Here you will find press photos of&nbsp;What If Berlin.Please respect the copyright. If not stated otherwise, the images provided may be used free of charge for programme announcements and in the context of editorial reporting of What If Berlin / Berliner Festspiele only. They must not be used for commercial purposes or shared with third parties. Please respect copyright notices, retain the captions supplied with the images and photographers must be mentioned.

Berliner Festspiele

The Ringbahn as a Stage for 27&nbsp;Forgotten Visions of the Future

Here you can access our media database, where you can download photos for What If Berlin. If you require other images, please contact <a href="mailto:presse@berlinerfestspiele.de">presse@berlinerfestspiele.de</a> directly.

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Festivals & Programme Series

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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.

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Here you will find press photos of&nbsp;What If Berlin.Please respect the copyright. If not stated otherwise, the images provided may be used free of charge for programme announcements and in the context of editorial reporting of What If Berlin / Berliner Festspiele only. They must not be used for commercial purposes or shared with third parties. Please respect copyright notices, retain the captions supplied with the images and photographers must be mentioned.

von Florentina Holzinger

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Berliner Festspiele 75

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In our Festspiele Stories series, we highlight some of the many facets of the 75-year history of the Berliner Festspiele. Explore our Media Library for behind-the-scenes insights, as well as new and historical perspectives and personal recollections connected to the history of the Berliner Festspiele.

Festspiele Stories

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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

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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

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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

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With A Year without Summer by Florentina Holzinger, the last of the 10 most remarkable productions selected for Theatertreffen 2026 will be presented this autumn. The performances will take place at the Volksb&uuml;hne am Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz. Remaining tickets may be available at the box office.

A Year without Summer

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In 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 has been published, advance ticket sales are open.

Jazzfest Berlin

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For the 43rd Treffen junge Musikszene the jury has selected 14 acts from130 submissions by young musicians from all 16 German federal states, including bands, trios, one duo and nine solo artists. The selected productions will be presented at the Haus der Berliner Festspiele in November. The programme will be published on 21 October.

Treffen junge Musikszene

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This year, Treffen junger Autor*innen celebrates its 40th anniversary! For this special edition, around 500 young writers from across Germany submitted their work, more than 100 persons more than last year. The jury's selection has now been announced.

Treffen junger Autor*innen

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By Florentina Holzinger

A Year without Summer

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The Berlinale as a guest at Haus der Berliner Festspiele

76th Berlin International Film Festival

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as a guest at Haus der Berliner Festspiele

25th international literature festival berlin

Performing Arts Season_neu

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Nina Laisné and François Chaignaud with Nadia Larcher

Último helecho

Key Visual Performing Arts Season 2026

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A Panorama of International Dance, Theatre and Performance Productions

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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

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International Literature Festival Berlin

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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

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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

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10&nbsp;September&nbsp;2026 to 17&nbsp;January&nbsp;2027Nowhere were the social and cultural changes of 1960s and 1970s West Germany more powerfully manifest than in Berlin’s Kreuzberg neighbourhood. The group exhibition focuses on the diverse and largely overlooked cultural production on the topic of labour migration and on how artists in the neighbourhood have responded to the tensions and issues of their time.

Kreuzberg: Kunst und Migration seit 1960

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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

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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

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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.

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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

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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

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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.

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

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 including works by the Kanze Nō Theatre, Damien Jalet / Kohei Nawa, Akira Takayama, Dumb Type and the Otomo Yoshihide New Jazz Quintet, amongst others.

Focus Japan

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

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Voting Results

For more than a month, from 28&nbsp;August through 30&nbsp;September 2026, the public was invited to vote for up to three of the unrealised project ideas of What If Berlin that Akira Takayama has reimagined for the future.Drawing on six thematic guided tours as well as additional information provided on this website, What If Berlin asked both long-time and newly arrived Berliners: Which of the 27&nbsp;future visions are the most inspiring? Which projects does Berlin need for its future? And which idea should actually be realised?The results are now in: The project that received the most votes was the <a href="${link:{uuid:{98c04e6c-e56d-45ca-83bf-dd968b909d29},repository:{website},provider:{jcr},path:{/bfs-de/what-if-berlin/die-projekte/treptower-park}}}">Central Learning and Memorial Site </a>with 14&nbsp;% of all votes cast. Second place, receiving 10&nbsp;% of all votes cast, is <a href="${link:{uuid:{6af0e7bc-7e84-4e4c-ab66-99c0bda0a457},repository:{website},provider:{jcr},path:{/bfs-de/what-if-berlin/die-projekte/suedkreuz}}}">Lili Elbe Archive</a>. Third place went to <a href="${link:{uuid:{d86c7f01-665e-4c5f-90e6-4897407c48e5},repository:{website},provider:{jcr},path:{/bfs-de/what-if-berlin/die-projekte/frankfurter-allee}}}">Women in Berlin</a>, which received 9&nbsp;% of all votes cast.

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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

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Dance Productions, Talk &amp; Party

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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 2026 will be available in the media library afterwards for one year.&nbsp;

Tanztreffen der Jugend 2026

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Discover background information on Musikfest Berlin 2026, including interviews with selected composers and performers and audio recordings of selected concerts, which will be available after each event.

Musikfest Berlin 2026

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.

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In August 2026, Marina Abramović spoke with Matthias Pees about her work Balkan Erotic Epic. The conversation, along with additional interviews, essays, and videos related to the Performing Arts Season, is available in the Berlin Festival's media library.

Performing Arts Season

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

MaerzMusik

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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

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The Great Disorder: The panels and discussions of the third edition of Reflexes &amp; Reflections are published in the Berliner Festspiele Media Library.

Reflexes &amp; Reflections 2026

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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

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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

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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

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The Berliner Festspiele newsletter keeps you up to date on ticket sale starts, new events and selected highlights.

Stay connected. Stay informed.

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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

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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

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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.