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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Neukölln-based radio station Refuge Worldwide has been on our radar since it hit Berlin (and the world’s) airwaves in spring 2021. As well as growing online listenership, the station’s presenters and DJs now have another audience: the guests and regulars at Oona, Refuge’s very own in-studio bar at their home on Weserstr. Located in the front part of the studio space, the bar is a place to listen to the station’s programming right where it’s being broadcast. The interior itself is a simple, relaxed affair: its standout feature is a groovy chrome bar area that comes courtesy of designers at ErtlundZull(who are also responsible for the kitchen and lighting in one of our favorite bakeries). The bar is as well-suited for afternoon meetups as late night drinks dates, stocking a great selection of organic orange wines and cocktails including a vegan whiskey sour made with aquafaba. You can hang out at one of the intimate tables or pay a visit to the back room where you can get a glimpse of the live studio and booth designed by DJ Christopher Hreno. (read more)
Besides broadcasting everything from Afrofunk to modern British electronica, the studio also serves as a workshop space that offers free sessions on music production (with priority given to marginalized groups), voice embodiment and sound healing sessions and even the odd spoken word night. Far more than just a drinking venue, Oona feels like a community hub where all sorts of people from Neukölln and beyond come together. Indeed, the idea for the bar was inspired by a child who frequently visits the space, much to the delight of the regulars. The child’s name: Oona.
Text: Rosie Gilmour / Photos: Savannah van der Niet
Oona, Weserstr.166, 12045 Berlin–Neukölln; map
Tue–Thu 13–0h, Fri–Sat 13–2h
Sleek and minimalist – it’s an aesthetic that has dominated interior design since seemingly forever. But since the October 2019 opening of the Timorous Beasties showroom in Schöneberg, this has started to shift. The Scotland-based textile studio has gained an international following for its provocative, surreal – and utterly maximalist – designs. And now you can bring these bold patterns into your own home with wallcoverings, fabrics, furniture, rugs and cushions available to view and buy at the showroom, which is located in a former art gallery near Gleisdreieck Park. With high ceilings, concrete floors and bare white walls, it really lets you appreciate the full spectacle of the designs. They’re without exception statement works – whether it’s the abstract spots and specks of the Storm Blotch wallpaper or the tongue-in-cheek underwater scene of the Eel Colonnade fabric. The products are manufactured in the UK and Europe (hand printing still takes place in Glasgow) with natural inks used to reduce the environmental impact.
Since joining forces at the Glasgow School of Art in 1990, the “Beasties” Alistair McAuley and Paul Simmons have gone on to create designs for a varied and sometimes unusual range of projects. You can check out the duo’s fabrics and papers for yourself at the showroom, which welcomes private customers as well as interior designers and architects. It also serves as a space for events and collaborations with local designers (interested parties: get in touch at berlin@timorousbeasties.com). Timorous Beasties offers a creative counterpoint to the understated interior design we’re used to seeing – a welcome splash of Scottish punk in Berlin.
Text: Benji Haughton / Photos: Sophie Doering & Timorous Beasties
Timorous Beasties Showroom, Kurfürstenstr.14, 10785 Berlin–Schöneberg; map
Currently open Tue & Wed 10–18h and by appointment (check the website for the latest opening times)
@timorous_beasties
Olive oil: it’s intrinsic to the Mediterranean way of life and loved by the whole world. But do you know where that bottle sitting on your kitchen shelf actually comes from? Tracing the true origin of olive oil can be tricky – unless of course you get it directly from the source, which is just what Oel does. The Berlin-based brand produces its organic extra virgin olive oil from its very own land in Greece. After starting with small olive plants in Berlin, founders Marc, Simone and Amadeus took the leap and bought an olive grove in Greece in 2015. Plots followed in Kalamata, Meligalas and Messenia – Greek regions that have been linked to olive oil for thousands of years. The Koroneiki olives used for Oel are picked by hand and processed using cold extraction, the gentlest way to make oil. As for the taste: well it’s as good as you’d expect. The Starter Kit is a nice way to sample the team’s produce, and includes 250ml of oil, an olive mix and some olive soap. If the oil is to your liking, you can buy it in sizes of up to 5l (handy if you always find yourself running out). Oh, and if you’re wondering who the lady in the logo is, it’s Anthoula Tzamouranis, the grandmother of founder Amadeus who inspired the entire venture with her olive-growing expertise.
