The week: Bring it on, Berlin!

With the end of this gray January, the days promise to get a little longer again. Perhaps soon the sky will not be quite so low and leaden over the capital. And the end of “Dry January” is sure to let many Berliners breathe a sigh of relief. In any case, it is comforting that from now on the cultural scene is picking up speed and the Berlin audience feels the artistic pulse of the world again after the first clammy weeks of the year.

The Haus der Berliner Festspiele has been showing the musical lecture performance “Yellow Rhapsody” by the Singapore-born artist Ming Wong to kick off its annual program since last Friday. Using unique archival materials and an artfully woven musical collage, the piece tells of the difficult relationship between America and China, beginning with American President Richard Nixon’s historic state visit to communist China almost exactly 50 years ago.

The CTM is currently running beyond the major venues. Under the title “Portals”, sound and music are being celebrated as gateways to other realities these days. Again, Asia is targeted, more specifically South Asia. The trailer already promised to get our bodies vibrating again in neon green rooms filled with experimental music. In fact, since Friday – probably for the first time since the Corona pandemic – concerts and club events in hip places in the city have been enjoyed largely carefree.

Parallel to this, this year’s transmediale festival in the Academy of Arts and in Silent Green is dedicated to so-called scaling technologies – similar to the CTM, a program for gourmets and freaks.

And of course the anticipation of the Berlinale is growing. Since the announcement of the competition films with an unusually large number of German contributions, it can be expected that there will probably be even fewer international stars on the red carpet. And yet the Berlinale makes the city appear a little more glamorous for a brief moment. So bring it on, February! Bring it on, Berlin!

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