Curated Route

Unconventional Art Venues in Berlin’s North

Connecting the up-and-coming districts of Reinickendorf, Wedding, and Moabit, this route takes you to a host of industrial and other repurposed spaces turned into cultural venues that vividly reflect the diversity and community-oriented spirit of Berlin’s art scene.

Journey out to Reinickendorf and start at Wilhelm Hallen, a former iron foundry where Hallen presents its fifth and largest yearly festival edition. Across the 9,000-square-metre industrial space, ›Hallen 05‹ showcases artworks presented by galleries, institutions, and art collections, an accompanying program of events for all ages, and a variety of culinary highlights that can be enjoyed at the on-site Ferro Canteen or the vast outdoor area.

Move down South to Uferhallen in Wedding, where the Neuer Berliner Kunstverein (n.b.k.) presents ›Industry‹, a project that features diverse artistic interventions at the Uferhallen and Uferstudios. For over thirteen years, n.b.k. has actively supported the complex to preserve it as one of Berlin’s key artistic production sites. Curated by Marius Babias and Arkadij Koscheew, ›Industry‹ offers a humorous take on the potential future of cultural spaces while exploring the former workshops of the Berlin Transport Authority and engaging with the area’s industrial roots.

While in the area, be sure to visit Savvy Contemporary, an artistic organisation and discursive platform dedicated to exhibition-making, research, sonic and visual cultures, and embodied knowledge. Its latest project, ›Society. Or Infinite Rehearsals‹, opens on 13 September with a focus on artistic practices that engage with movement and its many meanings. Featuring works by Heba Y. Amin, Kasia Fudakowski, Thomias Radin, and Sung Tieu, among others, the show takes dance as a methodology and works through “choreographies” that fixate societies in colonial, patriarchal, classist, and casteist logics.

Just a few blocks away is Sinema Transtopia, a cinema developed as a space of social discourse, exchange, and solidarity. On 12 September, as part of the project ›Scenes of (Un-)translatability‹, artist Ming Wong introduces Cheung Cheuk’s film ›Bamboo Theatre‹, which documents the centuries-old ritual performance of Cantonese Opera, and discusses it in relation to his own artistic practice. On 13 September, Slavs and Tatars present their new lecture-performance, ›Hung Tongue‹, which explores voice-over translations and what they reveal about the performativity of language.

Head to Moabit for a visit to Hamburger Bahnhof – Nationalgalerie der Gegenwart, a contemporary art museum in a former ninteenth-century railway station. During Berlin Art Week, it presents a sound festival, which includes performances by Lydia Lunch and Jelena Fužinato, concerts by Naama Tsabar in conjunction with her solo exhibition ›Estuaries›, artist talks, guided tours, and a showcase of music pieces from Hamburger Bahnhof’s collection. At the museum-adjacent Restaurant Konstantin, savour a quick refreshment or a full meal before heading to the next stop.

Located a short walking distance away is Trauma Bar​ und Kino, a venue bridging contemporary art, performance, music, and club culture. In its central theatre space, Esben Weile Kjær’s exhibition ›Milky Way‹ recalls two iconic architectural typologies—Soviet playgrounds and WW2 bunkers along the West European coastline⁠⁠—through a large concrete structure, exploring the status of bygone utopian visions and social rituals.

Next, make a stop at Alexander Levy​ to see the gallery’s latest solo exhibition of works by Ella Litwitz, as well as the neighbouring Levy Galerie for its career-spanning showcase of Francis Picabia’s prints and drawings.

End your tour at ZK/U—Center for Art and Urbanistics, an artist-led residency and project space in a former freight station at the Moabit Stadtgarten, which ceremoniously reopens after a four-year expansion phase with the program ›Commons Cosmodrome‹. The artists currently on-site connect with former residents, resulting in a performative exhibition, ›No Departures Without Arrivals‹, featuring live DJ sets, cooking sessions, and film screenings. On 12 and 15 September, celebrate the opening and closing of ZK/U’s program from 23h until late.

Information on the accessibility of the respective institutions can be found under Locations.