When I was little, I didn’t like biking. I had a long string of second hand bikes, none of which ever seemed to work quite right — a complaint that had some merit but also one I used as an excuse to explain my otherwise irrational dislike of the activity. When I left home for
TagBerlin
[Kulturbahn #38] April 17th – April 23rd
► Monday: Black German Cinema: “Sankofa – Return and get it” Jump right back into Berlin’s cultural scene by attending the film series In-between Performative Films, which focuses on artists trying to break away from patriarchal and national production contexts. This month’s movie premier follows artists and curators from Ghana. It raises various questions: Does the
[Kulturbahn #36] March 27th – April 2nd
► Monday: Gritty Glamour – a Queer Intervention This performance not only teleports the audience to Berlin’s nightlife and queer scene, but it also sheds light on the personal stories of queer and drag artists, who constantly negotiate their identity and explore their boundaries. The artists represent a wide range of Berlin’s nightlife figures, from
[Kulturbahn #34] March 13th – March 19th
► Monday: Populism, Politics & Propaganda This debate and panel talk questions the role of media and press in today’s rise of right-wing populism. On the one hand, the trend of “fake news” or alternative facts undermines the reliability of the media, especially in Trump’s America. On the other hand, journalists who want to uncover
BCB Goes Berlinale
I only went to see two films at the Berlinale International film festival, and I only stayed awake for one and a half of them. Despite the negative review my nap seems to suggest, the effort with which I attempted to keep my eyes open tells a different story. Both films, Centaur and Railway Sleepers,
Observations of a Woman in Cairo
Having been born and raised in Cairo by upper middle class Egyptian Muslim parents, gender issues and women’s rights weren’t topics typically dealt with in my family despite how “open-minded” my parents claim to be. A patriarchal culture filters through life’s many branches in Egypt, silencing the voices demanding the downfall of the patriarchy and
[Kulturbahn #25] November 28th – December 4th
► Monday: Not my Revolution, if … Staged as a musical, the stories of a fictional anti-globalization activist unfold satirically. Angie O. is the kind of activist you would come across in every movement, from Occupy Wall Street, to anti neoliberalism in the Maxican jungle, to hugging trees, protests against banks, and the list goes