Berliner Festspiele

What’s On

Exhibition

“I am interested in creating my own little world and losing myself in it.” Omer FastOmer Fast (* 1972) is one of the most distinctive film and video artists of his generation. He creates narrations in his films that question the borders between one’s own and media narratives and between current and historic events. His works address the friction between documentary and fiction. The Martin-Gropius-Bau showed seven of his projects at his first large solo exhibition in Berlin.

In addition to presenting projection-based works in customary dark spaces, the artist also created three new installations resembling waiting rooms: a doctor’s clinic, an airport lounge and an immigration office. These waiting rooms featured older monitor-based works and were also sites for performances planned for the exhibition.This exhibition at the Martin-Gropius-Bau was held as part of the program “Immersion. Analogue Arts in the Digital Age”. “Immersion” was a program of the Berliner Festspiele scheduled for three years. It regularly displayed works of art which one does not face from the opposite side, but enters to become part of them&nbsp;– as a performance or sculpture, choreography, narrative space or virtual reality experience.His works in the Martin-Gropius-Bau:CNN Concatenated 2002 (18-minutes, single screen, looped) In CNN Concatenated, Omer Fast splices a vast amount of CNN footage: Male and female presenters, reporters and weathermen briefly flash across the screen, their sentences are fragmented to such a degree that each person only ever gets to say one word before disappearing. Edited from a database of ten-thousand clips, the words are strung together to form hurried and jerky sentences, which address the viewer directly and in very personal terms. Started in late 2000 and taking two years to complete, the work is a time capsule that shows the transformation of news coverage before, during and after September 11, 2001, while hijacking that coverage to deliver a monologue about fear and longing.Looking Pretty for God (After G.W.) 2008 (28-minutes, single screen, looped) Looking Pretty for God is a straight-forward documentary, in which North-American funeral directors speak about their work. As the professionals responsible for a deceased person’s last public appearance, funeral directors’ line of work falls somewhere between make-up artistry, plastic surgery, grief counseling, event planning, and magic. While the camera explores the largely empty funeral homes in which these men work, little children sometimes appear and explain what we’re seeing.5000 Feet is the Best 2011 (30-minutes, single screen, looped) Originally premiered in the 52nd Venice Biennale, 5000 Feet is the Best is based on conversations with a U.S. Predator drone operator, which were recorded in a hotel in Las Vegas. On-camera, the drone operator discussed the technical aspects of his job and his daily routine. Off-camera and off-the-record, he briefly described incidents in which the unmanned plane fired at both militants and civilians. The film fluidly moves from documentary to reenactment and fiction, weaving together the drone operator’s account along with scenes depicting crimes in and around Las Vegas.Continuity 2012 (40-minutes, single screen, looped) Commissioned for Documenta 13, Continuity follows a young German soldier returning home after serving in Afghanistan. A familiar domestic environment with emotional parents soon gives way to a series of anomalies that gradually become perverse and uncanny. It remains unclear whether the couple has suffered an actual loss or if they’re performing an obsessive ritual that keeps them together. A total of three different sons spend the night at the house. Each disappears under mysterious circumstances.Everything That Rises Must Converge 2013 (4-Channel Video, 56 minutes, looped) Everything That Rises Must Converge is a four-channel digital film that depicts a working day in Los Angeles, weaving together documentary material and fictional scenes involving several characters. The documentary component follows four adult-film performers on their everyday life, starting at home as they get out of bed and going through their entire day until they go back home and get into bed at night. All along the way, we encounter fictional characters who appear on the set of the Porn shoot: A director who turns trauma into art, a husband and wife in the middle of a crisis and an actress who is questioning her role.Spring 2016 (44-minutes, five-screen projection, looped) Presented on five interconnected screens, Spring is a portrait of two young German men whose lives intersect violently. A teenaged boy finds a way to earn extra cash by visiting a middle-aged couple and performing as their son. An older male escort is also hired by the couple, but disappears after visiting the local bakery. Moving backwards and forwards in time, the work shows characters who are lost and trying to connect, before reaching a surprising end from two different perspectives. Spring is a companion piece to the artist’s earlier film, Continuity, (2012) which is also shown in the exhibition.August 2016 Shot in 3D, the new project is loosely based on the life and work of the Cologne photographer August Sander (1876-1964). In surreal and dreamy sequences, the short film imagines the artist at the end of his life, nearly blind and haunted by the death of his son and by the figures he has photographed.In addition to the film projections in ordinary darkened rooms, the artist will design three exhibition rooms as waiting rooms. Omer Fast himself spent a lot of time in waiting rooms which have therefore often expanded, and even replaced, his studio: The waiting hall at the airport, the waiting room at the doctor and that of the Aliens Registration Office. Conceptualized as a waiting area for exhausted exhibition visitors, as alternatively bright rooms to display some of the artist's earlier works and as a place where performances and interventions for the exhibition are planned, the three waiting rooms will be an integral part of »Talking is not always the solution«.

