"Art is vital": 48 hours of Neukölln - finally air to breathe

Last year the art festival "48 hours Neukölln" only took place digitally due to the corona pandemic.This year the organizers can breathe a sigh of relief: Thanks to the positive development of pandemic, a hybrid format on the weekend of 18 is 18.until 20.June possible.The works of the approximately 650 artists are partly digital, partly on site in Neukölln.

Various installations in public space make it possible for the audience to discover works of art in Neukölln.Karin Korte, district councilor for culture, said that she is very pleased that many art galleries opened now and that visits are also possible on site.Around 75 of the approximately 250 projects can also be viewed online as a livestream, in the form of digital exhibitions or at video conferences.

Since 1999, cultural workers have been presenting their projects as part of the Neukölln festival: inside.These come from all over Germany and now also from other countries to Neukölln to discover the district with the exhibited works of art.

The largest free cultural festival across Berlin wants one thing above all: artists: give a stage inside, to comment on current social issues.Corona pandemic is therefore the focus of many projects again this year.How can cultural events be implemented in these times?What's next after the crisis for artists?

The artists are devoted to these questions in different ways.The central exhibition is located in the boiler of the Kindl, the former brewery and today's Center for Contemporary Art in Neukölln (Am Sudhaus 3).

[If you want the latest news from Berlin, Germany and the world live on your cell phone, we recommend our app, which you can download here for Apple and Android devices.]

The festival issue is already accessing access to the exhibition rooms: With its “Repair” project, the artist duo Ludger Näkel and Branco Brancowitsch makes the breath of visitors: Inside the entry ticket.The picture "The air is out" by Barbara Duisberg illustrates the exhaustion of the clinic staff during the pandemic with the empty protective suits shown.

But the Corona crisis is not the only topic of the works on display: Salah Saouli, for example, is dedicated to the topic of "air" in a different way.He reminds the visitors: Inside with his installation of a flying carpet on Far Eastern legends.

In addition to the exhibition in the Kindl, four installations, the so -called "signals", draw attention to the festival on the streets of the Neukölln district.With an inflatable and ten-meter-high question mark on the roof of the Neukölln Opera, Maja Spasova alludes to future questions that deal with the company with a view to the time after the Corona pandemy.

The organizers strictly pay attention to accessibility

With the former gardening school, the neighborhood campus on Dammweg, an approximately 1.5 hectare area also belongs to the exhibition area of the festival.The organizers: Inside, not only the meadows on campus, but also the greenhouses.This "green oasis in urban space" serves the feminist video collective "Trial and Theresa" as an area for her video installations, explains Mina Mahouti, who, together with Sharmila Sharma and Thorsten Schlenger, belongs to the festival management.

[Don't miss art and culture in your Berlin neighborhood!With our Tagesspiegel district newsletters you are always in the picture.Free and compact: people.daily mirror.de]

The two women have joined this year, Schlenger has been heading the festival since 2013.The organizer is important for both analog and digital offers: to pay attention to inclusion inside.All installations should be accessible as barrier -free as possible.

All people should have access to the exhibits."Art is vital", as Ingo Malter, who, as the managing director of the city and country housing building society, is one of the sponsors of the festival, emphasized at the press conference on the event.

more on the subject

Further information on the program can be found on the homepage of the festival 48 hours of Neukölln (48-hour newcomer.de), that of 18.until 20.June takes place.A specific hygiene concept was developed for each exhibition room and viewing appointments must be booked online in advance.There is no longer a test obligation, the organizers: but still appeal to the visitors: inside, to be tested voluntarily before viewing.