Festivals and Events 2022
Highlights in this year's calendar
From transmediale to Berlin Art Week - many Berlin events attract thousands of guests year after year. These are the events you shouldn't miss, if hopefully they can take place as planned!
Last update: 7 Feburary.
Transmediale
until 18 february 2022
Since January 2021, transmediale has unfolded over the course of a year under the title "for refusal". In addition to artist residencies, workshops, and commissions, the festival presented exhibitions, screenings, and a discourse program. This structure, conceived last year as a response to COVID-19, took place with various event formats in Berlin and online. The symposium "This is Not Anarchy, This is Chaos" on January 28/29 at the Haus der Kulturen der Welt as well as the exhibition "Abandon all Hope ye who enter here" from January 26 to February 18 at the Akademie der Künste on Hanseatenweg now mark the finale of the 2021/22 festival.
Neue Nationalgalerie: Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker | Rosas „Dark Red“
24 to 27 march 2022
The Belgian dance company Rosas occupies the glass hall of the Neue Nationalgalerie with a performance that offers a unique experience of the interplay between architecture, sculpture, music and dance. The choreography, conceived specifically for the iconic museum building, references Constantin Brancusi's sculpture "Bird in Space" (1926) from the Nationalgalerie's collection. Like Pablo Picasso turned painting on its head, Brancusi turned sculpture on its head toward ever-increasing simplification: "Idiots who call my work abstract, what they call abstract is quite realistic, because what is real is not the external form, but the idea, the essence of things."
Gallery Weekend
29 april to 1 may and september 2022
Every spring, around 50 Berlin galleries open exhibitions by globally acclaimed artists. Founded in 2005 by Berlin galleries, the weekend has established itself as a highlight in the international art calendar. The format combines high-profile exhibitions with the experience of city and gallery spaces. In 2022, there will also be a date in September for the second time. The participants of this year's Gallery Weekend have not yet been determined, more information will follow closer to the event. The focus of the content will also be announced soon.
International Museum Day
15 may 2022
International Museum Day is proclaimed annually by the International Council of Museums ICOM to draw attention to the thematic diversity and social importance of the more than 6500 museums in Germany. Like its predecessors, the 45th International Museum Day will present the treasures preserved in the museums and inspire with the commitment of the museum staff. The museums can present themselves with planned analog offers on the day of action or with digital offers on the nationwide platform.
Long Night of Religions
11 and 12 june 2022
This Long Night is the largest and most diverse interreligious event in Germany. Since 2012, 90 religious communities and belief groups have been opening their synagogues, churches, mosques, temples and community centers once a year and inviting people to talks, concerts, church services, devotions and lectures. In this way, they want to counter prejudices and promote social dialogue. In 2021, the Long Night was honored by the Alliance for Democracy and Tolerance. In 2022, "Fire" is the motto.
Long Night of the Sciences
2 july 2022
After a two-year break, the Long NIght of the Sciences finally returns in analog form. Preparations are in full swing and visitors can once again immerse themselves in the world of science on site. Science and research institutions in Berlin and Potsdam open their laboratories, lecture halls, libraries and archives, including the Museum für Naturkunde and the Tieranatomisches Theater. Scientists explained what they are researching in experiments, lectures and demonstrations. The "smartest night of the year" communicates science in an understandable and entertaining way for young and old.
12. Berlin Biennale for contemporary art
11 june to 18 september 2022
The Biennale, organized by Kunstwerke Berlin e.V., takes place every two years at varying locations in Berlin and is characterized by the concepts of renowned curators. It promotes experimental formats and offers space for the latest relevant and courageous artistic positions independent of art market and collection interests. This year's artistic team around curator Kader Attia intends to expand the decolonial concept of the Biennale with specific perspectives against the background of different origins and critical practices.
Potsdamer Schlössernacht
19 and 20 august 2022
Under this year's motto ¡Viva! the organizers want to celebrate life and warm summer nights. Currently, the program is being created. On the day of the event, a program plan with all program points, locations and times provides orientation. The successful series "Literature in the Park" with prominent voices from the world of film and television will be continued. The annual Festival in Sanssouci Park is a unique variety mile around Sanssouci Palace, the Orangery Palace, Charlottenhof Palace and the Roman Baths. Terraces, ponds and rondels are illuminated, the historical halls are open, and everywhere artistic performances, parades in historical costumes and concerts provided entertainment.
