Cee Cee is a weekly email magazine with hand-selected recommendations for Berlin and beyond. Every now and then you’ll find paid posts as part of the newsletter, marked as “Sponsored Posts”. Subscribe here to receive Cee Cee every Thursday and follow us on Facebook and Instagram for more tips!
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Filled with little minimalist touches, Holly Gastrobar is a charming French-focused bar-restaurant which gives a feeling of warmth as soon as you walk in. Cream-colored walls, dark wood floors and an imposing bar give the place a contemporary feel, while the open kitchen gives you a glimpse of your food as it’s made. Located just off Flughafenstraße in Neukölln, the space was opened by chef Simon Guitard and sommelier Fernanda Befi in summer 2021. The concept: blending French food philosophy and fermentation. Ingredients are conserved in numerous ways, from curing and smoking to aging and drying. The dishes that result offer new takes on regional and French classics, like Duroc pork tartare with fermented apple, chili and coriander for meat lovers and Brussels sprout leaves with lightly fermented blueberries and nasturtium (vegan and veggie versions are available).
Care is given to the presentation of the food, with handmade tableware that lets you know you’re dining somewhere a little bit special. As for drinks, beer and wine sommelier Fernanda Befi incorporates a rotating selection of bottles focused on small producers. And this being a gastrobar, if you want to stay after dinner drinks are served until 1h (22h outside). Summer sips on the terrace: yes please!
Text: Dave Alcantara / Photos: Dave Alcantara & Holly Gastrobar
Holly Gastrobar, Mainzer Str.23, 12053 Berlin–Neukölln; map
Wed–Sat from 18h30, the bar is open until 1h.
@holly.gastrobar
You can appreciate everything at face value, but it’s learning the stories beneath that tightens bonds between people and the things around us. Starting today (23.06.2022), Berlin-based design platform White Label Project will be returning for a four-day fashion, jewelry and design pop-up that puts stories front and center. We’ve been fans of this platform for a while: since 2019 the initiative has been showcasing slow creations from artisans in fashion and design, supporting communities and encouraging sustainable production. The market includes the likes of ceramics, jewelry and accessories by Ukraine’s Gunia Project, handmade bags made by the Wayuu people of Colombia by Hilo Sagrado and hand-woven Moroccan carpets by Limala. All in all, 30 mostly women-owned fashion and design labels from around the world will be selling their pieces and sharing their stories.
The program starts at 10h every day so you can meet the designers, enjoy coffee and croissants, and pick up the best of the pieces. If you’d rather come late, there will be discussions and drinks on Friday (24.06) between 17-21h with a Pisco Sour bar and wine from the likes of Kolonne Null. So put on your shoes, venture over to Kreuzberg’s Denizen House, and travel the world through design and fashion…
Text: Rosie Gilmour / Photos: White Label Project, Nada Duele & Aketekete
Denizen House, Köpenicker Str.40, 10179 Berlin–Kreuzberg; map
White Label Project pop-up event – 23.06 11h30–19h, 24.06.2022, 10–21h (Aperitifs 17–21h), 25.06.2022, 10-19h & 26.06.2022, 10–17h
A forest walk, perhaps? Or a day by the lake? If you are planning a day out in Brandenburg, there are a few activities that usually come to mind. But add a bit of imagination and some insider info, and you’ll find that Berlin’s sister region has more to offer than you think. We’ll leave the imagination part to you, but for top tips we can recommend taking a look at Dream Local. The online platform lists excursions and experiences in Berlin and Brandenburg that are a little out of the ordinary. Cow Whispering is one such activity, offering learning and relaxation courtesy of friendly four-legged beasts. The four-hour workshops let you get up close to the cows at Brandenburg’s Bio Ranch Zempow, teaching you how to communicate confidently and use body language to make yourself heard. The next biweekly session takes place on 25.06.2022. If you prefer vineyards to pastures, the tour and tasting at the Wolkenberg Winery will tell you all you need to know about terroir and tannin while proving that Brandenburg can also produce great wine.