Works shown were: CNN Concatenated from 2002, Looking Pretty for God (after G.W.) from 2008, 5000 Feet is the Best from 2011, Continuity from 2012, Everything That Rises Must Converge from 2013, Spring from 2016, as well as a new work called August from 2016. Shot in 3D, August is based on the life and work of renowned Cologne photographer August Sander (1876-1964). In surreal dream sequences, the artist is haunted at the end of life by the death of his son and the figures he photographed.In his cinematic works, Fast tells stories of trauma, war and relationships. Our impulse to identify with the people whose stories we witness is often undermined by conflicting accounts, inexplicable changes or outright lies. Everything that we know and believe could be entirely different. Omer Fast’s films are more than thought experiments or games between narration and enactment. They are simultaneously oppressive and moving.

Ausstellung

Exhibition

Immersion 2016

Immersion

Gropius Bau

Omer Fast

Past Events

2016

Festivals & Programme Series

Upcoming

The Berliner Festspiele organise a range of festivals and art exhibitions, concerts, dance and theatre performances, readings, lectures, debates and much more throughout the year. These events are presented at a range of locations across Berlin but are concentrated primarily at their own two venues: the Gropius Bau and the Haus der Berliner Festspiele.

The Berliner Festspiele programme archive includes all events from 2004 onwards.

The archive pages of the current festivals and programme series can be found in the menu of the respective festival under Programme/Archive.

Berliner Festspiele&rsquo;s own events, guest events and past festivals and programme series are listed on this page.

The Berliner Festspiele&rsquo;s programme series &ldquo;Immersion&rdquo; presented the work of artists who transcended the conventional oppositions between work and viewer, stage and auditorium, object and observer.

Archiv

programm

Programme

Berliner Festspiele linksbündig_neu

Fallback-Bild Berliner Festspiele

In accordance with the ePrivacy Directive (2002/58/EC), you must consent to the use and storage of cookies when you visit our website. In addition to the strictly necessary, functional cookies, we recommend that you also activate further cookies in order to be able to use all the functions on our website.

furtherInformation

cookieConsent

Berliner Festspiele 75

bfs26_tanz_im_august

Two productions at Haus der Berliner Festspiele

Tanz im August

visibility

ctas0

ctas

bfs26_jubilaeum_text_3_2

Theatertreffen-Blog Header

smartInfo

In 2026 the Berliner Festspiele celebrate their 75th anniversary. A selection of events programmed throughout the entire year engage take the anniversary as their theme or mark the occasion with works at the Haus der Berliner Festspiele, the Gropius Bau, the Philharmonie, on Berlin’s Ringbahn and at other locations in the city. Outstanding international that liberal societies and their cultural institutions face in a new, multipolar world order. artists such as Marina Abramović, Gabriele St&ouml;tzer and Akira Takayama will set the agenda both thematically and aesthetically. Entitled “Die gro&szlig;e Unordnung” (The Great Disorder), the four-day focus Reflexes &amp; Reflections will also enquire about the challenges.

75 Years of the Berliner Festspiele

0111

teasers

ctaButton

teasers0

The massacre, hostage-taking and rocket attacks by Hamas have shaken us deeply. The grue-some attack on Israel on 7&nbsp;October left us stunned and initially lost for words.

The Berliner Festspiele on Current Events in Israel, Gaza and Germany

teasers1

With this letter of intent, we, the signing cultural organizations, express our intention to welcome, host and stage Ukrainian theatre artists in our venues, to make Ukrainian dramatic work visible to the European community.

Support of the Ukrainian Cultural Scene

More Berliner Festspiele

Key Visual Musikfest Berlin 2026

Musikfest Berlin sw

011112

Major Orchestras and Vocal Ensembles as Guests in Berlin

011115

slides

Fallback-Bild Tanztreffen der Jugend

slides0

More than 60 productions from across Germany applied to take part in this year’s Tanztreffen der Jugend. After the expert jury had the opportunity to view the shortlisted works live, the jurors selected 10&nbsp;productions for the final programme. The programme schedule has been published, advance ticket sales are open.

