Featured Events in Berlin in April, 2025 (May Updated)

From spring 2025, the Gropius Bau will present a comprehensive solo exhibition celebrating the groundbreaking and influential work of artist and activist Yoko Ono. Spanning seven decades of the artist’s powerful, multidisciplinary practice from the mid-1950s to now, YOKO ONO: MUSIC OF THE MIND will trace the development of her innovative work and its enduring impact on contemporary culture. The exhibition brings together over 200 works including instruction pieces and scores, installations, films, music and photography, revealing a radical approach to language, art and participation that continues to speak to the present moment.

The International Spy Museum is proud to host this official exhibition of iconic vehicles, all used on-screen by 007 and his many allies and adversaries. While James Bond is a fictional character, he embodies the spirit of many real spies in this museum. These men and women, from around the world, were inspired by over six decades of the Bond film franchise and its enduring cultural influence. Bond In Motion is a celebration of six decades of 007 vehicles. The exhibition features 17 iconic pieces from the EON Productions Archive and the Ian Fleming Foundation. Props, models scale and clips from the films are also on show alongside cars, motorcycles, submarines, and more from the Q Branch garage.

The Berlinische Galerie has devoted over 1000 square metres to presenting its collection. Waiting to be discovered among the roughly 250 works on show are paintings, prints, photographs, architecture and archive materials rarely or never displayed before. Walking around this exhibition is like time travel and takes visitors through Berlin in 17 chapters: the Kaiser’s era, the Weimar Republic, the Nazi dictatorship, the new beginnings after 1945, Cold War in the divided city, and the counter-cultures and unconventional lifestyles that evolved in East and West under the shadow of the Wall. In East Berlin, an alternative art community developed from the late 1970s. In West Berlin from the late 1970s, aggressive art by the “Neue Wilden” placed the divided city back in the international limelight.

LAS Art Foundation is pleased to present Pollinator Pathmaker, a living artwork and participatory project conceived by artist Alexandra Daisy Ginsberg. This impactful initiative in interspecies art uses algorithmic technology to generate planting schemes for gardens, computed to support the greatest diversity of pollinating insects possible. It signals a shift toward the post-anthropocentric thinking necessary to face the current climate and biodiversity crises, and toward the non-human aesthetics and experimental formats that pave the way. Ambitious and future-minded, it is exemplary of how art can act as a driver for change, and offer new perspectives on our shared planet. Growing in the forecourt of the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin, the LAS- commissioned garden will be the first edition outside of the UK. LAS has committed to amplifying Pollinator Pathmaker’s impact by undertaking an extensive public campaign, which calls upon local communities, hobby gardeners and activists to get involved in pollinator protection by planting their own version of the artwork – what the artist refers to as DIY Editions – via Ginsberg’s free online tool: www.pollinator.art. Responding to the alarming decline in pollinator populations in recent decades, Ginsberg has worked with horticulturalists, pollinator experts and an AI scientist to devise an algorithmic tool that designs bespoke gardens for pollinating insects. Supported by the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin, the LAS Edition will be customised for Continental Europe, and will feature more than 7,000 plants of 80 different varieties, planted over a 722-square-metre plot.

Marking twenty years since artist, writer and performer Vaginal Davis made Berlin her home, Gropius Bau presents the first comprehensive solo exhibition of her work in Germany. In her expansive oeuvre, punk meets glamour, queer activism meets Black counter-culture and resistance meets desire. Vaginal Davis: Fabelhaftes Produkt features large-scale installations, paintings, video and film works, zines, writing, music and performances, offering an overview of Davis’ practice and artistic collaborations. In the exhibition, the Berlin-based art collective CHEAP presents the installation Choose Mutation, with photographs by Annette Frick. Fabelhaftes Produkt invites you into the universe of Vaginal Davis, populated by literary heroines, mythical figures and real icons.

