Thank you! Thank you for visiting Pop-Kultur 2017 and for making the Kulturbrauerei even livelier than it already is. Thanks for jumping up and down at Little Simz, for starting a mosh pit at IDLES, and for making music together with Erobique. Thanks to ABRA for her hypnotic dance with a specially designed avatar, to Arab Strap for the power of nostalgia, to Evvol for a truly unique commissioned work, and to Lady Leshurr for delivering the amount of female power that is needed these days. Thanks to the Berlin label institutions Shit Katapult, Karaoke Kalk, and Monika Enterprise, which despite celebrating their cumulative 60th birthday party SKM60 at Pop-Kultur have stayed fresh and young. We’d likewise like to thank all the artists in the programme for the music, the exchange, and the open hearts and ears.

Thank you for the exciting conversations about gender quotas, vocoders, religion, depression, krautrock, and even about the importance and unimportance of our festival itself. It was a compelling struggle for new perspectives and ideas. Thank you to all of the collectives that agreed to show their work in the context of Pop-Kultur: ausland, We Make Waves, Berlin Community Radio, and Antje Øklesund.

‘The event remains one of the most carefully curated in Germany.’

(Süddeutsche Zeitung)

Thank you to the State Minister of Culture Prof. Monika Grütters and to the Mayor and Senator for Culture and Europe Dr. Klaus Lederer for finding clear words in light of the recent boycott attacks against »Pop-Kultur«. We also thank everyone once again who has engaged in dialogue and continues to believe in the unifying power of art, creativity, and culture beyond all borders. That was never as important as it is today, and we will continue to emphasize its importance in the future. In the arena of gender equality, the slightly better but still-unacceptable results of the new FACTS survey by female:pressure confirms that there is still much work to be done.

Last but not least, we’d like to say a very special thanks to the 250 participants of our »Pop-Kultur Nachwuchs« programme, all of whom have made us excited about the future with their unbridled spirit of discovery.

Pop-Kultur will return in 2018, once again different and surprising but with the same aspirations, values, and hopefully once again with you. Stay in touch via social media and newsletter, and don’t forget to celebrate pop for the other 362 days of the year, too. We’ll be doing that, in any case.

See you soon,
Your Pop-Kultur Team

Additional photos can be found in our press area.

17.08.17

The international BDS (»Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions«) Movement has identified Pop-Kultur as one of the targets of its global campaign. The goal of the movement is wide-reaching boycott against collaboration with Israeli artists and intellectuals as well as boycott against any artistic performances in Israel.

We have Israeli artists in our festival programme, just as we have artists from Tunesia, Syria, Russia, Poland, the UK, and other countries. The culture department of the Israeli Embassy in Germany contributed a 500 (five hundred) Euro grant towards travel costs for artists. For this reason, the embassy is listed on our website, as are the rest of our cultural partners.

The BDS campaign has put an enormous amount of pressure on all the Arabic artists in our line-up. At this point, four artists from Arabic countries have cancelled: Abu Hajar, Emel Mathlouthi, Islam Chipsy & EEK und Hello Psychaleppo. Artists from Germany, other countries in Europe, and the USA have also reported that they have received emails, Facebook comments, or Twitter messages from BDS activists. We therefore assume that all artists or their agents have been or will be contacted. The BDS Movement claims that Pop-Kultur has been »co-organised« or «co-financed« by the Israeli state, which is not true.

We believe that the only way to deal with conflict in this world is through critical discourse and dialogue. As artists and cultural workers, we in particular have the responsibility for building relationships and networks across borders, even if we disagree on certain points.

UPDATE 17 – 20.08.17
Annie Goh and Iklan featuring Law Holt have cancelled their performances at Pop-Kultur 2017.

UPDATE 23.08.17
In the meantime two more bands have cancelled their performance at Pop-Kultur: Oranssi Pazuzu and Young Fathers.

A list of the cancelled artists can be found right here.