Text: Rosie Gilmour / Photos: Kateryna Firsova
Oel products can be purchased from Berlin stockists or directly online.
@oel_berlin
When several boxes of her film turned up at an auction in 2007, no one in the art world had heard of Vivian Maier. Fast-forward to today and she is considered one of the stars of American street photography, with a personal story that only heightens her mystery. Maier spent much of her life working as a nanny, never letting on that she had a lifelong and deeply-held passion for photography. She took her pictures in secret and left a large number of her film rolls undeveloped. Now, to celebrate her life and work, the Werkstattgalerie Hermann Noack in cooperation with New York’s Howard Greenberg Gallery has brought together an exhibition of 120 of Maier’s prints and Super 8 films.
Maier did not need to be schooled in capturing special moments and composing images. Instead she developed her own extraordinary perspective of New York and Chicago street life. Maier’s photos capture people unaware that they are being observed: sleeping men, couples holding hands and friends absorbed in conversation. She captures both the glamor of the swinging sixties but also the darker side of the era: suited men and ladies in fur coats hurry past beggars, alcoholics and petty criminals being taken away by the police. Maier herself remains in the background, never imposing herself on her subjects, her gaze neither leading nor judging. Maier is a quiet, brilliant observer with an ability to capture profound, humorous details in the viewfinder of her Rolleiflex. Then there are the self-portraits: looking sternly on, Maier photographs herself in the reflection of shop windows and brightly polished hubcaps. Her face appears distorted, appearing like a shadow at times. Maier is present and yet invisible. Now, at last, her creative world is being revealed and celebrated in full.
Text: Laura Storfner / Photos: © Estate of Vivian Maier, Courtesy Maloof Collection and Howard Greenberg Gallery, New York.
Werkstattgalerie Hermann Noack, Am Spreebord 9, 10589 Berlin–Charlottenburg; map
Vivian Maier – Streetqueen, until 27.02.2022, Mon–Thu 9–16h, Fri 9–19h, Sat 12–19h, Sun 12–17h
@howardgreenberggallery
@hermannnoack
@vivianmaierarchive
“Keep on dancing till the world ends” – that’s the principle that guides the organizers of Tanztage Berlin, the annual dance festival at the Sophiensaele theater. The quote is actually a lyric from a Britney Spears song, the video for which shows a choreographed crowd dancing as the world around them implodes. It’s a topical image: the festival, finally back on a real stage after last year’s digital edition, sees dancers defy the turbulent times to (safely) perform in front of an audience again. Running until 22.01.2022, the two-week program continues tonight and tomorrow (13 & 14.01) with Ana Lessing Menjibar’s cathartic solo show Perpetual Archive. Accompanied by bleak digital samples and abrupt lighting, the German-Spanish dancer’s flamenco flourishes take on an empowering, even healing, quality.
Next week sees a double-bill of A Strategy for the Fragile, which features dancer Shiori Tada hidden inside a head-to-toe costume, and Rita Mazza’s Dandelion II, a performance blending sign language with dance (double performances on 17 & 18.01). Dance artist Robert Ssempijja’s You Judge, meanwhile, combines traditional movement, breakdance and gender nonconformity as he reflects on his youth in Kampala, Uganda. During the festival the Sophiensaele will also host a number of installations and one-offs, including Infinity Rug (22.01) a “sonic séance” that runs until 4am. Taking a seat on your own rug or blanket, you are accompanied through the night by soothing sounds and soft performances. Tickets for the performances are selling out fast, so get yours quick!
Text: Benji Haughton / Photos: Joe Goergen, Juan Pablo Cámara, Zander Porter & Mayra Wallraff
Sophiensaele, Sophienstr.18, 10178 Berlin–Mitte; map
Tanztage Berlin runs until 22.01.2021. Tickets are available online.
@sophiensaele
ANMELDUNG