You’ll join vineyard owner Bettina Muthmann for an hour-long tour of her estate followed by a tasting accompanied by a local cheese platter and a fine view of Niederlausitz (apparently one of the sunniest regions of Germany). The sessions run every Sunday from 13h, and you can book online. With these dates in the diary, the scene for the summer is set: de-stressing and discovering in the countryside.
Text: Benji Haughton / Photos: Dream Local
You can browse and book Dream Local experiences online.
@dream.local
What do times of day and seasons mean to you? How do we move between past, present and future? The passing of time is a theme that has occupied us since, well, forever – and musicians are no exception. Countless artists have tried to capture time in their music, not least conductor Gijs Leenaars and the Rundfunkchor Berlin. Never slaves to the classical concert format, this choir and its singers are continually on the hunt for fresh artistic visions. Now the group have turned their attention to time. Combining visual elements from Nick and Clemens Prokop and choreography by Shang-Chi Sun, “Time Travellers” is the choir’s latest event comprising interdisciplinary performances at the Schinkelhalle, a historic industrial building in Potsdam (concerts 01–03.07.2022).
The centerpiece of the evening is the song cycle “The Passing of the Year” by British composer Jonathan Dove. Written for two choirs and a piano, it describes the passing of the seasons – and the passing of life. The sounds of the choir are blended with visuals and dance for a line-up of six contemporary and classical pieces, including “Sehnsucht” by Johannes Brahms and “Images” by Claude Debussy. On Saturday and Sunday (02 & 03.07) there’s an extra-special excursion: you can travel to and from the concert location in Potsdam by boat and experience a voyage of a different kind. Author Jens Bisky will accompany the trip, offering performances and anecdotes from Berlin old and new.
Text: Annika Hillig / Photos: Prokop & Rundfunkchor
Rundfunkchor Berlin at the Schinkelhalle, Schiffbauergasse 4A, 14467 Potsdam; map
Concerts 01–03.07.2022. You can buy concert tickets and a place on the boat trip online.
@rundfunkchor
Four people stand with four different patterned shirts tucked into their trousers, two white doves nestled in their hands. What looks like a still from a Robert Bresson film is actually a photograph by Sibylle Bergemann. Its title: “Moskau, 1974”. It is a mysterious and whimsical image – one that is typical of the Berlin photographer. Born in 1941, Bergemann earned her place as one of Germany’s most important photographers thanks to her poetic observations, thoughtful pictorial compositions and extraordinary use of color. She was a GDR citizen, co-founder of the Ostkreuz agency and a companion of Arno Fischer. Today (23.06.2022) the Berlinische Galerie opens a major retrospective on the artist: Sibylle Bergemann: Town and Country and Dogs: Photographs 1966–2010. Six chapters span more than 200 works, largely chronologically. They underline Bergemann’s admiration for French photography, the longing experienced in everyday GDR life and her fondness for dogs. But it is her view of women that really stands out.
Conceptual fashion shots, images of female artists and actresses, observations of everyday life – all of Bergemann’s portraits are informed by her experience as a woman. They reveal tenderness, admiration and a sense of respect that is signaled by the distance between camera and subject. Even 12 years after her death, Bergemann inspires people to engage with the world and the people in it with love and curiosity. The exhibition is accompanied by works by former colleagues and companions such as Arno Fischer, Ute Mahler, Roger Melis and Michael Weidt, with special attention given to the photographer’s life. If you would like to learn more about Bergemann as a person, we recommend the podcast Sibylle Bergemann – die Frau hinter den Bildern, made by Anne Waak for the Berlinische Galerie (available wherever you get your podcasts).
Text: Hilka Dirks / Photos: Estate Sibylle Bergemann/OSTKREUZ Courtesy Loock Galerie, Berlin
Berlinische Galerie, Alte Jakobstr.124–128, 10969 Berlin–Kreuzberg; map
Wed–Mon 10–18h, closed Tues.
Sibylle Bergemann exhibition until 10.10.2022. Opening 23.06.2022 19h.
@berlinischegalerie
ANMELDUNG