Tina Heuter exhibition on Knesebeckstrasse

 The surprising part of walking the streets of the Western part of Berlin is that you never know when you will discover something completely new. From interesting shops to newly opened restaurants, I can hardly have enough of this part of the city. When it comes to art galleries, the pleasure is even greater, as it often gives me inspiration and creative strength after a full day spent at work. This was the effect that Tina Heuter exhibition had on my afternoon, after entering the space on Knesebeckstrasse 20/21. 

Delicate bronze, concrete and paper silhouettes are balancing their delicate weights against the silent whitness of the walls.

Unexpected combinations of materials, like colourful thread on white silk paper, or the pop-art light installation attached to a bronze heads are pushing the limits of creativity farther. 

Most works - all on sale - requested an impressive amount of time and painful unsuccessful attempts to perfection. 

 The strength of the perfect attempts to beauty invites to silence.

Irony is present, in the red lips of the concrete statues or the Chanel bag hanging on the hands of the elongated bronze women profiles. 

This exhibition is open till the end of August, but Heuter is often presenting her works all over Germany. 

Afternoon in Britz

Once upon a time, I feel I have to go out of my comfort zone and explore carefully those corners of the city with unfamiliar names and maps. As a visit to the Britz Castle was in the cards for a long time - for reasons I will disclose later in my travel story - yesterday I decided to take a 45-minute ride bus and cross the geographical and mental border to a completely new place. I did stop at Parchimer Allee, a street I never been before and start the walking under the very hot sun. 

The first invitation to learn to manage the unknown landscape come from Kunst im Taut Haus, a gallery hosted in one of the 3 floors of a small house whose current Adolf Strübe exhibition was advertised quietly at the entrance of a small alley. The paintings were influenced by impressionists like Pissaro and Degas, and can be bought on the place too. The wall paintings and the sweet lines of the work of art create a mesmerizing symbiosis that keeps you on the spot for longer. 

When I am finally able to get out of the empire of colours, I am captivated by the colours of the famous Hufeisensiedlung, a quarter of building part of the UNESCO heritage for their special colourful facades and the old cherry trees. I take a mental note to be back soon only for a full time architectural exploration of this area.

After another minutes of walking on the very quiet Parchimer Allee - after all, it is Sunday afternoon and everyone looks to stay mostly at home with the family I suppose - I reach the area of Britz Castle, my foremost and final destination. The yard is hosting various institutions, from a music school to a museum and small coffees. An exhibition of agricultural tools and of historical carriages, plus a 1927 Ford A limousine, reminds the countryside past of this area.

For children, a Bauerhof was created, presenting various animals that can be touched and especially photographed. 

As for the rest of my trip, the ambiance is relatively quiet, without too many groups of people around. Maybe this will change the next week, when a Middle Age Festival, Cocomedievale, is expected to take place between 12 and 14 of June. 

The half-timbered Gutshof Britz is open serving various interesting high-end dishes, out of which the passion fruit based sweets seem to be the most tempting calls. 

For now, I prefer to have a look at the exhibition hosted at the Neukölln Museum, presenting through 7 exhibitional spaces the table culture of this very multicultural area of Berlin. Through videos and table objects displayed, it gives insights about changing habits, new mentalities and sometimes even new recipes. 

On the other side of the yard, the white silhouette of the castle is inviting to a different discovery. The current structure dates from the end of the 19th century, following the creation of Germany as a unitary states and testimony of the new mentalities and habits. The bright white facade with stylish intarsia is testimony of the historical and mentalities changes taking place in the industrial area. 

The rooms are big enough to give place to the massive pieces of furniture, on special colourful carpets. Everything seems to be set up to last longer and to create enjoyable spaces for the wealthy third class members. 

But if I wanted for so long to visit Britz Castle, it was for the special exhibition of Biedermeier dolls. It is fascinated how the adults can start molding the children's world from a very early age through games and toys that prepare them for the adult life. The dolls, many created in German factories, are also testimonies of the fashion trends of the time. Overall, all my reasons to visit this exhibition were justified and felt like the entire trip was a good reward after a full day of crazy work. 

My relaxation session continued while walking the wild alleys of the park, in the middle of the green leaves and yellow roses. Although going in and out of Britz took me around 2 hours, the entire excursion was a good choice and with or without a serious reason, I plan to be back at least once again this summer. 

Exhibition of French-German designers at Kunstforum der Berliner Volksbank

I rarely can say that I am getting bored in Berlin, not only because I have a variety of interests, but also because there is always a lot to discover. The local creativity in promoting ideas seems to be never ending and if you are curious enough, it is not too difficult to find something to see at least once the day.

Two weeks ago, on a Friday rainy day, my shelter against the weather was the Kunstforum der Berliner Volksbank, were I had the occasion to admire in the past interesting exhibitions, such the one featuring the history and culture of South Sudan. This time, the space was ready for the vernisage of a joint exhibition featuring French and German designers. The historical French-German friendship got a new colourful twist and was lucky to have a look.

It is hard to measure the degree of creativity on both parts of the border. Maybe the French ingenuity is translated in a completely new environment by the use of unique materials by the Germans.

Take, for instance, this jacket made of transport tickets used in Berlin.

Or this extravagant feather lamp, that with a lot of imagination one can fit for an apartment set to host parties all round the day.

The exhibition covers every area of design, from fashion to furniture, jewels and electronics, cars and sculptures. 

I especially appreciated the great lines of the furniture, combining both creativity and practicality, with a drop of craziness from time to time.

In most cases, the furniture objects can be easily fit to various interiors, and many of them are very beautiful, as for instance this table inspired by both Bauhaus and Art nouveau.

The fashion part is mostly accessible, even though this white dress by Pierre Letz probably requires a specific wedding setting. 

The jewellery items are hanged on modest cardboards, and such a choice can outline the shine and sophisticated lines of the products. Like in the case of the colourful jewels by Hyoun Jung Sung representing Germany. 

The space is big enough to include a lot of furniture, almost all of them tempting enough to inspire a dramatic redesign of the house. This desk, for instance, may look out of time, but it's provided with special facilities from computers.

And this red hat, that can remind of the old stories with the girl and the wolf, is adapted to the technicalities of iPods. 

Even though it was the first day of the exhibition, there were plenty of people wandering around, and it is very much to see. Situated close to the Zoo and 5 minutes close to the KaDeWe, the Kunstforum der Berliner Volksbank is a great choice to discover something new about design. The entry is free. The exhibition is open till 27 April. 

India, Panoramen eines Landes

The Volkswagen Forum on Unter den Linden is an interactive place, where you can find a nice place for a cake and icecream, the latest models of Volkswagen, but also regular exhibitions, mainly focused on photography. 

As the company has a factory in India, they went in contact with the local people and entrepreneurs. The beautiful architecture and mysterious colours are the subject of the current exhibition, that can still be admired - for free - till 18 November.

Welcome to the Indian labyrinth

India's most important cultural and tourist objectives are featured in very inspiring photographies that invite you to include this destination as one of your favorites for the next year. You will not see exposed too much the poverty - that it is mentioned though in some of the descriptions of the photographs - but only what will attract anyone curious to find out more about this amazing culture. 

The future is somewhere in between and I know that both sides of the coin are a good lesson of life. The photographs are offering serious reasons to discover India and a good start into a different world.