YOKO ONO: DREAM TOGETHER at Neue Nationalgalerie is an exhibition featuring works from across Ono’s groundbreaking career. The exhibition invites viewers to move beyond passive observation and engage in active participation – both physically and mentally. Often beginning on an individual level, these actions evolve into broader collective efforts, demonstrating the transformative power of communal actions in working toward peace and imagining a different world. The works invite collective actions of repair, healing, cleaning, mending, wishing, imagining, and dreaming. Before entering the exhibition, visitors are invited to engage in a moment of self-reflection through Cleaning Piece (1996). Piles of local river stones are arranged, prompting visitors to reflect on their joys and sorrows. This is followed with instructions to fold paper cranes for peace, gradually filling the exhibition space. In Mend Piece (1966), visitors take part in an act of repair, piecing together broken ceramic cups and “mending with wisdom and love.” The exhibitions central installation, Play It By Trust (1966/1991), features a large chess table where up to 20 players can simultaneously engage in the nearly impossible act of playing with all white chess pieces, challenging them to “play as long as you remember where all your pieces are.”

This special exhibition, presented in the staircase hall of the Neues Museum, offers a dialogue on the meaning of time, mortality and the connection between past and present. Contemporary art meets historical space, refers to ancient models and offers a modern adaptation of the classical reception of the myth of the Dioscuri, who walk eternally between death and life.

The exhibition is aimed at gamers of all ages, but also at visitors who have little experience with computer games. The fact that computer games have developed into a leading medium is no longer a daring thesis. The social and aesthetic significance of the interactive and multimedia medium can no longer be overlooked. The computer game has freed itself from its origins as a laboratory experiment and toy and has become "the" medium of digital society, somewhere between pop culture, entertainment and art. With the opening of the exhibition »The World of Games« in the fall of 1997, the ZKM was one of the first art institutions worldwide to give video game culture a permanent public platform in an art context. Since then, the ZKM has repeatedly reshaped the presentation of games in a series of different exhibitions.

Already 2,000 years ago, the emperors of China had portraits of loyal officials and generals made in order to display them in their palaces. This presentation features depictions of meritorious officers that the Qianlong Emperor (r. 1736–1795) had commissioned for their display in the hall of fame Ziguangge to demonstrate his power and legitimacy. In the 20th century they became spoils of war not one but two times. Located adjacent to the Forbidden City in Beijing, the Ziguangge is a two-storey pavilion. During the reign of the Qianlong Emperor (r. 1736 – 1795), the building was a venue for military rituals and banquets and housed paintings with battle scenes of the imperial military campaigns and portraits of meritorious officers.

The Gemäldegalerie is showcasing 60 paintings from the Museum of Western and Eastern Art in Odesa, the famous port city in the south of Ukraine that has in recent years been ravaged by war. The artworks in question were evacuated from the city before the onset of war and transferred to safety in Berlin, where they will be brought into dialogue with paintings from the collections of Berlin’s museums. The large-scale special exhibition, which follows on from a small preview presentation in the spring of 2024, is an extraordinary collaborative project funded by the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media.

Ayoung Kim’s (b. 1979 in Seoul, Korea) first solo exhibition in a German museum spans the most recent years of her artistic practice and explores concepts of time, reality, belonging, and queerness. Using Artificial Intelligence, video, game simulations, and sculpture, Ayoung Kim creates expansive fictional universes governed by their own temporal and spatial laws. Her works are linked by speculative narratives rooted in reality, and viewers become both spectators and first-person players, shaping the story from their perspective.

The Berlin Kupferstichkabinett is home to an impressive collection of modern art, including works by Edvard Munch, Käthe Kollwitz and Ernst Ludwig Kirchner. But what is less widely known is that the artists of Der Blaue Reiter also left behind a remarkable legacy of their own. As such, the Kupferstichkabinett is for the very first time dedicating a comprehensive exhibition to the art of Der Blaue Reiter, where it will showcase the museum’s holdings on the basis of 90 artworks organised according to specific themes. These will be complemeneted by a selection of works on loan from the Kunstbibliothek, the Museum Europäischer Kulturen and the Neue Nationalgalerie of the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, as well from private Berlin collections.

Images of plants, flowers and birds are besides landscapes and figures among the most popular motifs in painting and graphic arts from Japan. These motifs were also frequently employed as decoration in the design of ceramics, lacquerware and other utensils. Certain blossoms, plants and birds indicate the season and combinations of several elements may hint at the frequent change and passing of time. The tension between regular change and cyclical repetition is particularly palpable in images of the four seasons and makes most of the interplay between limited individual existence and the eternity of nature as depicted for in art. This selection of art works from the museum holdings welcomes a new spring. As we rejoice in the blossoms, we can not help but notice, especially against the ecological challenges of our time, their vulnerability and impermanence.

