TRANSMEDIALE: 30 YEARS OF ART, TECH, AND CULTURE

It’s back with a bang: This year, Transmediale (2.2.2017 – 5.3.2017) celebrates its 30th birthday with the theme “Ever Elusive”. Dedicated to forging new connections between art, technology and culture, the festival encompasses exhibitions, performances, talks and workshops that explore new frontiers in digital media. Not to be missed is the exhibition “Alien Matter”, which sees 30 local and international artists tackle the blurred boundary between man and machine. This Saturday (4.2.2017), we’re looking forward to Metahaven’s “The Sprawl (Propaganda About Propaganda)”, a film addressing the manipulative geopolitical force of the Internet. The closing weekend (4-5.3.2017) will see pioneering multimedia artist Laurie Anderson’s performance, “The Language of the Future” – a piece mixing spoken word, electronic sounds, and violin music to explore the notions of reality and time. Peruse the full festival program here. (Text: Anna Dorothea Ker)

HKW – Haus der Kulturen der Welt, John-Foster-Dulles-Allee 10, 10557 Berlin-Tiergarten; map
Ever Elusive: Thirty Years of Transmediale
Opening night: Thu 2.1.2017, 18h; Facebook event
Festival runs until 5.3.17

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Cafes, Guests

DIANA HAGENBERG RECOMMENDS: POLA CAFE

A new coffee shop that’s just opened on Köpenicker Straße has quickly become one of my favorites. Pola Café is small but smart: For instance, as room for plants is limited, owner Mascha Roos decided to hang them from the ceiling and let them grow up the walls. The space hardly leaves room for tables – that’s why there’s just one. These constraints make Pola all the more cozy and communal: You quickly get talking with other guests. The excellent coffee is from Bor & Baumeister in Kreuzberg, while vegetarian soups grace the lunch menu – my favorite is beetroot. I also highly recommended Pola’s creative sandwiches, such as the “Bulgogi”: Korean marinated beef with kimchi, pear and sesame. Or the “Morza”, which combines sweet potato puree, scamorza cheese and hazelnuts. Stay a while and you could just make your lucky break – Roos runs her street casting agency, Ostwesting, from the back room. (Text: Diana Hagenberg)

Pola Café, Köpenicker Str.10, 10997 Berlin-Kreuzberg; map
Mon-Fri 8-16h, with occasional breakfast clubs on weekends

Diana Hagenberg works in Marketing at the anti-migrane app, M-sense, and lives in Kreuzberg.

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Shops

SIGURD LARSEN POP-UP: SLEEK DANISH FURNITURE DESIGN

A slice of hygge in Berlin: Until March, Danish furniture designer and architect Sigurd Larsen is hosting a pop-up store in collaboration with Formel A and Fantastic Frank. The concept allows design fans to experience and purchase their favorite pieces on-site, such as Larsen’s minimal “A Sofa”, spacious and floating on thin legs made of either oak or copper. Larsen’s furniture range also includes “The Shrine”: a box-like hub of drawers, perfect for a record player and smaller key-locked valuables. (Text: Victoria Pease)

Sigurd Larsen Pop-Up, Torstr.138, 10119 Berlin-Mitte; map

Mon-Sat 12-19h, ongoing until March

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Miscellaneous

NEO FM: THE NEW CLASSICAL MASTERS FROM FLUX FM

Beloved Berlin radio station, Flux FM, has gained a large and loyal following for its fresh curation of indie, punk and electro sounds. But its latest project strikes a new chord: Contemporary classical. Launched in collaboration with label !K7, Flux FM’s new channel, Neo FM, puts an innovative twist on tradition, spotlighting game-changing young masters such as Nils Frahm, Jóhann Jóhannsson and Brandt Brauer Frick, who blend diverse musical styles such as electronic, ambient, and instrumental. Classical music is loosening its strict patterns and stuffy repertoire in favor of more fluid musical explorations. Tune in and listen for yourself.

(Text: Victoria Pease / Photo credit: Ryo Mitamura (left), Alex Kozobolis (right))

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Cafes

THE BARN AT CAFE KRANZLER: AN ICON’S THIRD-WAVE REVIVAL

Berlin’s third coffee wave has been slow to hit the west – but a recent revival of an historic coffee institution has made the wait worthwhile. December 2016 saw The Barn open its third branch in the Charlottenburg institution Café Kranzler. Retaining the majority of the café’s original design features, owner Ralf Rüller applied his signature commitment to quality to the iconic space, installing a Mavam under-table espresso machine and forging a collaboration with Brooklyn chocolatier Mast Brothers. In addition to The Barn’s usual selection of sustainably-cultivated coffees, there are teas from Paper & Tea and cold-pressed juices on offer, alongside Portuguese tarts and sugar waffles. Sitting on the rotunda balcony in the soft light of a Sunday morning, watching steam curl up from a fresh V60 brew in the light may just be our new favorite coffee moment yet. (Text: Anna Dorothea Ker)

The Barn at Café Kranzler, Kurfürstendamm 18, 10719 Berlin-Charlottenburg; map

Mon-Sun 10-20h

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