Long Night of Museums
27 august 2022
Acrobatics under domes, courtly dance in the palace, cocktails among dinosaurs - during the Long Night of Museums, many things are different from normal museum life. Many museums participate - the world-famous houses on Museum Island as well as museums in the countryside, art houses and technology museums, planetariums and castles. The Long Night of Museums is a Berlin invention. It was held here for the first time in 1997, and now every major city has its own museum night. After a two-year break due to Corona, Berlin's most culturally rich night is finally to take place again
Day of the open monument in Berlin
10 and 11 september 2022
The motto "KulturSpur. A case for monument protection" makes it clear that monuments are witnesses to the past stories of their inhabitants and builders. Their building fabric is full of evidence. Historical scars, additions and further developments tell a lot about a building and its inhabitants. The monument can even become a victim itself. What "deeds" were committed in and on the building? To find answers, a wide variety of actors - monument owners, preservationists, citizens' initiatives, restorers, building researchers, craftsmen, architects, archaeologists and historians - work hand in hand. Only a persistent and competent search for traces allows the art of building created by previous generations to be understood and passed on to future generations.
Berlin Art Week
14 to 18 september 2022
Since 2012, Berlin Art Week has been a platform and the largest gathering of the most important players in Berlin's contemporary art scene. It represents what the art city is all about: a source where art is created, a laboratory for themes, and a place for new impulses and many discoveries. Galleries from all over the world present young art at the POSITIONS Berlin Art Fair, and top-class exhibitions open in Berlin museums, exhibition houses and project spaces. Thus, along with Gallery Weekend in the spring, Berlin Art Week is the highlight of Berlin's art year.
Triennale der Moderne
Kick-off: 1 to 3 october 2022 in Berlin
The Triennale is taking place for the fourth time in Berlin, Dessau and Weimar. Under the motto " Housing. Work. Living," the focus this time is on Berlin. 1933 was a fateful year for modern art and architecture. Berlin, as the political center of Germany, became the main scene of sharp cultural confrontations. Many intellectual masterminds and representatives of modernism decided to emigrate, including Walter Gropius, Mies van der Rohe, Erich Mendelsohn, Bruno Taut, and others. Guided tours, exhibitions, and architectural walks are the usual Triennale formats; program details will follow starting in the summer.
Jewish Culture Days
November 2022
The Culture Days invite you to get to know the Jewish culture of Berlin. Every year, a varied program of concerts, readings, exhibitions, discussions and theater is offered. With this event, the Berlin Jewish Community wants to show the public the positive and life-affirming aspects of Jewish life.
Transmediale
bis 18. Februar 2022
Seit Januar 2021 hatte sich die transmediale unter dem Titel "for refusal" über ein Jahr hinweg entfaltet. Neben Künstlerresidenzen, Workshops und Auftragsarbeiten präsentierte das Festival Ausstellungen, Screenings sowie ein Diskursprogramm. Diese im letzten Jahr auch als Antwort auf COVID-19 formulierte Struktur fand mit diversen Veranstaltungsformaten in Berlin und online statt. Das Symposium „This is Not Anarchy, This is Chaos“ im Januar im Haus der Kulturen der Welt sowie die Ausstellung „Abandon all Hope ye who enter here“ vom 26. Januar bis 18. Februar in der Akademie der Künste am Hanseatenweg markierten das Finale des Festivals 2021/22.
Neue Nationalgalerie: Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker | Rosas „Dark Red“
24. bis 27. März 2022
Die belgische Tanzkompanie Rosas bespielt die gläserne Halle der Neuen Nationalgalerie mit einer Performance, die eine einzigartige Erfahrung des Zusammenspiels von Architektur, Skulptur, Musik und Tanz ermöglicht. Die eigens für den ikonischen Museumsbau konzipierte Choreografie bezieht sich auf Constantin Brancusis Skulptur „Vogel im Raum“ (1926) aus der Sammlung der Nationalgalerie. Wie Pablo Picasso die Malerei, so revolutionierte Brancusi die Bildhauerei hin zu immer stärker werdender Vereinfachung: „Idioten, die mein Werk abstrakt nennen, was sie als abstrakt bezeichnen, ist ganz realistisch, denn real ist nicht die äussere Form, sondern die Idee, das Wesen der Dinge.“