BERLIN
Events
Berlin Festival of Lights – Open House Night
If you’re in Berlin this week you might notice fancy light patterns dancing across the city’s landmark buildings, as well as some fanciful light installations dotted around the streets. The Berlin Festival of Lights takes place every October, and it’s a fun time to visit the German capital. “Open House Night” is a highlight of the annual event that offers visitors a rare behind-the-scenes look at some of Berlin’s architectural stars.
Price: Free
Location: Various
Times: Saturday, October 12 – 23, 7pm-midnight
More Information: www.festival-of-lights.de
Galleries/Museums
Zeig Her, Führ Vor, Tausch Ein – Presence Is The Artist
Visual artists who work in performance face an interesting conundrum. What space suits their work? A theatre, a gallery, or something else? General Public attempts to offer a solution, or at least initiate the conversation, with three days of presentations, performances, and discussions (in English).
Price: Free
Location: General Public, Schönhauser Allee 167c
Times: Friday, October 14, 7pm; Saturday, October 15, 3-8pm; Sunday, October
More Information: www.generalpublic.de
COLOGNE
Events
Swap in the City
It’s ladies night Sunday in Cologne when Swap in the City sets up beneath E-Werk’s extraordinary soaring ceilings. Grab a cocktail and groove to the tunes while you browse the racks of chic threads. But you have to give in order to receive, so clean out those closets and head over to E-Werk with at least three new or gently used pieces and let the swapping begin!
Price: €15
Location: E-Werk, Schanzenstrasse 37
Times: Sunday, October 15, 4-9pm
More Information: www.swapinthecity.com
Festivals
Vive Le Jazz – Michel Godard and Gunter Baby Sommer Duo
Since Germany and France share a border, it’s only natural that their cultural pursuits would meld. Jazz music is one of the best examples of this bi-national artistic fusion. The Vive Le Jazz festival, organized by the Cologne and Dusseldorf French Institutes celebrates this partnership with two weeks of not only music, but movies and exhibitions as well. Don’t miss French tuba player Michel Godard and German drummer Gunter Baby Sommer’s Sunday night concert.
Price: €12
Location: Institut Français Köln, Sachsenring 77
Times: Sunday, October 16, 8pm
Phone: 0221 9318 770
More Information: www.institutfrancais.de
FRANKFURT
Events
Frankfurt Book Fair
This weekend the world’s biggest book fair opens to the public. So even if you’re not an editor, publisher, or author, you can spend Saturday and Sunday running your fingers along all those beautiful dust jackets and e-book readers. Iceland is this year’s guest of honour, so check out the exhibition “Books on Iceland” then go get lost in an endless world of international literature.
Price: €15 (Day Ticket); €21 (Weekend Ticket); €35 (Family Ticket)
Location: Messegelände, Ludwig-Erhard-Anlage 1
Times: Saturday, October 15, 9am-6:30pm; Sunday, October 16, 9am-5:30pm
More Information: www.buchmesse.de
Music/Concerts
Barrelhouse Jazz Party
The Barrelhouse Jazz Band has been blowing strong for half a century. In honour of the occasion, the guys are throwing a bombastic jazz bash Saturday in Frankfurt. Soloists from New Orleans, New York, and Milan join Maryland Jazzband Cologne, the Joscho Stephan Quartett, and the Anke Angel Boogie Trio for one hot night of hootin’ tootin’ fun. After the concert the party spills out into the foyer.
Price: €25.50 – 44.50
Location: Alte Oper, Opernplatz 1
Times: Saturday, October 15, 8pm
Tickets: 069 13 40 400
More Information: www.barrelhouse-jazzband.de
HAMBURG
Dance
Lucida Childs, Philip Glass, Sol LeWitt – Dance
In 1979, choreographer Lucina Childs, composer Philip Glass, and visual artist Sol Lewitt collaborated on a dance piece they simply called “Dance.” Propelled by postmodern minimalism, the Lucinda Childs Dance Company performs the piece this week in Hamburg. Though the choreographer no longer dances the solo, it’s her larger than life projected image you’ll see stepping and swaying along to the movements of Anne Lewis in this rare performance.
Price: €8 – 29
Location: Kampagel Hamburg, Jarrestrasse 20
Times: Thursday, October 13, 8pm; Friday, October 14, 8pm; Saturday, October 15, 8pm
Tickets: 040 270 949 49
More Information: www.kampnagel.de
Film
International Queer Film Festival
Germany’s largest LGBT film festival starts rolling in Hamburg this week. The colourful programme includes over 100 films from around the world, many with English subtitles. Angel, Sebastiano D’Ayala Valva’s tale of a Parisian transsexual’s first trip home to Ecuador, and Tien-yu Fu’s directorial debut Somewhere I Have Never Travelled both screen Wednesday. After the movie, settle in for some cineaste discussion with a drink at the festival night bar.
Price: €7.80 – 8.50 (Single Tickets); €33 (Five Ticket Package)
Location: Various
Times: Tuesday, October 18 – Sunday, October 23
More Information: www.lsf-hamburg.de
MUNICH
Galleries/Museums
Kraftwerk 3D Video Installation
Describe Germany in three words. If you said “bratwurst, beer, and Kraftwerk,” you’re right. The electronic music pioneers have impacted music and culture enormously, and though all three concerts in Munich are sold out, Kunstbau has something spectacular up it’s sleeve. A multi-channel 3D video installation offers a fantastic sensory explosion for Kraftwerk fans starting Saturday.
Price: €5
Location: Kunstbau, Königsplatz
Times: Tuesday – Sunday, 10am-10pm; Saturday, October 15 – November 13
Phone: 089 233 32 000
More Information: www.lenbachhaus.de
The Bread and Puppet Theatre Exhibition
Nestled among the green hills of Vermont, US, the Bread and Puppet Theatre Museum is a hive of creative political puppetry. Founder Robert Schumann was born in Silesia, studied in Germany, and started baking bread and making puppets in New York City in the 1960s. Check out the legendary theatre man’s new exhibition at the Munich City Museum when it opens Wednesday night.
Price: €6
Location: Münchner Stadtmuseum, St-Jakobs-Platz 1
Times: Wednesday, October 19, 7pm (Opening); Tuesday – Sunday, 10am-6pm (Regular Hours); through January 29, 2012
Phone: 089 233 22370
More Information: www.stadtmuseum-online.de
Long Night of Museums
It’s museum time! From the Alpine Museum to the America House, cultural institutions around the city are staying open late Saturday night. Hum along to Russian songs at the Tolstoy Library, see a video projected onto the side of the Pinakothek der Moderne, and hear the sounds of a “Pomegranate Tree” at the Museum of Egyptian Art. One ticket is all you need for this smorgasbord of culture and fun.
Price: €15
Location: Various
Times: Saturday, October 15, 7pm-2am
Tickets: 089 54 81 81 81
More Information: www.muenchner.de