This year’s edition of 48 Stunden Neukölln, Berlin’s largest free arts festival, takes place from June 24th to 26th (Friday, 7pm to Sunday, 7pm). Around 230 artistic projects at over 180 venues will explore the festival theme “Kafayı yemek / Ich esse meinen Kopf” (I eat my head). Kafayı yemek is one of the most widely used phrases in the Turkish language and translates as “to eat one’s head”. The idiom can be used as a violent, unexpected reaction in dramatic moments, both positive and negative, and its use in daily life is very diverse. The artists participating in the festival have been inspired by this theme to create contributions in a wide variety of genres – from visual arts to performances, music and theatre.
Since this year, a new management team is responsible for the festival: Sharmila Sharma and Siri Ermert organise the 48 Stunden together with the curatorial team of Canberk Akçal, Laura Awad, Viviana Medina, Sadaf Vasaei and Elif Yildirim. For the coming editions, they will successively develop new formats. The previous focus on art in public space, including the tried and tested format of “Signals”, has already been expanded for this festival edition. The new team’s main concern is to strengthen the decentralised structure of the festival, which takes place throughout North Neukölln, in order to provide the artists working here with optimal conditions for presenting their work. Another focus of the work will be the dismantling of barriers in general and a more diverse design of the festival. For this reason, there is already increased cooperation this year with various initiatives and event formats in Neukölln and beyond, including the IÇ IÇE festival for new Anatolian music and the art education programme Ubuntus e.V., which focuses on political contemporary art and, among other things, the topic of “access to the art sector”. International cooperations such as the collaboration with the Danish Trekant Festival, which has been in place since 2017, will be continued.
The augmented reality installation “ENNUI” by Funda Zeynep Ayguler shows two digital figures sitting bored and tired at an abandoned petrol station (Sonnenalle 9).
In Richardplatz, the nine-channel sound installation “I love you, Seni seviyorum, Ich liebe Dich” by Shona Stark explores the diverse meanings and emotions behind the most important statement in our language of love.
” Du siehst mich mit einem Auge, ich seh’ dich mit zweien” (You see me with one eye, I see you with two) is an interactive video installation by Wael Toubaji in the Passage (Karl-Marx-Straße 131) that reflects the embarrassment in the gazes of the people of Northern Europe.
Also in the passage, brustudio install “WOMB”, a place synchronised with sound and light that allows you to be yourself.
On the balcony at Körnerpark (Schierker Str. 8), the interdisciplinary team of Rurbane Realitäten invites you to interweave your own emotions in the joint installation “Entangled Emotions” and thus make the feelings of the neighbourhood visible.
Julia Frankenberg’s “Squirt Eis” offers an opportunity for conversations about female sexuality and the gender data gap. Her squirt ice rickshaw is located at Prinzessinnengarten Kollektiv Berlin (Neuer St. Jacobi Friedhof, Hermannstr. 99-105).
At Sasarsteig, the Kiezkollektiv is looking for candyfloss moments that make us breathe again and again, and makes the users:inside of the neglected staircase visible on a memory wall: “Sugarcoating Sasarsteig”.
This year, a new guidance system was developed with the architecture collective Waschbeton to make it easier for visitors to get to know the extensive programme. Visible from afar, info points at three locations in the festival area offer the public the opportunity to obtain analogue information about the decentralised programme. The conspicuous triangular structures are located at Hermannplatz, Herrfurthplatz and at the corner of Richardstraße/Jan-Hus-Weg. Here, helpers provide information on events of all kinds in public spaces, in Neukölln project spaces, flats and studios, and even take feedback to the festival team. The free art education walks also start at the info points, with presentations in several languages – including German, Turkish and English – to various destinations in the festival. Those who want to set out on their own can find out about possible routes through the festival area at the info points and on the festival map on paper. One of the routes offered is particularly suitable for families with children.
This year, the festival begins on Thursday, June the 23rd with a warm-up at the Eisstadion Neukölln. Under the title “buzları eritmek / breaking the ice / das Eis brechen”, the art festival, together with IÇ IÇE – Festival for New Anatolian Music, is organising a kick-off event for the first time, where local cultural workers and initiatives, festival makers and visitors can network with each other. A diverse programme with live music, spoken word performances, art and a panel discussion on the question of diversity in Berlin’s cultural sector will take place in the open air on the drained ice rink. The event is part of the Kultursommerfestival and is open to everyone free of charge.
The entire festival programme can be found on the website 48hnk.de.
WHEN?
Friday, 24. June to Sunday, 26. June 2022
Festival Warm-up
buzları eritmek / breaking the ice / das Eis brechen
Thu, 23. June 2022, 5 – 11 pm
Venue: Neukölln Ice Stadium, Oderstraße 182, 12049 Berlin
6 pm: Welcome by Karin Korte, District Councillor for Education, Schools, Culture and Sport in Neukölln
WHERE?
Neukölln-Berlin
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