Dear Pop-Kultur audience,

Once again, Pop-Kultur looks forward to an extensive programme outside of our live concerts and new Commissioned Works. It’s about time that we introduce our talk programme and everything beyond that. The big themes are pop, culture, art, creative spaces, role models, future, and past.

The opening talk on August 23rd features Berlin’s cultural senator Dr. Klaus Lederer, Anke Fesel, and Christian Reckmann of the festival »Zurück zu den Wurzeln«. It will focus on the importance of the city’s creative free spaces. Aside from that, we’ll speak with Yeşim Duman, Hengameh Yaghobifarah (Missy Magazine), and shooting star Ilgen-Nur about the ever-current topic of gender, though from a special perspective. Diana McCarty, co-founder of the international art radio station reboot.fm and Mo Loschelder and Bettina Wackernagel of the festival »Heroines of Sound« are all too aware of the persistence of a »Gender Gap«, and they call for an urgent appraisal of this situation. Other topics in the talk programme address the relationship between religion and pop music, the pop-cultural significance of the vocoder, and, in a collaboration with Off-Kultur, the essential question: »Pop-Kultur – Is This Even Necessary, Anyway?«

More than any previous edition, Pop-Kultur 2017 is united through recurring themes that facilitate interdisciplinary exchange and new perspectives. A special installation will resurrect the Berlin club Antje Øklesund, which was sadly demolished in 2016. Pop-Kultur 2017 will also join forces with female:pressure to present the results of their now-third FACTS survey for the first time, and then together with journalist Christine Kakaire, researcher Annie Goh, producer & label owner Sky Deep, and curator Marlene Engel will discuss the steps that need to be taken next.

Fans of qualitative pop documentation will get a glimpse into the world of the  Sleaford Mods (in the film »Bunch Of Kunst«), the comeback of THE THE (in »The Inertia Variations«), and the colourful world of the female electronic music scene in Berlin (in »Raw Chicks.Berlin«). All film screenings will be followed by a discussion.

We’d also recommend taking a close look at our exhibition programme, which will  be presented on the grounds of the Kulturbrauerei. The photographer Roland Owsnitzki introduces his exhibition »Keller – 80 Photos from the 80s«, which gives a comprehensive glimpse into the concert culture of West Berlin before the fall of the Wall – crazy hairstyles and outfits included. In addition, an exhibition curated by Tim Tetzner about Hype Stickers awaits you in the gallery of the cinema. Right, exactly: those are the ones stuck on your record sleeves and CD cases – the things you were never quite sure if you should take off.

And there you have it. As you can see, plenty of variety awaits you. The complete Pop-Kultur 2017 programme can be found here . And you can buy festival passes as well as day tickets for Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday right here.

Foto-Credits /// Klaus Lederer (SenKultEuropa), Ilgen-Nur (Pressefoto), Sky Deep (Alexa Vachon), Max Dax (Luci Lux)

Dear Friends of Pop-Kultur,

It’s about time to pick up the pace. That’s why now we’re giving you even more reasons to say ‘I like‘ to Pop-Kultur 2017.

1. More Programme

We’d like to welcome the following new acts to the roster:

Alex Cameron / ANDRRA / ANNA VR / AUF / David Laurie & Simon Price / Decadent Fun Club / Gaika / Happy Meals / Hello Psychaleppo / How To Dress Well / IDLES / JACASZEK / Jakuzi / Jens Balzer / Jessica Pratt / Ilkan featuring Law Holt / Lenki Balboa / LeVent / Liars / Little Simz / Lucidvox / Manuela / Michelle Blades / Miss Natasha Enquist / Oligarkh / Oranssi Pazuzu / Piano Wire / Rouge Gorge / Shirley Collins & Ian Keary / SKM 60 (incl Barabara Morgenstern, Gudrun Gut, T.Raumschmiere and more) / Smerz / Soft Grid / Throwing Shade / Tobias Bamborschke

They join a programme of over a dozen already-confirmed concerts, DJ sets, talks, and other events. A complete overview is available here.