Tanztreffen der Jugend

slides1

In August 2026, the festival Tanz im August will return to the Haus der Berliner Festspiele with two productions. Tickets for Sounding Light and Après moi, le déluge are available.&nbsp;

Tanz im August

bfs26_internationales_literaturfestival_berlin

slides2

Under the motto “You are born with your face turned everywhere”, the 26th International Literature Festival Berlin (ILB) will bring together over 100&nbsp;authors from more than 40&nbsp;countries between 3&nbsp;and 12&nbsp;September at the Haus der Berliner Festspiele.

International Literature Festival Berlin&nbsp;

Fallback-Bild Performing Arts Season

slides3

The exploration of myths and rituals shapes the fourth edition of the Performing Arts Season with works by Marina Abramović, Mario Banushi, Marie Chouinard, Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker / Rosas, Ictus, Bl!ndman, Dumb Type, Damien Jalet / Kohei Nawa and Gisèle Vienne. The programme is published and ticket sales are on.

Performing Arts Season

bfs26_focus_japan

slides4

An Initiative of the Berliner Festspiele 2026/27As part of their anniversary season, the Berliner Festspiele in partnership with the Japanese-German Center Berlin dedicate a special focus to performative and musical arts from Japan, featuring works by the Kanze Noh Theater, Damien Jalet / Kohei Nawa, Akira Takayama, Dumb Type and the Otomo Yoshihide New Jazz Quintet.

Focus Japan

Fallback-Bild Jazzfest Berlin

slides5

29 October to 1 November 2026In 2026, the line-up welcomes audiences to make new discoveries and features outstanding representatives from a variety of scenes, spanning a highly diverse cultural and musical landscape. At the same time, it celebrates two pioneering voices – Anthony Braxton and Alexander von Schlippenbach – who have shaped the global scene for decades. The programme will be published on 10&nbsp;September, advance ticket sales start on 17&nbsp;September.

Jazzfest Berlin

011116

bfs26_berlinale

0117

The Berlinale as a guest at Haus der Berliner Festspiele

76th Berlin International Film Festival

bfs25_internationales_literaturfestival_berlin

0118

as a guest at Haus der Berliner Festspiele

25th international literature festival berlin

Performing Arts Season_neu

pas25_ultimo_helecho_c_nina_laisne_05

0119

Nina Laisné and François Chaignaud with Nadia Larcher

Último helecho

ctas1

gb26_abramovic_massaging_breasts_3zu2_2.jpg

Extended exhibition and additional performance

Due to popular demand the run for Marina Abramović: Balkan Erotic Epic. The Exhibition has been extended by one week until 30 August 2026. The extended opening hours until 20:00 will continue to apply through to the end of the exhibition.And due to the anticipated high demand, an additional performance of Marina Abramović: Balkan Erotic Epic. The Stage Version has also been scheduled on 13 October as part of the Performing Arts Season at the Haus der Berliner Festspiele. Tickets for all the performances from 13 to 17 October will be released for sale on 18 June at 14:00.

Marina Abramović: Balkan Erotic Epic.

An Initiative of the Berliner Festspiele 2026/27

As part of their anniversary season, the Berliner Festspiele in partnership with the Japanese-German Center Berlin dedicate a special focus to performative and musical arts from Japan, featuring works by the Kanze Noh Theater, Damien Jalet / Kohei Nawa, Akira Takayama, Dumb Type and the Otomo Yoshihide New Jazz Quintet. Through contributions to the programmes of Musikfest Berlin, the Performing Arts Season, Jazzfest Berlin and MaerzMusik, alongside an original project unfolding across the city, this initiative draws on a long history of exchange and resonance between the Berliner Festspiele and artistic expressions of Japanese culture.

Focus Japan

bfs26_jubiläum_plakat_stoetzer

gb24_braetsch_baubau_teaser

Since 14 March 2026Playing, laughing, making noise, letting off steam, doing nothing – all in an exhibition venue! With BAUBAU, the artist Kerstin Br&auml;tsch designed an&nbsp;admission-free play space for kids, where more is allowed than forbidden. On Gropius Bau’s ground floor, colourful wallpapers, structures, objects and open-ended material called “loose parts” configure flexible spaces that are shaped by children’s activities.

BAUBAU

gb26_gabriele_stoetzer_ausloeschung_1983_ret_a1_isov2_quadrat

19 June to 6 December 2026For more than five decades, Gabriele St&ouml;tzer has been grappling with questions of justice, gender and self-determination. Her own body often plays a central role in her work – not as an object, but as a site of resistance and feminist self-assertion. Dabei sein und nicht schweigen is the artist’s largest institutional solo exhibition to date.

