A Startup Entrepreneurs and the tourists buzzing today is a very different place from the grungy anarchic city of the early nine hundred nineteen. Twenty one finds out if the city has lost its mojo or just grown up in small towns up. To the n b a not only was founded in the heady days of nine hundred ninety eight now in its tenth edition this years event is as wilfully contradictory and complex as the city itself. Its happening all over town this years ballon be on allah is taking place in find different locations first stop is the academy that can start in western. Or ruin incredibly true to life this work is made of popular mache and is called songs to see its the name of both an imperial palace in haiti and the famous palace of frederick the great impulse to work and. Its history and continence. Chief curator gabi kobo is fed up with the white western perspective her team is black and international a statement but not of intent they refused to restrict their focus to post colonial and racial issues. With something which always crops up which we consciously try to resist with our written statements to we make a point of not using words like africa colonialism postcolonialism multiculturalism diversity and so on. Then that have. The art on display is supposed to speak for itself and it does in a gently laid back often cryptic way take the work of the who sue the bin in artist shows archaeological finds and documents an excavation. An allusion to a round between france and been about the restitution of an ancient threatened to sue had been thrown reconstructed buried and dug up again by archaeology students a new angle on restitution. From the former west berlin two mitta in the former east and the legendary fold spinner. This billion is hosting a rather unusual performance. Last netters there no no the grand daughters of the grandmother are sisters from puerto rico. With some basic props they enact the horror of hysterectomy as medical experiments and drug testing in puerto rico women are used as guinea pigs for the u. S. Pharmaceutical industry and not just their. We can see the evolution of the you know quality has been because slaves all months were use for that research. And so its has been any story of how black womans and also black mans has been used for in the medical industry complex. Life stated shall we move on to the next exhibition space the center for art and urban studies or form afraid that we dont need another hero is the slogan of the b. N. Allah egyptian artist i mean shares this opinion in her installation she has different heads of state talking about major geo strategic projects around the mediterranean match zero politics. I mean counteracts this with a highly political vision the mediterranean is being drained under supercontinent is developing Europe Africa will all be one. Its not just about draining the Mediterranean Sea but its about moving it into the african continent so if we then take claim of the Mediterranean Sea in the way that these kind of colonial proposals did how do we then control the narrative of migration we can then decide who gets to pass the boundary of water and we get to kind of control you know all things from the resource the tourism and whatever. A few rooms on tests or masses showing her works the artist from haiti spent two months in berlin on a scholarship. These delicate paper structures and drawings were all created in this studio. Images which revealed pain and something of the artist herself. And the characters kind of floating in this empty space in this empty space is what i was sometimes felt around me when i was in. I think the Color Palette is this and then what i use is usually it is more subdued and less colorful but it is also what was around me but i did not find one in color. With laughter ringing in our ears we are off to the heart of the b. And in our stars a mr beilin be an ally was launched twenty years ago here in the chords to back and now everything looks very elegant but back then it looked more like this. The destroyed world the heart wrenching song by nina simone. The joint work by different artists. Where do we come from how do we see ourselves and others to what extent are we formed by the culture of our country and which story are we telling. These are the questions pervading this years burning be an homage. To the answers sensitive and subtle gently nanjing the visitors towards new perspectives. The tenth beilin b. N. Alla ambiguous and astute. Art that lingers in the mind. Of course but only in extracts not just artists but writers too one of them is ivana psycho winner of the tenth International LiteraturePrize International prose translated into german. Ivana psycho has known berlin for nearly twenty years shes lived here since twenty sixteen she came on a scholarship and decided to stay. It also helps me in some way to to see things that are happening in creation and maybe. To. Put the things that i want to do i maybe have better visibility if i do it here than if i do it there because i have a problem there. So and because of the political political things that are happening there i dont have i dont have much space to work there. Any advantage speaks of the political things happening in croatia she means how society has swung to the right history being whitewashed poverty and corruption minorities and critical intellectuals being marginalized the loss of any solidarity she talks about it in her latest novel. Titled translates as love story. And unnamed couple somewhere in Southeast Europe in a country falling apart. Hes an unemployed academic who tries and fails to write a love story shes a passable actress who forgoes a Career Opportunity to care for their unplanned child. If you speak about big history you know this bigger level bigger scale that it doesnt hurt but when you put it this situation inside walls and you see how hard it is for people to survive in this kind of condition in constant insecurity in this kind of precarious living then things become serious because we normalized this this kind of living and its