2. More Tickets

No more confusion à la “when exactly does Arab Strap play?” – starting now, our lineup is sorted by day and there are separate passes available for Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. And for those who’d like to experience more of the entire programme, we’d recommend the full festival pass. It’s all available for purchase here.

3. Mehr »Commissioned Works«

You’ve already heard quite a lot about our commissioned works, but now there’s even more info regarding these in-house productions. Balbina envelops things in white, rapper Abu Hajar and Jemek Jemowit aka Ausländerbehörde connect Arabic hip hop with European techno, Jens Balzer and Tom Krell of How To Dress Well deliver a lecture-performance, and Circuit des Yeux builds a ‘Big Black Box’ in the courtyard of the Kulturbrauerei. We guarantee an extraordinary  programme. Find out more about the »Pop-Kultur Commissioned Works« here.

4. Mehr Linien

For us, it’s not just about the performances themselves but also about everything else that can happen in connection. Various cross-programme thematic lines play more central of a role this year than ever before. Henryk Gericke addresses the topic of Ost punk in several events unified under the heading “Too Much Future.” Messer frontman and author Hendrik Otremba leads visitors into “Typewriter-Klangwelten” [“Typewriter-Worlds of Sound”] and looks for intersections between text, music, and speech together with distinguished collaborators like Andreas Spechtl of Ja, Panik! and Annika Henderson. What’s more, we are dedicating an entire evening to the “Secret Queen of England,” as Shirley Collins is often called. She will join us for a talk and an exclusive acoustic performance at Pop-Kultur. And those are just a few of the events outside of our concert programme. With the project SKM 60, which takes place over three evenings, the festival celebrates the birthdays of the Berlin labels Shitkatapult, Karaoke Kalk, Monika Enterprise, which each turn 20 and together turn 60. For the entire overview, click here.

5. Mehr für die Talente

Attention all you young people crazy about creativity! You too will be a part of Pop-Kultur 2017. The application phase for our Nachwuchs programme has begun, and we’re already excited to welcome about 250 talents from across the globe. Yes, that’s right! This applies to songwriters, producers, booking agents, event organisers, or journalists – everyone who loves art is welcome and can apply here until June 14th.

And? Have we convinced you? Then quick! Grab a ticket of your choice, and spread the word to family and friends – the more the merrier. After all, Pop-Kultur is for anyone and everyone!

See you there! Yeah? Yeah!!!!

Dear Friends of Pop-Kultur,

it’s getting to be that time of year again! Pop-Kultur will return from August 23rd to 25th at the Kulturbrauerei! Today we also have the first program announcements, a new ticket system and more irresistible reasons to welcome Pop-Kultur 2017 in your heart.

10+ Commissioned Works by

ABRA / Abu Hajar & Jemek Jemowit / Andreas Dorau / Balbina / Circuit des Yeux / Darkstar & Cieron Magat / Evvol  / Fishbach & Lou de Bètoly / Grandbrothers / Hendrik Otremba / Romano / Steven Warwick

70+ Concerts, DJ-Sets, Talks and Movies by

Alexis Taylor / All diese Gewalt / Anna Meredith / Arab Strap / Boiband / Emel Mathlouthi / Erobique / Friends of Gas / Islam Chipsy & EEK / Lady Leshurr / La Femme  / Let’s Eat Grandma / Noveller / Riff Cohen / Sophia Kennedy / Tasseomancy / Young Fathers

Reason 1: Now there’s one ticket for everything. And it’s cheap!

No offense to our old module system, but isn’t it also nice sometimes to let art lead you where it wants you to go? That’s why this year there’s a ticket for the whole experience, for maximum on-site discovery at Kulturbrauerei—and it’s just 60 euros (plus fees). Don’t worry—in May we’ll begin selling day passes too. Until then, everyone else can click here.

