Photo by Stan Douglas. Courtesy of Julia Stoschek Collection.
Winter may be swiftly approaching but Berliners know better than to let the weather dictate their (mis)behaviour. SLEEK compiles the best the city has to offer for Scorpio season and beyond.
November 01
Record release event of ATØ, curated by Ziúr—Trauma Bar und Kino
Ziúr curates the record release of ATO (Alliance to Take Over the World) at Trauma Bar und Kino – with Juliana Huxtable [SHOCK VALUE], Rabit [Halcyon Veil] and LEDEF [House of KENZO] playing alongside the Berlin-based producer. Ziúr explains, “these loved ones live the best example on how to radically push the limits of artistry and life, while still being grounded, uncompromising, and ultimately badass.”
Juliana Huxtable. Photo by Timothy Schaumburg for Sleek 56.
November 02
Splicing Block by Stan Douglas—Julia Stoschek Collection
The Julia Stoschek collection presents an exhibition of works by Canadian artist Stan Douglas. Splicing Block explores the relationship between music and the social body, reconstructing and reimagining cultural movements from the 1970s.
November 5—10
Wall of Opinions—Brandenburg Gate
Journalist and documentary filmmaker Maria Seifert’s video installation, Wall of Opinions, follows the work she presented at the 2018 German Pavilion at the 16th Architecture Biennale in Venice. Examining the effects of the 28-year division of the Wall and the process of healing, Wall of Opinions shows the people she met and interviewed.
November 07
Spat from My Mouth: Piano Concerto by Billy J. Bultheel—Pogo Bar, KW
Pogo Bar presents a piano concerto and performance by Berlin-based artist and composer Billy J. Bultheel.
No Democracy without Women– The New Beginning of ’89 — a panel discussion at Brandenburg Gate
“In the current situation of social upheaval, the interests of women have so far played a subordinate role.” Thus began the appeal to establish an autonomous women’s association in November 1989. It was hoped that this organisation, despite representing a broad range of demands and positions within the women’s movement, might act as a political force during the revolution. Otherwise, it was feared, there would be a “further deterioration in the social standing of women” and a “renewed exclusion of women from important political and economic decisions.”
Toyin Ojih Odutola. Courtesy of the artist and Jack Shainman Gallery, New York.
November 08
Helga Paris, Retrospective—Akadamie Der Künste
Akadamie Der Künste presents the photographic work of Helga Paris from 1968 to 2011. Over 275 works will be exhibited for the first time in the artists first retrospective in her home city of Berlin.
November 10
Throw Down, directed by Johnnie To—Gropius Bau Cinema
Gropius Bau describes Sundays for Hong Kong as a “cinema action”. Screening films, documentaries and shorts from Hong Kong every Sunday with free admission in an attempt to shed light on the culture, history and future of Hong Kong, the series continues with To’s very own personal homage to his favourite filmmaker Akira Kurosawa.
November 13
The End of The Alphabet: A Reading and conversation with Claudia Rankine—Haus der Kulturen der Welt
Claudia Rankine’s work interrogates racism and alienation—here the writer and poet speaks with Senthuran Varatharajahah about her practise and reads from her work.
November 14
PAN Open Spaces—C/O Berlin
Multi-disciplinary record label, founded and headed by Billl Kouligas, presents a new audio-visual performance for C/O Berlin.
Fred Moten and Wu Tsang, 2016. Photo: Florian Braakman, Courtesy: the artists
November 17
Wu Tsang & Fred Moten in conversation—Gropius Bau
On the occasion of Wu-Tsang’s exhibition There is no nonviolent way to look at somebody at the Gropius Bau, theorist and poet Fred Moten joins the artist to discuss collaborative artistic processes and shared points of reference.
November 22
The Autobiography Effect, a conversation with Sarah Hechler and Dennis Schep—Diffrakt Centre for Theoretical Periphery.
Interrogating the relationship between language and reality and the interplay between subjective and objective truth, Sarah Hechler and Dennis Schep question the autobiographical form.
Photo courtesy of Volksbühne, Berlin.
November 23
Marwa Arsanios: Material for Work or How to Accomplish a No Smile Strike—Grüner Salon, Volksbühne Berlin
Marwa Arsanios’ new work examines traditional female roles of work and care, looking at the radical potential of theatre. “To what extent does the domestic space serve economic structures in the name of love, and how are some of these domestic social dynamics reproduced in the workplace?,” asks Arsanios–a pertinent question.
November 26
Exile and Imagination screening—Institute for Cultural Enquiry, Berlin
The life and work of Svetlana Boym—literary and cultural critic, media artist, novelist and playwright—is explored in the documentary Exile and Imagination by Judith Wechsler. The screening is free and a conversation with the filmmaker will follow.