Press Releases
Open Call Theatertreffen-Blog 2020
Starting immediately, the Theatertreffen of Berliner Festspiele is looking for emerging arts journalists and authors to join their Blog-team for the coming festival edition. The deadline for applications is 2 February 2020.
03 December 2019
Musikfest Berlin 2020: First Programme Highlights Released
The Berliner Festspiele will stage the Musikfest Berlin 2020 from 29 August to 23 September in cooperation with the Berliner Philharmoniker Foundation.
28 November 2019
Exhibition Programme 2020
The 2020 exhibition programme continues to explore themes of global and historic urgency: land, the Anthropocene, boundaries, global resources, trauma and their relation to the body.
07 November 2019
Fusion of Music and Space
The Berliner Festspiele held the 56th Jazzfest Berlin from 31 October to 3 November. With the stage of the Festspielhaus transformed into a concert arena – serving at the same time as a platform for the new Late Night Labs and KIM Collective’s "Fungus Opera" – and the Gropius Bau as the venue for Anthony Braxton's "Sonic Genome", collective creative and experience spaces were created for the musicians and the audience. 7,000 spectators attended the four-day festival, with artistic director Nadin Deventer at its helm for the second time.
04 November 2019
The countdown is on: Anthony Braxton’s “Sonic Genome” opens the festival on 31 October
The Berliner Festspiele will be staging its 56th Jazzfest Berlin from 31 October to 3 November. On the four festival days, five projects will celebrate their world premiere and fifteen their German premiere. In addition to ARD and Deutschlandradio with two live broadcasts and ARD Jazznacht, Arte Concert, in its role as the new media partner, will be bringing the festival to life this year with two livestreamed evenings. In addition, the six-hour festival opening will be streamed as a video and produced by Deutschlandfunk Kultur together with the ARD as a sound art piece for radio.
29 October 2019
Open Calls for the Exhibition Lee Mingwei 2020
Lee Mingwei’s artistic practice is primarily concerned with rituals of giving and receiving. From 27 March to 7 June 2020, the Gropius Bau will present a solo exhibition by the artist, showing his installations and performances from the last thirty years. Central to the exhibition is an exploration of art’s potential to be a transformative gift.
23 October 2019
Invitation to the press meeting: “Diamante”
For his play “Diamante”, Mariano Pensotti will erect a village at the Festspielhaus from 16 to 24 November in which guests can move individually from one place to the next, observing the lives of the inhabitants and compiling their own stories. The workers’ settlement Diamante is some kind of Jungle Silicon Valley. In Pensotti's six-hour production, the visitors together with the residents experience how the city changes in the course of a year – from a social-capitalist utopia into a doomed society.
16 October 2019
Applications for Stückemarkt and International Forum welcome
Every year, the Berliner Festspiele’s Theatertreffen supports a new generation of international theatre makers, artists and journalists. The formats Stückemarkt, International Forum and Theatertreffen-blog offer a platform for artists from various disciplines.
08 October 2019
Immersion Project “The New Infinity” draws 19,000 visitors to the Mobile Dome in Berlin and to the Planetarium Hamburg
The second presentation of the programme series “The New Infinity. New Art for planetariums” came to an end this past Sunday evening with a closing night concert by Robert Lippok & Lucas Gutierrez. Together with last year’s productions, the new works will now be touring internationally and will be shown at festivals and planetariums.
25 September 2019
More than 39,000 Visitors Attended the Concerts at Berlin’s International Orchestra Festival
The 2019 Musikfest Berlin took place from 30 August to 19 September and was organised by the Berliner Festspiele in cooperation with the Berliner Philharmoniker Foundation.
20 September 2019
Invitation to the press meeting: “Taylor Mac – A 24-Decade History of Popular Music”
From 10 to 20 October Taylor Mac's monumental show “A 24-Decade History of Popular Music” can be seen for the first time in Germany as part of the Berliner Festspiele's programme series Immersion. The work by the award-winning theatre artist earned vast acclaim in the U.S. as one of the most celebrated theater events of the decade. The 24-hour extravaganza comes to the Haus der Berliner Festspiele for its European premiere and exclusive European performance of this unabridged version.
16 September 2019
Jazzfest Berlin 2019: Complete festival programme released
The Berliner Festspiele have now released the complete programme for the 56th Jazzfest Berlin (31 October to 3 November).
03 September 2019
The festival begins on 30 August. The opening concert on 31 August presents “Benvenuto Cellini” by Hector Berlioz
Berliner Festspiele’s Musikfest Berlin, hosted in cooperation with the Foundation Berliner Philharmoniker, marks the beginning of Berlin’s new 2019/20 concert season.