Reason 2: The »Pop-Kultur Commissioned Works«

It’s pretty much exactly how it sounds. More than ten in-house productions and performances will enrich our 2017 festival and act as its heart and soul. We’re already working hard with Balbina, Darkstar, Romano, Fishbach, and all the other artists to be able to tell you much more about the »Pop-Kultur Commissioned Works« very soon!

Reason 3. A line-up you’d only find here.

From quiet to loud, from Egypt to Scotland—as always, Pop-Kultur’s programme is unmistakeable and one-of-a-kind. In concrete terms, this means: La Femme, Hot Chip mastermind Alexis Taylor, all-purpose entertainment weapon Erobique, UK Grime shooting star Lady Leshurr, the one and only Arab Strap, Let’s Eat Grandma, Anna Meredith, and the powerful Young Fathers.

Reason 4. Over 70 program elements

You’ll like this: Talks, workshops, concerts, DJ sets, and things that are so unbelievably interdisciplinary that we’re still not quite sure how to categorise them. Pop-Kultur will also work together with collectives like female:pressure to fight for empowerment. We’ll explore the connection between literature and pop, delve into the history of the East German Underground, and, with the project SKM 60, we’ll celebrate the birthdays of Berlin labels Shitkatapult, Karaoke Kalk, and Monika Enterprise. As you can see, we like to take plenty of »zeit« for the zeitgeist.

Reason 5. Short Distances and New Multifunctionality—Well Hello There, Kulturbrauerei.

It’s true: we can hardly picture a better place to celebrate art and creativity. Three enchanting summer nights await you on the grounds of the Kulturbrauerei. It’s a space that lends itself to  hosting a wealth of inspiring, gravity-defying ideas.

Reason 6. Last But Not Least, We Really Truly ❤ Our Young Talents

The Pop-Kultur »Nachwuchs« programme will once again act as an important component of the festival. 250 young talents from around the world will come together in 40 workshops designed to address the pop-cultural challenges of the future. The application period begins on May 10th, but no worries—we’ll be in touch again before then!

So, have we won your virtual love yet? There’s a lot happening over here, and we’ll keep you up to date. Check up on our social media channels now and then — here, here and here. Or have a listen through our Spotify-Playlist with music by our confirmed artists. Oh, right, and don’t forget to buy tickets. Not sure how you’re all feeling, but we’re getting pretty excited for the spring, summer, and everything after that.

You like? We like!

Tickets for Pop-Kultur 2017 can be purchased right here

Foto-Credits:

ABRA (PR)
Steven Warkwick (PR)
Balbina (Photo by Max Zerrahn)
Romano (PR)
All Diese Gewalt (Photo by Max Zerrahn)
Lady Leshurrr (PR)
Let’s Eat Grandma (PR)
Young Fathers (PR)

The north of Berlin-Neukölln was even more wild than usual during the Pop-Kultur festival from August 31st until September 2nd. One constantly ran into old and new friends; »You’re going to see Thurston Moore? I’m on my way to see Levin Goes Lightly, let’s meet at the Abra-Show later!« Just swaying to A-WA (or doing the Halay with Selda Bağcan), and then right back into the »Body War« moshpit with Show Me The Body in the dripping hot KELLER. Or maybe a quick snack?

You and 9500 other guests attended the second Pop-Kultur festival to see more than 80 international artists in 6 locations and on 8 stages. But what does remain?

Well, Kurt Cobain’s lighter doesn’t. The central exhibit of Scott Kings partially displayed collection of pop memorabilia was unfortunately stolen on the last festival day. Please submit all information on the exhibits location to us online.