not normal. Then ivana shows us what fear and frustration can do with people how it slowly poisons every day life and destroys love. She. Said their. Approach to my problem up on a. Bookshelf swath to teach the most up to. Take in. It is in accordance putting it. On the h d h u t h condition emotion when it is of on your record to put him on use can be shown and most importantly it means. Its the downward spiral of a relationship fraught with misunderstandings told in fierce prose powerful seemingly endless sentences in her german translation a leader became a preserved the fury if youre not able to provide sort of the normal living for your family then you know it becomes sort of like something in your character or something that isnt good with you and then you dont believe in yourself again you lose your self esteem and this is what society does to man or a woman to a human being it changes us it sort of tell us that were not good enough that we got what we deserved and that they dont deserve a lot and this is not fair. Yvonne a psycho was still very young when she chose the life of a writer and got a tattoo of a maze on her left hand. Shes now been writing for a good two decades her body of work includes stage plays journalism prose now she and her translator a little brain i have perceived the International Literature award in berlin for her latest novel. Its a Chamber Piece that deals with power and powerlessness in the globalized world. The political book through and through. Instead of solidarity and sort of living together we became to live you know as in this small family circles taking care only about our wellbeing and not about our neighbors and this could also be seen in a situation that for simple europe is this is a living now. Because we always you know we tend to say yeah europe but what does it mean today. Because we dont agree on their important issues we dont have some opinion because all of the Southern Europe became just assembled over local interests. And there is an also a dark in there. Yvonne a psycho a writer who emphatically believes we need to hold on to solidarity both personal and political come what may. Be a little more stories from the world of all time culture visit our facebook page. E. W. Dot culture. Building is supposedly one of the worlds coolest capitals we visit a few of its trendiest menus to see if they live up to the hype. Right now on a moped through the city on upon the summers day what could be better. In value now as im often not quite sure a Summer Culture in berlin happens outside and a visit to a rooftop bar is an absolute must i click look at kranish is annoyed can landmark a venue for all kinds of art literature and music lets go check it out. On the top of a multistory Shopping Mall parking lot the college has have us views across the city its a hit playful place and no wonder its so popular. Believing that honest beilin wouldnt be berlin without it speeds nice little shops where you can buy snacks and beverages almost twenty four seven but one should be a year and quickly as time has extended the concept and its also street Art Exhibition space and a Meeting Point for street artists lets main goal the smoking area. You can watch some of prelims most talented. Street artists that work here and get your skates on because the couture speedy is still a hot insiders tip. On the news that our next cultural hotspot is the moment to theatre its one of the largest off the others in berlin with one hundred thousand annual visitors here you can dance under the open sky or watch a place from go to Shakespeare Sheller for her own up. To it or up close and personal just like in shakespeares time but now that i. Am right next door you can dance the night away under the palm trees lining the river spain. Ill get lets hit the road again for a last stop and open air cinema in a park. These days its an institution cinema under the stars a staple of summer and berlin. Berlin has something to offer for everyone its just impossible not to fall in love with the city. In two thousand and three the mayor of bell and famously described the city as cold but sexy its no longer really pull and is itself. Famous architect designing flashy New Buildings and luxury lofts and condos sprouting up everywhere vernons fabled venues of fast disappearing. Culture is losing ground to capital its most prominent victim time tellers the subcultural center of the ninetys and early two thousand right in the heart of balance. Because later the balance. Minister for Cultural Affairs its a place with sentimental value as its. One thing tough phillis was centrally located this used to be a hot spot it was surrounded by similar venues although its hard to see it nowadays it was a kind of beacon emitter Everything Else gravitated towards it the dynamic at the time made it the biggest hot spot among many of its kind it had huge symbolic power for the city of berlin and now thats fading its left a gaping hole in the book office with. After a long battle tacklers finally closed in twenty twelve. Cancerous workshops are being edged out all over ballin most recently here in palace are. Over three hundred fifty studios disappear each year due to rising rents. Just keep thank you because no studio space left forward more and more disappear every month is pretty hopeful saying i will see through through these. Over harlan in the district as vetting is one of the last big Studio Spaces in the center of the land they have also been sold to an investor so far artists have been paying a renter three to seven euros per square meter they couldnt afford more with ninety percent of them living on the breadline as it is doing odd jobs to earn a living yet artists are fundamental to the citys image its given stockholm enough and we dont want to have to put on a dog and pony show for new investors but what happens is we go somewhere we make the place attractive and then fancy restaurants move in. They start renovating and building big investors come and wear out just like that just one tax and it. Almost thirty years ago