28 August 2019
“Sonic Genome” by Anthony Braxton launches the festival on 31 October at Gropius Bau
With the transatlantic cooperation project “Sonic Genome”, Nadin Deventer continues the festival’s orientation with international encounters and interdisciplinary border crossings.
15 August 2019
Wu Tsang: There is no nonviolent way to look at somebody
Wu Tsang’s solo exhibition There is no nonviolent way to look at somebody presents films in dialogue with her sculptural practice, working with the interaction of glass, light and text, and including a new stained-glass commission conceived for the Gropius Bau.
14 August 2019
Walking Through Walls
Walking Through Walls marks the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, one of the most symbolic events of the 20th century, interrogating the experience of vulnerability and anxiety caused by power structures that thrive on confinement and segregation.
08 August 2019
Gropius Bau Autumn 2019 Programme
Gropius Bau announces the autumn 2019 programme with two exhibitions, both responding to the unique architecture of the building, a solo presentation of film and site-specific sculpture by artist Wu Tsang along with a group show bringing together an array of international artists marking the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall.
24 June 2019
The 56th Theatertreffen ended on 20 May, with Ulrich Rasche’s monumental staging of “Das große Heft” from Staatsschauspiel Dresden
“Burning Issues Meets Theatertreffen”, the conference on gender (in)equality took place on the festival’s final weekend.
The 18-day festival was visited by a total of 18,526 spectators.
20 May 2019
Stückemarkt at Theatertreffen 2019: Commission of Work awarded to Manuela Infante
Together with the Federal Agency for Civic Education/bpb, the Theatertreffen’s Stückemarkt has awarded this year’s commission of work during a public event at Haus der Berliner Festspiele on Thursday, 16 May 2019. This commission entails the production of a new work at Schauspielhaus Bochum. The winner is Manuela Infante.
16 May 2019
The New Infinity – The pre-sale for the world premiere of the new works has begun
This summer, our project series “The New Infinity” will launch its second round and present contemporary art in planetariums once more. The new cycle of commissioned works by the Berliner Festspiele/Immersion in co-production with the Planetarium Hamburg will celebrate its world premiere on 13 August at Planetarium Hamburg, in cooperation with the International Summer Festival Kampnagel. In September, the productions will be presented at the Mobile Dome in Berlin, with free admission. Tickets for the launch event in Hamburg, including Arcade Fire’s front man Richard Reed Parry and his solo project “The Quiet River of Dust”, are now available online.
15 May 2019
Taylor Mac's “A 24-Decade History of Popular Music” und Mariano Pensotti's “Diamante” at Haus der Berliner Festspiele
Taylor Mac's monumental show “A 24-Decade History of Popular Music” can be seen for the first time in Germany from 10 October, before Mariano Pensotti's play “Diamante”, for which he is building a walk-in village on the stage of the Festspielhaus, can be seen from 16 November. Tickets are now available online.
10 May 2019
System Issues
The 2019 Theatertreffen will present performances of the ten selected productions and host the Stückemarkt as well as numerous other events, many of them with free admission. The discourse programme “TT Context” will pick up on existing issues, examine theatre systems and new forms of production and investigate the repercussions of Germany’s reunification on the theatre. “Burning Issues Meets Theatertreffen“, a conference on gender (in)equality will take place from 17 to 19 May.
From 2020, Theatertreffen will implement a female quota for a period of two years: At least 50% of the selection of ten productions will be directed by female directors or predominantly female collectives.
30 April 2019
Garden of Earthly Delights
Running from 26 July to 1 December 2019, the Gropius Bau’s exhibition Garden of Earthly Delights will see over 20 international artists using the space of the garden as a metaphor for the state of the world, in an exploration of the complexities of our chaotic and increasingly precarious present.
30 April 2019
Hector Berlioz and European Modernism
Musikfest Berlin, hosted by Berliner Festspiele in cooperation with the Foundation Berliner Philharmoniker, has published its programme. Advance ticket sales start today, 12 April 2019 at 14h.
12 April 2019
Bani Abidi: They Died Laughing
Bani Abidi is known for her distinctive approach to filmmaking, which derives from the dark absurdities of everyday life. Opening on 5 June 2019, They Died Laughing is an extensive presentation of Abidi’s works, bringing together moving image and print-based works that span two decades.