Tauche ein in die düstere Welt von E. T. A. Hoffmanns Der Sandmann ! Als kleiner Junge wurde Nathanael von der unheimlichen Geschichte des Sandmanns verfolgt - eines Wesens, das den Menschen die Augen raubt. Doch ist es wirklich nur eine Geschichte? Jahre später beginnen Vergangenheit und Gegenwart zu verschwimmen, als Nathanael einem geheimnisvollen Fremden begegnet. Liebe, Wahnsinn und dunkle Geheimnisse prallen aufeinander, und die Grenzen zwischen Realität und Fantasie verschwinden. E. T. A. Hoffmanns berühmtes Nachtstück als mitreißendes Musiktheater! Information Source: Theater Verlängertes Wohnzimmer | eventbrite

PETER SCHLANGENBADER A100 Wir fangen schon einmal an oder die Auflösung eines berlinerisch-gordischen Knotens 100 Bilder Eröffnung am 25. April 2025 um 19:00 Uhr im Löwenpalais. Kuratiert von Ilia Castellanos Begrüßung: Jörg Starke Ausstellungsdauer: 26. April bis 25. Mai. 2025 Mo. - Do. 10:00 - 16:30 Uhr Fr. 10:00 - 14:30 Uhr und nach Vereinbarung Stiftung Starke Koenigsallee 30-32 14193 Berlin www.stiftungstarke.de info@stiftungstarke.de 030 825 87 34 Information Source: Löwenpalais | eventbrite

Monstrous like Medusa, beautiful like Aphrodite, faithful like Penelope – many women from ancient mythology are known primarily as stereotypes of traditional female roles. Inspired by a surge in new readings of these myths, the Antikensammlung (Collection of Classical Antiquities) is taking a fresh look at the goddesses and heroines.

Monstrous like Medusa, beautiful like Aphrodite, faithful like Penelope – many women from ancient mythology are known primarily as stereotypes of traditional female roles. Inspired by a surge in new readings of these myths, the Antikensammlung (Collection of Classical Antiquities) is taking a fresh look at the goddesses and heroines.

With the Retrospective in the Neue Nationalgalerie, a comprehensive insight into the work of Nan Goldin from 1980 to the present day is given for the first time. Her individual series of works will be shown in the form of slide shows and films in pavilions designed by Hala Wardé in the upper hall of the Neue Nationalgalerie – each of these “buildings” is conceived in relation to the respective series of works; together they form a kind of village. After the opening in Stockholm and Amsterdam, the exhibition will now be shown in Berlin and will travel to Milan and Paris.

This showcase exhibition at the Neues Museum is dedicated to one of the first animals to be domesticated by humans: the donkey.The particular significance of this widely underestimated grey animal in the contexts of Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia is presented here from a range of different perspectives, ultimately revealing one key detail: the donkey was utterly indispensable in the ancient world.

Donkeys are one of the earliest farm animals raised by humans. This exhibition will use paintings, sculptures, pottery, papyrus and other objects collected by the Egyptian Museum and the Near Eastern Museum in Berlin to detail the use of donkeys in different fields such as agriculture, military and religion in the ancient world, and present the importance of donkeys to ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia from different perspectives. People often think that donkeys are stubborn, stupid and lazy, but they don’t know that this idea is based on prejudice based on misunderstanding of donkeys’ behavior. In fact, donkeys are smart, loyal and self-reliant animals. Donkeys mainly play an important role in civilian life, but they can also be used in military scenes, taking on the responsibility of carrying food and equipment, and calming excited horses.