creative spirits were the first to take advantage of the historic changes in berlin occupying on the used spaces and opening clubs it was then the berlin gained its reputation as a club as paradise. Party goes from all over the world still come here in droves and their kind remains legendary but many of berlins one hundred forty clubs have had to close down the great sound off continues with the classic and the dying breath of a legendary small berlin club in pencil back ballons nightlife recently lost yet another landmark locals are following developments with growing dismay. They knew of innocence was into sound as noise when they were at least planning to bring in something new and interesting something visionary the good wish to do but if the rumors are true theyre planning to put up a very in style hof white house and here i was only id sooner have my liver ripped out than drink a beer in a huff po boy house in berlin i was fine before in the. First the artists move in the name vestas a well known pattern the trend has been gathering pace in berlin over the last five years everything is up for sale the city has responded to the financial clout of big investors buying creasing the arts budget by twenty percent and giving more funding to support clubs and artists studios class later is in fighting spirit. As i think its imperative that we fight for every square metre for the arts for free space in this city that we fight for every club every gallery and every building with studio space the sexiness may be waning a little here and there but i still hope we can do something to prevent berlin from becoming a metropolis of glass and concrete like many other european cities and itll point also to. Berlin it is becoming like other european cities the arts bandwagon is moving on into the outskirts where rents are cheaper but it hasnt lost its way yet still retaining the citys special flap is a real challenge. Change is always a challenge that makes it a festival for architecture and urban alternatives looks at ways belling can evolve with elk losing itself. Berlin the middle district home to grand Old Buildings and right in the middle the gleaming glass palaces of the super rich investors made in front of the building but all is not as it seems this is actually a subversive performance part of a festival a push back against the raging real estate rush the investor is an actor and his giant plans are all a performance just to see if indeed it is totally right here is to build the whole building is that it will be as it would look like this isnt a particle with this whole complex here or the key thing being that would have a roof terrace with a whole new view of the berlin on somebodys theater and so i believe the land remakes thing thats the slogan of the architecture festival make city its an aim is to explore solutions for a city whose diversity is in jeopardy particularly in the city center the festival organizers reject monocultures and seek alternatives they want to rethink this space and be involved in shaping it theres no more Affordable Land left nonetheless its a moment where one can go the next step and negotiate with the city to participate in the development of certain spaces. What will happen to the unclaimed space in the city who gets to decide investors or citizens. Which options are not dictated by commercial interests. And what about social housing. Were in an age where this notion of social responsibility is disappearing so its about encouraging some form of social agenda or rethinking whether there can be such a thing as a coalition of interests that will preserve our raised resources. Financial interests which drive the city forward and new usage concepts which benefit everyone some past pioneers have shown how it can be done like the team behind the legendary bar twenty five in a tourist location in the two thousand the club was one of the berlin institutions which cemented the citys International Reputation as the twenty first centurys Party Capital and twenty twelve the attractive plot by the spray river was auctioned off the bar twenty five thousand got lucky a Swiss Pension Fund stepped up as a patron. Does an order when i first got to know this fall when it was still bad twenty five and i never wanted to leave. A lot of people felt that way who had a really special moment sometimes hand. Side in some really special relationships foment here. So we decided to get together to get informed and organized and to find a way to implement an alternative. The not for profit pension fund that bought the land freed up space for a bold experiment the clubbers formed a collective like minded friends pitched in and the citys creatives invested in the project to finance and usage plans were drawn up using the money from their own successful club. Lets hope that this and the concept is simply to bring the village to the city with us the village is a place where you know everyone where all sorts of different people develop Different Things one. You know the bacon in you know the brew. You know all of the artists and everybody is working together creating synergies and many things. You know. This isnt berlins only flagship project increasingly the city doesnt just accept offers from the highest bidders but goes for the most promising proposals. For is twenty three a Creative Center in the city writers musicians and painters are in charge and if contract a thirty five different construction companies. The idea is rooted in the tradition of the building society. Thats probably going to find us i said the first time in germany that a group like this has developed a new building for a cultural space and we have a wide mix of participants to pain involved in the planning process right from the start which means that well end up with something very novel. The initiators have worked on a project for seven years debating every detail of the new homes offices and studios only those with equity to get involved. Who hadnt been to the office to close to the financing of this project terry extremely high which clearly m