As our Art Director King wants to expand his collection, we warmly recommend the following objects to remember Pop-Kultur 2016 by: Joel Gibb’s shimmering golden suit, that he wore playing new fantastic The Hidden Cameras material in his solo set; the watery napkin, Zebra Katz used as a note for his prominent guest list in spite of all material resistance; the safety vest, Frankie Cosmos wore to change tires on the Autobahn before wearing it for her show in the packed and humid Keller. And of course the bracers Selda Bağcan, unfortunately, had to wear, because she – in her own words – had to evade one of her twenty cats while feeding them and fell.

»Yaz gazeteci yaz!« Write, your journalists, write! Bağcan sang her legendary song even twice during her show at Huxleys Neue Welt, as the first song and in the praised second encore. With this song, originally meant to make the Turkish press report on the neglected grievances in the country’s east, the great singer with the incomparable voice was representative of a program of strong-willed artists with an attitude, to whom Pop is always reflective of society as well.

Talking of extraordinary readings: On the stage of the Passage Kino, where Graf Fidi and Enno Park discussed Cyborgs and Disabilities and Juliana Huxtable and Fatima Al Qadiri dismantled the lyrical ex- and inclusion of national anthems in a highly interesting talk, Hendrik Otremba, known from his band Messer, exclusively read first excerpts from his upcoming debut novel. The enthralling detective thriller was accentuated with live effects by his colleague Raune. Rat-ta-ta-tat makes the motorcycle.

Next to other Pop-Kultur acts such as SassyBlack and Colin Newman – as well as further experts like Stephanie von Beauvais, Tina Adams, and Björn Beneditz, Otremba and Herbert gave one of the 42 workshops for the 250 participants of the Pop-Kultur Nachwuchs program. Supported by the Goethe-Institut, almost 500 young people from 24 countries had applied for the program: Uruguay, Colombia, India, Congo, South Africa, Argentina, Malaysia, the Philippines, Tanzania, Venezuela, Hong Kong, the USA, Great Britain, the Netherlands, Canada, Denmark, Switzerland, Australia, Italy, France, Russia, Poland, Egypt and Germany. 250 chosen talents were now able to educate themselves further, collect new inspirations and make new contacts.

The latter was also done by the many representatives of the scene, the music industry and culture politics who met during Pop-Kultur 2016, e.g. with James Minor, General Manager of one of the most important festivals of the world, the SXSW in Austin, Texas. And not a few agents sought contact to the team of the KELLER, where they might be seen more often in the near future.

You should be aware of the fact that Pop-Kultur is always supporting creativity and young talent. And by that we mean talents from all different sorts of areas. Yes, that also includes colouring. This year’s programme (which you can download right HERE) will – besides great articles and information – also include illustrations by Cajsa Holgersson. Why? Because it’s awesome and we’d like to support childlike creativity. And the world could definitely need a bit colour right now anyway, don’t you agree?

You can download the illustrations directly right here, print them out, use photoshop or pencils and basically the more creative the better. Surprise us, surprise the artist as we’re definitely going to pass these ones on to them.

So, what now?

Well, post them on our Facebook wall, tweet them to us, write us an E-Mailor share your art via Instagram by also using the hashtag #popkulturberlin. You’ll get rewarded with exclusive free tickets for the entire Pop-Kultur Festival 2016 in the form of exclusive wristbands of creating something unique. So, please let’s just have some easy fun here, shall we?

What about colouring the A-Wa ladies?

Algiers drummer Matt Tong is still missing here. Maybe you’d like to add him.Fatima needs a bit more colours!

Neon light? You could definitely use some on the Messer front man.

Make SassyBlack fabulous again!Let Selda drench in an amount of colours she deserves!

More colour for Mr. Moore, please!

You can find the Download of all illustrations right here.

Pop-Kultur is wishing you a maximum amount of fun!

We do not have an official mascot at Pop-Kultur but then there’s a band like Algiers who’s pretty close to the essential idea of our festival. The buzzing experimental rock group are not just performing brand new material exclusively at the Heimathafen Neukölln but bassist Ryan Mahan will also join us for an exciting talk prior to thei band’s performance. And the group is also hosting a workshop for our Pop-Kultur talents. The unusual seems to be the rule and that has always been the credo for Algiers. In preparation for their Berlin visit we asked drummer Matthew Tong to compile a very personal playlist for us. It’s about New York City, gentrification and well… that brings us back to Berlin, right? Please read and listen below.

