One of the longest standing festivals in Berlin is back this year for its 38th edition. We’re speaking of Transmediale, which brings together a vast array of activities including lectures, performances, film screenings, workshops, and presentations from January 29 to February 2. Mostly taking place at the Haus der Kulturen der Welt (HKW), these upcoming days you have a busy schedule ahead. Let’s break it down.
This year’s edition is titled (near) near but — far and follows a renewed curatorial approach, with Ben Evans James and Elise Misao Hunchuck taking the lead, but also including guest programmers like artist and performer Nina Davies, editor-researcher Eugene Yiu Nam Cheung, and trans*disciplinary artist-designer Ren Loren Britton. In its 38th edition, Transmediale seeks to reflect on the different ways technology is reshaping our politics, labour, and relations to one another, and how we yearn for human proximity in times where everything seems to be taken over by cold, heartless interfaces.
The event will kick off officially on Thursday, with a varied programme of performances, music, and live acts by the likes of Tati au Miel, DeForrest Brown, Jr., and DJ sets by AXT and State OFFF. In the cinema room, a film loop will be on view presenting works from Nina Davies, Aaron Ratajczyk, Charlotte Zhang, and Sorawit Songsataya.
On Friday, it might be a good idea to start with Lindsey A. Freeman’s running club — literally, a running club where you’ll be stretching and then running with some peers in order to create a community and conversation while staying healthy. Another suggestion is to attend the performance The Inexorable Non-Player Character by Nina Davies and 2girls1comp, a joint artwork they’ve put together for Transmediale. In it, the artists trace NPC movements from video games or TikTok videos and bring them to real life through physical bodies.
One of the few live sets on the programme is happening on Friday night: Andriy K. will be playing at HKW. He’s known for exploring the therapeutic effects of textures and the depths of human reflection through dubbed guitars and vocals, so it’s a great activity to attend. If you’re more into cinema, head to the screening The Best Weapon Against Myth Is Mythmaking, which will put together works by Nina Davies, Hana Yoo, and 업체eobchae.
On Saturday, another interesting screening is Biraddali Dancing on the Horizon, which documents a process of ancestral, intergenerational learning, made by Bhenji Ra. It will be followed by a conversation between the artist, Tati au Miel and Liz Gre. In terms of lectures, we recommend Laura Kurgan’s and Jussi Parikka’s GPS for the Brain: Cognitive Mapping Revisited, exploring advances in neuroscience and AI about how our brain is wired and how we navigate this world. To finish the day, nothing like dancing to a DJ set — this time, by UK artist Big Leg.
On Sunday, you could attend the screening of video essay Lumi, by Abelardo Gil-Fournier and Jussi Parikka, a story of snow and luminance. It will be followed by a conversation on synthetic landscapes and how moving images serve as a methodology for investigating distance and proximity. Another unmissable screening is Affirmations Are Not as Powerful as Belief, putting together the works of artists like Charlotte Zhang, Simon Ripoll-Hurrier, Maud Craigie, or Dani and Sheilah ReStack. If you have daddy issues, then you must attend the performance Dead Dad Death Cult by Samra Mayanja, where she explores how we fill the paternal void.
