Cart 0
transmediale is Berlin’s leading art and digital culture festival that brings together international artists every year to reflect on a specific theme through various genres and approaches. Widely recognized as an international platform for media art with a vibrant community and a strong network, transmediale also facilitates year-round activities with different partner institutions. One of transmediale’s closest cooperation partners is the CTM Festival, which began as part of transmediale and has since become an independent event.
In 2011, transmediale and CTM Festival launched a joint initiative called Vorspiel. Designed to enhance the visibility of Berlin’s independent art scene, the Vorspiel program aims to foster dialogue between the two festivals, celebrating the diversity of creative communities in the city. This year, Vorspiel kicked off a week before the CTM festival and began on January 19, 2024, and will run concurrently with the transmediale and CTM festival.
Have you ever wondered what it’s like to be an independent artist and how to stand out in the crowd? Vorspiel seeks to answer these questions by spotlighting independent project spaces, platforms, initiatives, curators, and artists in the city. Each year, the program invites Berlin-based creatives to propose events or activities and develop programs that reflect on the themes of the CTM and transmediale festivals.
Over the years, Vorspiel has played a crucial role in strengthening an independent city-wide artistic network, connecting various genres and practices, ranging from performance workshops and audiovisual installations to underground punk concerts and raves. In past editions, dozens of project spaces, galleries, and independent cultural actors have curated and organized exhibitions, workshops, and performances. transmediale and CTM coordinate the communication and promotion of the program through the Vorspiel website, print materials, and social media.
This year, 77 initiatives and venues across Berlin invite the public to participate in the Vorspiel program. On Friday, we attended the opening event at Untergeschoss der Pandora Art Gallery, featuring audiovisual performances by Beatrice Babin, Robin Burke, Makoto, Veith von Tsotzhousn, and @Optical Collusion. Another noteworthy event we plan to attend during CTM Vorspiel is PerForma at DOCK11.
DOCK11 serves as a hub for collaborative project development, nurturing the exchange of knowledge and practical experience in the fields of body movement and digital technologies. We had the opportunity to speak with Warja, the manager of the space, who shared the story behind it.
“DOCK11 was originally a dance school. Two years ago, during the pandemic, I met the owner of the space and proposed that, as we were engaged in design and media art, one of the halls could be transformed into a platform for artists to experiment. It was more than an event space; we saw it as a place where people could discover and try something new. DOCK11 is a collective space where everyone can bring their ideas and implement them. While we welcome all forms of expression, our primary focus is on digital art and interactive performances related to dance and sound,” explained Warja.
On February 1st, DOCK11 and the Berlin-based event promoter PerForma will co-present a collaborative event, exploring the intersection of digital and performance art. Emphasizing creativity as a catalyst for cultural transmission and connection through digital arts practices, this event will bring together electronic musicians, media artists, VJs, composers, and researchers. The program will feature AV live sets by Tymm Novyy, Fangarm, Grigory Gromov, Robin Burke, and Stanislav Glazov, interactive dance performances by Valentin Tszin and Performance Büro, and video installations by Anja Malec, Maryna Vladi, and Natalia Golubenko.
In the next two weeks, many incredible artist-run events will be presented as part of Vorspiel. We consider initiatives like CTM Vorspiel, which supports emerging artists and nurtures new talent, immensely important nowadays. Taking the first steps into the contemporary art world and promoting your work can be challenging. We recognize and strongly believe in the importance of supporting creatives brimming with new ideas to help them garner the support and recognition they deserve in the art scene.