Gabriele St&ouml;tzer: Dabei sein und nicht schweigen

15 April to 30 August 2026One of the most influential performance artists of all time, Marina Abramović presents Balkan Erotic Epic. The Exhibition at Gropius Bau in spring 2026. The show traces her ongoing engagement with ritual, eroticism, death and the body as a site of political resistance.

Marina Abramović: Balkan Erotic Epic. The Exhibition

gb25_diane_arbus_lady_bartender_at_home_with_a_souvenir dog_new_orleans_la_1964

Widely regarded as one of the most original and influential artists of the 20th&nbsp;century, Diane Arbus’ bold black-and-white photographs demolish aesthetic conventions and upend all certainties. With Diane Arbus: Konstellationen, Gropius Bau presents the most comprehensive exhibition of her work to date. Featuring 454&nbsp;prints, many of them shown here for the first time, Konstellationen offers new perspectives on Arbus’ iconic images and the wide range of her portraiture.

Diane Arbus: Konstellationen

gb25_vaginal_davis_key_visual_quadratisch

Marking twenty years since artist, writer and performer Vaginal Davis made Berlin her home, Gropius Bau presents the first comprehensive solo exhibition of her work in Germany. In her expansive oeuvre, punk meets glamour, queer activism meets Black counter-culture and resistance meets desire. Fabelhaftes Produkt offers an overview of Davis’ practice and artistic collaborations.

Vaginal Davis:&nbsp;Fabelhaftes Produkt

gb24_braetsch_baubau_quadratisch

teasers2

A Play Space for Kids

Playing, laughing, making noise, letting off steam, doing nothing – all in an exhibition venue! With BAUBAU, the artist Kerstin Br&auml;tsch designed an&nbsp;admission-free play space for kids, where more is allowed than forbidden. On Gropius Bau’s ground floor, colourful wallpapers, structures, objects and open-ended material called “loose parts” configure flexible spaces that are shaped by children’s activities.

GB25_Lewis_A Plot, A Scandal_quadratisch

teasers3

Ligia Lewis is a central figure in redefining performance within the context of the visual arts. In her multifaceted practice, she combines performance, live installation and film. &nbsp;From autumn 2025, Gropius Bau presents I’M NOT HERE FORRRRR…, the artist and choreographer’s most comprehensive solo exhibition to date. It brings together new and existing works that explore themes of race, gender, violence and resistance.

Ligia Lewis: I’M NOT HERE FORRRRR…

Current and Upcoming Exhibitions at the Gropius&nbsp;Bau

mgb11_p_02_photovoltaikanlage_querformat

We have been following EMAS guidelines for sustainable environmental performance since 2013. Find out more about our goals and the measures that we have already taken on the website of our umbrella organisation.

Sustainable Environmental Performance

bfs24_shield_and_shine_3_2

Active since 2018, the national network DIE VIELEN formulates clear positions against enmity, right-wing extremism and attacks against artistic freedom. With the campaign “SHIELD &amp; SHINE”, the alliance is calling out to take an even stronger stance in support of a plural, democratic orientation of the world.

SHIELD &amp; SHINE – We Are Many

<h3>Sustainable Environmental Performance</h3>We have been following EMAS guidelines for sustainable environmental performance since 2013. Find out more about our goals and the measures that we have already taken on the website of our umbrella organisation.

All year round, Berliner Festspiele host a multitude of festivals, exhibitions and individual events in two houses – the Haus der Berliner Festspiele at Schaperstra&szlig;e and the Gropius Bau near Potsdamer Platz – and other venues in the city.

The Berliner Festspiele

what_if_berlin

bfs26_ringbahn_mit_stationen

The Ringbahn as a stage for 27&nbsp;forgotten visions of the future

What If Berlin

TT2025_Berliner Festspiele_Panel_Und_jetzt_c_Fabian_Schellhorn_anschnitt_teaser_10_inszenierungen

On 13 January, the Theatertreffen’s jury of critics announced their selection of the 10 most remarkable productions for the 2026 Theatertreffen at a press conference. Our congratulations go to the nominated production teams and all participants!

