To kick-start this year, get up to date with the latest cultural goings-on by visiting some of the most exciting exhibitions Berlin has to offer. This year, there’s a wide range of innovative and experimental new exhibitions happening in the city, as well as some displays of more traditional, iconic works. Here, INDIE selects five unmissable cultural happenings that make it worth leaving the house for on a cold/rainy/snowy (delete as appropriate) Sunday – including the much talked about Guy Bourdin/Helmut Newton exhibition and one that takes you deep into a dystopian world.
1. Gianni Versace retrospective at the Kronprinzenpalais
An exhaustive exhibition of the ubiquitous Gianni Versace’s works. This exhibition immerses visitors with impressive, multimedia installations and a variety of events such as shows, performances, and opera performances. A huge collection of over 100 original Versace pieces are on display – a number never seen in Berlin before. The exhibition marks 20 years since the death of the much loved designer whose very first fashion show was organised here in Germany, Lippstadt back in 1978.
The Gianni Versace retrospective runs from 31/01/18 until 13/04/18
2. Guy Bourdin and Helmut Newton at the Helmut Newton Foundation
This exhibition sees the work of two great fashion photographers of the 60s and 70s coming together in one explosive expo. Both of the influential photographers worked for prestigious fashion houses including Chanel, Yves Saint Laurent, Thierry Mugler and Mario Valentino. According to the Helmut Newton Foundation “photography, especially fashion photography – which describes and constantly redefines the zeitgeist – aims to tell exciting and surprising stories with images. Bourdin and Newton mastered this task perfectly”.
The Guy Bourdin and Helmut Newton exhibition is open from now until 13/05/18
3. “Back in Touch” by Torbjorn Rodland at the C/O Berlin Photography Museum
Norwegian artist Torbjørn Rødland is known for his eerie, puzzling and somewhat difficult to look at images of young adulthood. This exhibition showcases 25 images in which he captures youth culture in an absurd light. C/O claim that “Rødland’s images reach deep into our psyche, describing fears, instincts, fetishes, fantasies and longings, creating a unique atmosphere on the border between the familiar and the archetypal”.
“Back in Touch” is open from now until 11/03/18
4. “Empathetic Creatures” by Barbara Kaputsa at Ashley Berlin
Barbara Kaputsa focuses on exploring the relationship between inanimate objects and human observers. This exhibition hosts a selection of sculpture, video and text that explores “female science fiction” and “the correspondence between body and speech.” Through this exhibition, Kaputsa constructs an apocalyptic universe where four individuals have to make their way through the challenging landscape.
“Empathetic Creatures” is open from now until 24/01/18
5. “What do you want here?” by Cyrill Lachauer at Berlinische Galerie
Cyrill Lachauer studied directing, ethnology and art in Munich and Berlin, finishing his studies in Berlin in 2010. “What do you want here?” is his first exhibition of his journey through the American outback over two years. Viewers can explore through a variety of photographs, films and writings the “hidden stories inscribed within landscapes”, transporting them over to the U.S. Real documentation and fictional narratives are inextricably linked in this exhibition, blurring the lines between the absolute and fantasy.
“What do you want here?” is open from now until 30/04/18
Header photo by: Torbjørn Rødland (not his exhibition work)