The artist duo is well-known for their radical transformations of museum and gallery spaces, as seen in The Collectors at the Danish and Nordic pavilions for the 53rd Venice Biennial (2009), Tomorrow at the Victoria and Albert Museum (2013), and Bonne Chance, which spanned nearly the entire Centre Pompidou-Metz building (2023). Among their most significant public sculptures are Short Cut (2003), featuring a Fiat Uno and caravan seemingly emerging from the ground – first exhibited at Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, Milan and now in the collection of the MCA Chicago; Prada Marfa (2005), a forever closed Prada boutique situated in the midst of the Texan desert along Highway 90; Powerless Structures, Fig. 101 (2012), depicting a boy astride a rocking horse, commissioned for London’s Fourth Plinth on Trafalgar Square; and Van Gogh’s Ear (2016), a full-sized swimming pool turned vertically, first displayed at Rockefeller Center, New York. Their sculptures and institutional exhibitions often invoke the audience’s participation, creating unexpected situations and environments. In recent years, they have held solo exhibitions at major art institutions such as the Amorepacific Museum, Seoul; Musée d'Orsay, Paris (both 2024–2025); Centre Pompidou-Metz (2023–2024); Fondazione Prada, Milan (2022); Nasher Sculpture Center, Dallas (2019–2020); Whitechapel Gallery, London (2018–2019); and UCCA Center for Contemporary Art, Beijing (2016).

Musik 8.0 presents Mariachi Internacional El Dorado, a captivating musical experience set to take place on April 2, 2025, at the prestigious Instituto Cervantes Berlin - Das spanische Kulturinstitut in Berlin. The event will showcase the renowned Mariachi band, El Dorado, known for their vibrant performances and traditional Mexican music. Attendees can expect an evening filled with lively rhythms and soul-stirring melodies. Tickets for this extraordinary cultural event are priced at €5, offering a unique opportunity to immerse oneself in the rich musical heritage of Mariachi music. Don't miss out on this unforgettable performance at Rosenstraße 18, 10178 Berlin.

Am 2. April 2025 wird die dänische Sängerin, Produzentin und Songwriterin Sitrekin ein exklusives Konzert in der Genezareth-Kirche in Berlin geben. Die Künstlerin, bekannt als ehemalige Leadsängerin und Songwriterin der Band Blue Foundation, präsentiert gemeinsam mit einem 60-köpfigen Chor ein besonderes Konzerterlebnis. Auf dem Programm stehen Songs aus ihrem aktuellen Projekt Sitrekin, darunter ihren Remake der Welthit Eyes on Fire aus dem Grammy-nominierten Twilight-Soundtrack, der weltweit mehr als 165 Millionen Streams verzeichnet hat. Sitrekin, alias Kirstine Stubbe Teglbjærg, startete ihr Soloprojekt 2021 mit der Single Open Chest, die auf Anhieb Platz 1 der dänischen National Radio P6Beat-Charts erreichte. Mit nur vier veröffentlichten Singles hat sie sich sowohl in ihrer Heimat als auch international eine beachtliche Fangemeinde aufgebaut und wurde bereits von renommierten Medien wie Rolling Stone Magazine, KEXP, Clash Magazine und GAFFA gefeatured. Das Konzert in der Genezareth-Kirche verspricht ein außergewöhnliches Hörerlebnis, bei dem Sitrekin ihre einzigartigen Klangwelten mit der kraftvollen Unterstützung eines großen Chors vereint. Die Kombination aus elektronischen Elementen, sphärischem Pop und eindrucksvoller Vokalharmonie macht diesen Abend zu einem besonderen Highlight. Information Source: Startbahn | eventbrite

🎙 1 Event - 6 handverlesene Comedians Alle 2 Wochen, mittwochs präsentieren wir dir 6 Comedians auf der (fast schon historischen) Bühne in der Tabar Bar. Wir präsentieren dir stets eine Mischung aus frischen Newcomern und erfahrenen Profis. 🎁 Überraschungen nicht ausgeschlossen Jeder Abend ist anders. Mal laden wir noch zusätzlich eine Musikerin zum Abschluss ein, mal entwickelt sich ein hitzige Debatte in Folge spontaner Pointen. Das einzige was stets gleich bleibt, ist kurzweilige Unterhaltung, von der du deinen Kollegen am nächsten Tag erzählen wirst. Deshalb: Der Eintritt ist frei, Reservierungen empfohlen – und gute Laune garantiert! 📅 Schnapp dir deine Freunde (oder Kollegen) und komm vorbei! Bei Fragen, Anmerkungen o.ä. schreibt gerne auf Instagram (oder über den Button hier, weiter unten) 😇 Information Source: Mustafa Abd Alla | eventbrite

