BERLIN—In less than a hundred years, this city has survived two major world wars, famine, division, reunification, the loss and regaining of status as a capital, a great depression, a major global recession, and notorious budget woes. It’s been a turbulent century, but remarkably, the city is still — or again — in one piece. And despite it all, there persists in Berlin an air of excitement as the city looks to a future unimaginable just a few decades ago. 

Cheap rents, that lingering historical mystique, enthusiastic municipal support for the arts, and an abundance of exhibition outlets have fed international artistic activity here, bringing a refreshed impetus and dynamism to the indigenous art scene. From the central Mitte district’s artful boho chic to the multicultural melange of Neukölln, from Charlottenburg’s grand leafy boulevards in the West to the crumbling bombast of former communist avenues in Prenzlauer Berg, the city is humming with a renewed sense of purpose in the wake of its frequently precarious reunification. Myriad galleries abound, especially in former eastern districts, where they’ve reclaimed abandoned spaces ranging from disused municipal swimming baths to imposing, Soviet-style office blocks.

With creaky optimism, Berlin continues to exert that magic pull that has attracted artists, writers, musicians, intellectuals, misfits, and lost souls for decades. Whether you choose to discover the city through the hedonistic nightlife, café culture, art scene, shops, parks, street markets, or historical landmarks, or simply by wandering the endlessly changing streets, it’s nearly impossible not to be impressed, enchanted, and beguiled by Berlin’s enduring spirit.

ARTINFO tells you the best places to visit, stay, dine, shop, and take in art in this rapidly changing city.

GO:

ART FORUM BERLIN

WHAT: The key event on the city’s annual art calendar, Art Forum Berlin features 130 international galleries bringing a motley assortment of contemporary work to the city’s Sommergarten complex. For this, its 14th edition, the fair boasts a new pair of co-directors, former Art Basel directors Eva-Maria Häusler and Peter Vetsch. The gallery selection is pretty Eurocentric, so this may not be the place to explore recent trends in Peruvian ceramics or Pakistani video installations, but it’s great for spotting the latest trends on the Continent.
WHEN: Sept. 24 – 27
WHERE: Exhibition Grounds, Messe Berlin, Palais am Funkturm, Charlottenburg
HIGHLIGHTS: New co-directors bring an updated format this year, simultaneously looking back and tracking the new. The fair’s contemporary parameters have been broadened to allow work dating from 1960 onwards, while a dedicated section will focus on newer galleries and emerging artists.

(www1.messe-berlin.de/vip8_1/website/Internet/Internet/www.art-forum-berlin/englisch/index.html)

PREVIEW BERLIN — THE EMERGING ART FAIR

WHAT: A smaller, edgier affair that aims to expose up-and-coming talent and galleries in a determinedly noncorporate, inventive manner. For its fifth edition, the event is hosting 47 exhibitors from 13 countries in the empty main hall of the Tempelhof Airport — the recently closed 1920s aerodrome in the middle of the city, often cited as one of Europe’s most beautiful (and largest) structures. Appropriately, the fair will predominantly focus on sculpture, which will be displayed in an open-plan layout in the former terminal. “Due to the landmark-protected situation of the building, we were not allowed to build anything in there,” explains the fair’s show manager, Creixell Espilla-Gilart. “So we decided to get rid of the booth walls and any type of construction. Instead, we will be producing a sort of bench for each gallery where they can sit and show their informational materials.”
WHEN: Sept. 25 – 27
WHERE: Berlin Tempelhof Airport, Main Hall, Platz der Luftbrücke 5
HIGHLIGHTS: Among the galleries appearing at Preview Fair will be London’s Patrick Heide Contemporary Art, presenting Thomaskilppe; Poland’s Piekary Gallery, showing work by Artur Malewski and Thomasz Mroz; and Charlotte Fogh Contemporary from Denmark, with Hesselholdt & Mejlvang. However, the bulk of the show comes from within German borders, with cutting-edge Berlin spaces such as A trans Pavilion, Galerie Eva Bracke, MyVisit, and loop – raum für aktuelle kunst all showing work by up-and-coming talent.