Why do we gather?
What are the conditions of gathering in today’s world?
How does a communal experience function within an over-stimulated flow of information?
What does the city that we are living in bring into our subconscious?
Gatherings is a two-day performance programme activating Studio 1 at Kunstquartier Bethanien through a constantly shifting understanding of space, relation, and encounter. Rather than approaching the space as a fixed, vertical perspective from which performances are presented to an audience, the programme understands it as something shaped through the relations between viewers, performers, objects, bodies, and installations.
Performances move between sound, reading, action, dance, and participation while Studio 1 becomes a moving discussion room, shifting between cultural backdrops, artistic questions, and different environmental setups. Artists from various performative mediums and backgrounds bring their practices and the contexts they emerge from into dialogue with Berlin, opening up questions around the cultural landscape of the city, its current concerns, and the ways in which we gather within it.
Bringing together artists working across diverse performative mediums and backgrounds, the programme opens up a dialogue with Berlin, exploring the city’s cultural landscape and the ways in which we gather within it. The choreography of the space is not predetermined but emerges through the movements of performers and viewers, the activation of objects and installations, and the encounters that unfold between them.
Gatherings is a space to meet, encounter, listen, perform, participate, and exchange.
Artists:
Catharina Szonn @szonny_bravo
Gosia Lehmann @g_o_s_i_a_l_e_h_m_a_n_n
HYPHE @marietomasi , @morganesurmer
Janosch Sinn @janosch.sinn
Kamau Ng’ang’a @kamau.png
Lisa Marie Schmitt @lisa_marie_schmitt
Mariana García Mejía @mariana.garcia.m
Paulette Penje @paulettepenje
Rocio Gmar + GauchXpunK @rocio_gmar , @libertad.esmeralda , @peeping_pol
Tuce Alba @tucealbaa
Vitalii Shupliak @vitalii.shupliak
Yurika S. Yamamoto @yurikasyamamoto
Curated by @canberk.akcal
Organised by @club_707, @jumpstartspace, @backhausprojects
30–31 October 2026
Opening: 30 October, 18:00
Studio 1, Kunstquartier Bethanien
Mariannenplatz 2, 10997 Berlin
Gatherings is a project by Permission To Try: Pathways to Upskilling and Connecting Creative Learners. The project supports independent creative workers through peer-to-peer learning, professional development, cultural exchange, and engagement with cultural policy. The project is funded by the European Union as part of the Erasmus+ Grant.
The project brings together three independent cultural organisations: Club 707 (Paris), Jumpstart Foundation (Rotterdam), and Backhaus Projects (Berlin).