Der Kontakt zu den Menschen steht bei allen seinen Reisen immer im Vordergrund. Die Ausstellung „India - encounters“ lässt uns an diesen spannenden Begegnungen teilhaben und zeigt das alltägliche Leben in einer fast poetischen Form. Selbst der Müll erscheint bei ihm in einer gewissen Schönheit. Harte Arbeit und religiöse Feste, traditionelle indische Braut und Dämonen, Tee-Verkäufer und ein 90-jähriger Schumacher, Strassenfriseur und Lastenträger. In der Ausstellung werden überwiegend Portraits gezeigt, die teils in Farbe, teils in Schwarzweiß kombiniert werden. Gerade die Bildkombination ergeben für den Betrachter „spannende“ Begegnungen und laden ein, mit der eigenen Fantasie auf Reisen zu gehen. Information Source: Galerie Streulicht Berlin | eventbrite

The little black fish is a well known children story in iran. Its about a little black fish who wants to swim against the norms. Queer people often times challenge and swim against the norms of society as well and therefore take the role of the little black fish. In particular, the play covers the tales of queer people in Iran. The stories of love, joy, survival, death, pain and desire. Stories of people in Iran and in exile. Woven all together with the personal stories of the director and performer duo Aytak Dibavar & Faezeh Daemi. Performers: Aytak Dibavar & Faezeh Daemi Director Assistant: Roya Motazedian Composer/ Sound: Nima Yajam Videographer/Editor: Nima Yajam Information Source: Theater X | eventbrite

! Hinweis: Das BAIZ ist eine Raucherkneipe. Während der Veranstaltung ist im Veranstaltungsraum das Rauchen untersagt. Nur Personen im Alter von mindestens 18 Jahren sind zur Location zugangsberechtigt! Herzlich Willkommen beim Rosi Slam! Der Rosi Slam ist ein Poetry Slam, bei dem verschiedene Künstler*innen mit ihren selbstverfassten Texten gegeneinander antreten. Die Auftretenden haben 6 Minuten Zeit, von sich und ihren Texten zu überzeugen. Wer gewinnt, entscheidet niemand geringeres als das Publikum! Erlebt selbst, wie gesprochenes Wort einen ganzen Raum entflammen und begeistern kann! Das BAIZ liegt zwischen U Eberswalder Str. und Senefelderplatz. VORVERKAUF 10€ regulär, 8€ ermäßigt (zzgl. Vorverkaufsgebühren) ABENDKASSE Empfehlung 12€ regulär, 10€ ermäßigt Doors 18:45 Uhr, Beginn 19:30 Uhr Instagram @kunst_und_krawall_ https://kunstundkrawall.com Kultur für alle! An unseren Abendkassen gilt das Prinzip: Jede*r gibt, was er*sie kann, und wer kann, gibt gerne mehr! Denn unsere Veranstaltungen sollen trotz steigender Preise für alle Menschen zugänglich bleiben. Das bedeutet: 1. Unsere Abendkassenpreise sind Richtwerte. 2. Jede*r gibt, was er*sie kann. Keine*r muss sich rechtfertigen. Unser Einlasspersonal fragt nicht nach, wenn ihr weniger gebt. 3. Am Einlass gibt es eine Soli-Kasse. Wer mehr geben kann, kann uns gerne ein kleine Spende da lassen für Leute, die es sich weniger leisten können, und für die Kultur. Information Source: Kunst&Krawall | eventbrite

through the noise presents, live at noisenight202... From performing in total darkness to welcoming guest electronic musicians and lighting designers, expect this show with Berlin’s Vision String Quartet to be “vivid, electrifying and fearless”. Following sold-out shows at Bürgerhaus Neuenhagen and KühlhausBerlin, the quartet bring Dmitri Shostakovich's String Quartet No. 8 in C minor, Anton Webern's Langsamer Satz, and pieces from their own album Spectrum to this unique and intimate show in Friedrichshain nightclub Cassiopeia. Please note that all tickets to this performance are standing by default. Should you have any access requirements, please contact the promoter through the noise on info@throughthenoise.co.uk. This show is strictly 18+. Tickets are released in four stages; the earlier you book the cheaper the ticket. We expect high demand for this performance, so book early to get the best price. Information Source: through the noise | eventbrite