The 10 Most Remarkable Productions 2026

platzhalter_nachhaltigkeitsmodus_2_1

The manifold anniversary programme will come together to form a multifaceted weekend of celebrations

In a lecture at the Performing Arts Season 2025/26, Gisèle Vienne offered insights into the significance of dolls in her work. Interviews, essays, and videos from previous editions of the Performing Arts Season, including contributions by Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker, Trisha Brown, Lucinda Childs, Akram Khan and Philippe Quesne, are still available in the Berliner Festspiele Media Library.

Through diverse choreographies and forms of expression in contemporary and urban dance, young dancers explored what constitutes their own identity and how it asserts itself in interaction with others. The recordings of the productions invited to the Tanztreffen der Jugend 20245 are available in the media library.&nbsp;

Tanztreffen der Jugend 2025

In conversation with music journalist Peter Margasak and Nadin Deventer, artistic director of Jazzfest Berlin, trumpeter and composer Wadada Leo Smith looks back on more than half a century of “Creative Music”. Also in the Media Library: two films invite viewers behind the scenes of the Jazzfest Community Film Lab.

Fallback-Bild MaerzMusik

Find out more about MaerzMusik: recap videos, talks, interviews and portraits have been published in the Berliner Festspiele Media Library.

MaerzMusik

Fallback-Bild Theatertreffen

3sat produces the format Starke St&uuml;cke, featuring high‑quality television recordings of four productions invited to the 2026 Theatertreffen. Together with discussions and behind the scenes, they are available in the Berliner Festspiele Mediathek.

Theatertreffen 2026

Fallback-Bild Reflexe_Reflexionen

On the future of debate culture: The videos of the second edition of “Reflexes &amp; Reflections with lectures, discussions and a late-night programme are available in the Media Library.

Reflexes &amp; Reflections 2025

Fallback-Bild Theatertreffen der Jugend

slides6

At the heart of the productions are current crises, social phenomena, and questions of power and powerlessness. The works respond to the anxieties of the present by articulating demands for the future. The productions and the opening event are available in the media library.

Theatertreffen der Jugend 2026

Fallback-Bild Musikfest Berlin

slides7

Discover background information on Musikfest Berlin 2025, including interviews with selected composers and performers, stories related to the hidden object picture, and audio recordings of selected concerts, which will be available shortly after each event.

Musikfest Berlin 2025

Fallback-Bild Treffen junge Musikszene

slides8

The Treffen junge Musikszene 2025 presents a rather young line-up of surprisingly mature, accomplished and experimental musicians, including numerous strong female artists. Recordings of the concerts are available in the media library.

Treffen junge Musikszene 2025

Fallback-Bild Treffen junger Autor*innen

slides9

In their 2025 texts, the young authors write about very personal situations and relationships, from issues of social and emotional integration to family histories and everyday observations, to questions about the global situation, politics, the climate, and social or economic injustice. The readings and other events are available in the media library.

Treffen junger Autor*innen 2025

In the Media Library

Key Visual Reflexe & Reflexionen 2026

Reflexe_Reflexionen _sw

The Great Disorder

Reflexes &amp; Reflections

BFS26_Newsletter_Icon_schwarz

The Berliner Festspiele newsletter keeps you up to date with ticket sales launches, new events and selected highlights.

Don’t Miss a Thing – Stay Informed

main

Advance sales are now live: tickets for ten selected concert highlights of the Musikfest Berlin, which in 2026 will also mark the 75th anniversary of the Berliner Festspiele, are now available. The program includes Gy&ouml;rgy Ligeti's grotesquely humorous anti-opera Le Grand Macabre and George Gershwin's Porgy and Bess.

Musikfest Berlin

As an international co-production, artists Nina Laisné and François Chaignaud and singer Nadia Larcher have developed a performance that is carried by music, singing and dance at once. In “Último helecho”, European Baroque meets South American folklore and mythology.

Último helecho

pas25_tanzende_idioten_gabelstapler

In Thorsten Lensing’s new play, Ursina Lardi, Karin Neuh&auml;user, Sebastian Blomberg, André Jung and drummer Willi Kellers play characters careening their way from one disaster to the next. What defines them is an absurd blend of brutality and tenderness, anarchy and metaphysical curiosity, existential pain and zest for life.

Tanzende Idioten

gb25_ligia_lewis_wayward_chant_live_performance_ligia_lewis_i_m_not_here_forrrrr_gropius_bau_2025_-c-_gropius_bau_foto_rosa_merk_116.jpg

Artist and choreographer Ligia Lewis’s new work “Wayward Chant” explores the intersections of despair and beauty through the mobilization of the chorus. A pared-down score unfolds, featuring moving, chanting bodies arranged in detailed formations.