Berlin Next! @ La Gaite Lyrique – Paris

We’re not lucky enough to have someone reviewing the cultural panorama in Berlin. We know it’s probably the most exciting city in Europe right now (and for the past 5-10 years)… having ousted London as a trend pole and underground hub for more than one reason quite a while ago. But at least if we don’t get to go to Berlin, the city comes to us!

From next Tuesday and for a week our new favorite Parisian digital hub (La Gaite Lyrique) will be offering a wise selection of events from Berlin-born / Berlin-based artists. Yep, La Gaite is declaring its love for the German city by bringing to the “bobo” city this unique program.

(Totally Wired, one of the projected films)

If you’ve ever been to Berlin then you’ll agree that it has quite a lot to offer. Being not such a big city (has about the same population as Madrid) the fairly modern hub is a mix of heritage, explosive experimentation and rich dynamics. No-one living in Berlin is a Berliner (pretty much like in London), even if some of them pretend to, that’s certainly one of it’s main attractions. So many Spaniards, so many Turkish, so many Scandinavians…

For 5 days there will be a big number of concerts, installations, exhibitions, workshops, projections…

And who’s coming to Paris you say? Well… you may have heard of… Barbara Panther, Jahcoozi, Pantha du Prince, Evol, Visomat inc. + Telematique, Moritz von Oswald, DJ Ipek, Ricardo Villalobos, Vladimir Kaminer, Pfafinderei, Modeselektor, Last Last, Apparat… but also the magazine Groove, the club WMF, Backyard Radio, the Chaos Computer Club… you know… your ordinary boring week in Paris.

Beacon City of the international underground, meeting point for the world’s free spirits and non-conformists, crossroads of the avant-gardes and counter-culturists, Berlin has managed to maintain and re-invent its attraction and its potential to fascinate the new generation of artists and creators. From post-punk to techno, experimental cinema to the explosion of the digital arts, the esthetics and the disciplines have evolved. But the singular freedom and energy pulsating in Berlin’s spirit turn this “poor and sexy” city into the inimitable capital of artistic creation.

It is this European capital of the 2010s that Berlin Next! wants to talk about, far from the low-cost clubbing and Ostalgie’s hackneyed clichés, by inviting, in their great diversity, emerging or established artists from the current Berlin scene, but also the most passionate of these visual artists, journalists, writers.

We honestly think it’s quite a unique occasion for many of you to discover or review the essence of Panorama, Kreuzberg and minimal (oops isn’t all that the same shit? mmmmm, yep, but you would love it anyway). Some of the events are free (so no excuse) and many others go from 3€ to 24€, more info and full program on their page.