“I started off thinking about what it is to live in New York City, as I am often inclined to do whenever I return from tour. There is this incredibly prescient Hal Ashby film from 1970 called “The Landlord”, which is perhaps the first film to explicitly look at issues surrounding gentrification. It’s funny, sad and it’s absolutely on the mark, so I built the playlist around Al Kooper’s “Love Theme” from said film. Gentrification is one of the myriad of apocalyptic tentacles waggling around in the world right now so there are some heavy tracks on here but I tried to balance it out with Françoise Hardy and Roxy Music.”

At Pop-Kultur 2016 Algiers will perform live on September 2 at the Heimathafen Neukölln as they present new songs. One day prior to this bassis Ryan Mahan will be joined by journalist Josh Hall to talk about horror and noise in the reproduction of colonialist silence at the Passage Kino. Tickets for both events are available at the Pop-Kultur Berlin Ticket-Shop.

One, Two … Oh, hello! … Just one moment … We’re almost ready … 13, 14 … 14! Only 14 days left until the start of Pop-Kultur, dear Readers

Just two more weeks to go to the next edition of Pop-Kultur, starting Wednesday, August 31st. Well, on the evening before we’ve already set up a not-so-small concert with Mogwai in the Admiralspalast (you have been informed), but that brings us directly to an everyday problem, concerning young festival enthusiasts and old hands alike: to be spoilt for choice. Exactly, whom should you go watch when and where, if there are this many concerts, talks, readings, DJ-Sets and even an exhibition?

That’s why we reinstated our movement-promoting modular system. Means: You can put together your own individual festival program to see as much as possible of Pop-Kultur, to wander through the district of Neukölln, to dance, listen – and you’re only paying for what you really want to see.

For example the magically dark Alternative Pop of Cat’s Eyes in the Heimathafen or the sunny DJ-Set of Metronomy mastermind Joe Mount in Huxley’s Neue Welt. And some of you like it more sweaty and mosh to New York’s dirtiest Punk export Show Me The Body in the Keller or become euphoric to ABRA’s hot R&B vibes in the SchwuZ. And we didn’t even talk about the Arabic singing, Israeli Pop trio A-Wa, not to mention the Turkish legend Selda Bağcan. You might notice: there’s a lot going on. But of course, some people have to leave earlier on a Wednesday night than on a Friday. We understand and have collected high-value tips by experts such as DJ Phono, Robert Stadlober or Sonja Eismann. You can find their personal program schedules under the moniker “How to Pop-Kultur”.

Curiosity will be rewarded: With three tickets you’ll get a total discount of 10%, with five tickets, it’s even 20% discount in our Ticketshop.

Thus, we couldn’t be talked out of making our festival even bigger: Simi Will brings her legendary Kiez-Bar-Talkshow to the Prachtwerk. For this unique special edition, she’ll be joined by Christian Brandes (»Schlecky Silberstein«) and Eva Löbau (»Tatort«). We’re also adding the crafted Israeli newcomer Noga Erez to the first night at the SchwuZ. The prospective Broadcast-Successors Virginia Wing are the formidable replacement for No joy who are unfortunately tied up in business. Jenni Zylka talks to Jens Balzer about Pop and beyond. Roosevelt is not only playing live but takes you to his own personal disco in a DJ-Set. And Phil Collins screens his film » Tomorrow Is Always Too Long« in the Passage Kino.

A lot to take in indeed. Pop-Kultur in all its facets and pre-modulated perfectly for you. Now, it’s your turn: Modulate with us. Combine and put together your own schedule. And then we’ll see each other in two weeks.

Pop-Kultur Go – Catch ‘Em All!