panda Meister — This Chinese food stall by Ostbahnhof serves, hands down, better quality food than most restaurants in a lowkey delicious way. Come here to get dumplings and, my favorite, tomato-egg stir fry (西红柿炒鸡蛋).
📽️ Sinema Transtopia — I can’t get over the space design of this place, so simple, brutalist (what else), and yet warm. It’s a movie theater with everything but non-mainstream programming, inspiring social discourse and new perspectives. Check out their current programs!
🗼Teufelsberg — Even though it’s known as a tourist attraction, I love the otherworldly feeling of being there, wandering around the ruins of this former spy station, now covered in beautiful street art. It’s kind of a time travel destination. The day I saw a double rainbow from there, I’ll never forget.
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