Spring and Summer at VATMH Berlin

Before we set our sights on our diverse and stimulating fall program in Berlin, we would like to look back at some of the highlights of the past few months.

90th Book Burning Memorial Day

On the occasion of the commemoration of the Book Burning, 9 outstanding artists read texts from Erich Kästner to Kurt Tucholsky, remembering writers whose works were burned in 1933.

With Paula Beer, Ebow, Alice Hasters, Behzad Karim Khani, Shelly Kupferberg, Enis Maci, Svenja Leiber, Pascal Richmann and Senthuran Varatharajah. You can watch a recording of the readings here.

Photos: Phil Dera

Loss(es) of Modernity

As part of the BBAW's Salon Sophie Charlotte, we presented a conversation in the Leibniz Hall between two important voices in the German academic public sphere: Aleida Assmann and Andreas Reckwitz - moderated by the great Shelly Kupferberg. The main topic of discussion was: dealing with loss and the promise of progress in modern and postmodern societies. And about what fault lines can be expected when the utopia of a society without losses, suffering and grief turns out to be unattainable. You can watch the conversation in its entirety here.

Photos: Lenny Rothenberg

PoliSounds - How political is Pop culture?

Together with the Musicboard Berlin and as part of the Kultursommerfestival, author Alice Hasters, musician Ebow and journalist Marlene Grunert discussed the political potential and limits of pop culture at 35 degrees and in the packed B-Part at Gleisdreieck. Does pop culture have to be political? And what exactly do we use to determine that? The discussion was moderated by Salwa Houmsi, currently one of the most exciting representatives of the German media industry.

Photos: Anna Tiessen

Book Presentation "Thomas Mann's Los Angeles: Stories from Exile 1940-1952"

After a great response in the U.S. and being named one of the best books about Los Angeles in 2022, the work was presented for the first time in Germany at the Literaturhaus in Munich. It comprises 70 essays and paints a portrait of the cultural and political life of Los Angeles between 1940 and 1952. After a short introduction by the editors Nikolai Blaumer and Benno Herz, the discussion was held by the German scholar Sylvia Asmus, the journalist Andreas Platthaus and the literary scholar Friedhelm Marx. The panel was moderated by Sabina Becker, a proven expert on exile literature.