08 April 2019
The Black Image Corporation. Theaster Gates
The Gropius Bau presents The Black Image Corporation, an exhibition conceived by Theaster Gates, from 25 April to 28 July 2019. Theaster Gates has conceived a participatory exhibition highlighting the works of two photographers, Moneta Sleet Jr. and Isaac Sutton, which is on display on the first floor of the Gropius Bau.
26 March 2019
3sat-Award for Ersan Mondtag at the 56th Theatertreffen / No performance of “Das Internat” possible during the festival
Director Ersan Mondtag will receive the 3sat-Award, which includes prize money of 10,000 Euro, at this year’s Theatertreffen for his production “Das Internat” at Schauspiel Dortmund. The public award ceremony will take place on Saturday, 4 May 2019 at 11.30h at Haus der Berliner Festspiele. Unfortunately, it will not be possible to present the production at this year’s Theatertreffen.
25 March 2019
Soiree at Villa Elisabeth with Volker Hagedorn and Alexander Melnikov
On the occasion of the publication of its programme, Berliner Festspiele’s Musikfest Berlin 2019 will host a literary and musical soiree at Villa Elisabeth featuring author Volker Hagedorn and pianist Alexander Melnikov on 14 April at 17:00.
22 March 2019
Theatertreffen 2019: “Hotel Strindberg”, directed by Simon Stone, will open this year’s festival edition
The 56th Theatertreffen of Berliner Festspiele will open with Simon Stone’s “Hotel Strindberg”, a coproduction of the Vienna Burgtheater and Theater Basel. Ulrich Rasche’s novel adaptation “Das große Heft (The Notebook)”, a production of Staatsschauspiel Dresden, will conclude the festival, which has been extended by one day, on Monday, 20 May.
12 March 2019
Immersion Programme 2019
Berliner Festspiele is continuing its programme series Immersion 2019 by examining border-dissolving processes.
06 March 2019
2019 Theatertreffen: The Stückemarkt-Selection
For the first time, the Theatertreffen’s Stückemarkt expanded its search for new theatre plays and projects into a worldwide competition. The jury has selected five works that will be presented in an appropriate format during the festival.
26 February 2019
The Gropius Bau Debuts the Newly Transformed Building and 2019 Exhibition Programme
"Opening up the building and revealing its spaces in their original, light-flooded form has been very important to me during my first year at the Gropius Bau. Now we are opening the heart of the building to the public, the stunning atrium.
14 February 2019
Theatertreffen 2019: The 10 selected productions
During a press conference at Haus der Berliner Festspiele today, 30 January 2019, the Theatertreffen-jury revealed their selection of the “ten most remarkable productions” which are nominated for an invitation to the 56th Theatertreffen, which will take place from 3 to 19 May 2019.
30 January 2019
‘Palast der Republik’. Art, discourse and parliament from 8 to 10 March at the Haus der Berliner Festspiele
A symbolic reconstruction of the Palast der Republik will be held at the Haus der Berliner Festspiele from 8 to 10 March 2019.
25 January 2019
MaerzMusik – Festival for Time Issues 2019: LINE-UP “The Long Now”
For the 5th time, “The Long Now” will take place at Kraftwerk Berlin, hosted by Berliner Festspiele in cooperation with Berlin Atonal from 30 March starting at 7 p.m. through to 31 March at midnight.
11 January 2019
MaerzMusik – Festival for Time Issues: 2019 festival programme published
In the current festival edition, the Berliner Festspiele investigates history and writing history as temporal political phenomena.
11 January 2019
Three Orchestras from London
The 2019 Musikfest Berlin will feature the Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique, conducted by Sir John Eliot Gardiner, the London Symphony Orchestra with its Music Director Sir Simon Rattle and the BBC Symphony Orchestra with its Chief Conductor Sakari Orama, each presenting premieres of a different kind.
10 December 2018
2019 Programme Highlights
The 2019 programme sees the Gropius Bau bring together local and international artists who push forward some of the most important conversations of our time, opening our minds to new possibilities.We start and end the programme with exhibitions that share a profound connection with the Gropius Bau’s heritage as an institution that is deeply rooted in the development of creativity in Berlin.
16 October 2018
Theatertreffen 2019: Open Calls – Applications for Stückemarkt and International Forum welcome
Every year, the Berliner Festspiele's Theatertreffen supports a new generation of international theatre makers and creative professionals. The formats Stückemarkt, International Forum and Theatertreffen-blog invite artists from various disciplines to attend the festival in Berlin, to present their work and to discuss the art of tomorrow, right here and right now. For the first time the Stückemark welcomes applications from all over the world.