Berlin Stories

GoFundMe: Palestine Music Space in Ramallah

Palestinian musician Ahmed Eid (co-founder of Bukahara) is raising funds to support his project Palestine Music Space, an independent community studio in Ramallah, Palestine, where young musicians rehearse, record and receive training free of charge, as well as his debut solo album, min ghazzeh la baghdad, min haifa la beirut, released this month. The record blends alternative pop, rock, electronic elements, and Arabic poetry, and was written during the ongoing violence against the Palestinian people and reflects lived experience in this moment, from grief and rage to memory, love, and the insistence on hope.

Due to his public statements on Palestine, Ahmed has been blacklisted from several German cultural funding structures and lost institutional support for the album. Rather than compromise his language or message, he chose to refuse conditional funding. This has left the project €15,000 in debt, covering production, musicians’ fees, studio time, mixing, mastering and release costs. We are therefore running a fundraising campaign to ensure the album can be released independently, without censorship or external pressure. Donate here. 

Jia La: Moonrise 

In cultures that celebrate the lunar new year, the festivities do not last just on the day; they continue for 15 days. In Berlin, Jia La Collective and A – ZN join forces for their event Moonrise, bringing these traditions to those who miss them and those who are curious. On 20 February at Casino, Jia La continues the welcoming of the year of the fire horse with an evening of shared food, performances, music, and more. Those who join are encouraged to bring a dish to share, potluck-style. Jiannyuh Wang will be showcasing his unique artistic practice of performance calligraphy, and Amnati, Ellie Phunk, and Keikee will bring their housey soundscapes. Doors open at 19:00, and entry is donation-based. More info here! 

Demo for peace in Palestine

A demo for peace in Israel and Palestine will take place on Friday, 20 February 2026, outside the Amerika-Gedenkbibliothek. Beginning at 17:00, the gathering is part of a regular series organised by Standing Together Berlin, which takes place every Friday to keep the ongoing violence accountable and in the public eye.

The demo on Friday centres on the more than 20,000 children killed in Gaza, whose names and faces will be read and remembered. Alongside, participants will call for an immediate ceasefire, unrestricted humanitarian aid, an end to German arms exports to Israel, respect for international law, and meaningful involvement of civil societies on both sides in any path toward peace. No registration is required; signs will be provided, and people are welcome to join for any part of the hour. For those who attend, please dress warmly and take care of each other and yourselves. It is recommended to review this digital toolkit for best practices on navigating police violence. More info here. 

Care(filled)full Listening Session 

On 28 February, the collective off:hybrid will run its second edition of Care Listening Sessions, engaging in listening as resistance, care, and community – an ongoing practice of presence. off:hybrid is a third space that centres the voices and visions of BIPoC individuals here in Berlin. From the artist, Abdul Dube:

“The last solstice of 2025, I was invited to join a black feminist learning circle by Ra Malika Imhotep and Miyuki Baker. We dialled in via video call, and I experienced a space occupying the bottom, the supine in a way that felt so endearing and spacious. The Combahee River Collective is a pivotal inspiration in this work, and we honour them and bring their work to light. As we wrapped up this session, the organisers told us these are technologies to be used, and I invited fellow artists Sarah Batul Naqvi, Youde Monga to bring this to Wedding.”

The sessions, running from 14:00-17:30, include the following program: a protocol to open the session – listening and input; reflecting in silence; journaling your resonances; an open discussion of what came up for each; and ending with crafting a group poem.  Artists endeavour to create a listening experience that combines the sound work we are engaged in with music connected to our heritages. This collective practice nurtures spaces for knowledge production and sharing in ways that honour us all. Bring a small snack to share, bring your journal, a small blanket or shawl — and join in a Supine possibility experiment. More info here. 

Fundraiser for Flotilla

This spring, Let’s Talk Palestine is joining the 1000 Madleens Coalition, a civilian flotilla sending 100 ships toward Gaza to break the siege and force the world to pay attention. More than double the size of the last flotilla, this mission also represents resistance, challenging 15 years of blockade while carrying aid and solidarity across the Mediterranean.

The campaign is raising £25,000 to fund a ship, crew, travel supplies, safety measures and legal support, with any surplus going directly to families in Gaza. Supporters are invited to send messages with their donations, words that will travel with the crew, carried to Gaza and shared with international media. This is nonviolent direct action in solidarity with Palestinians’ right to movement, dignity, and self-determination. None of us are free until all of us are. Donate here. 

Palinale festival 

The Palinale Festival enters its final stretch this weekend. In collaboration with Music 4 Palestine, the festival programming spans film, photography, music, panel discussions, and more. Palinale runs alongside the Berlinale as a response to the ongoing repression of Palestine solidarity at the latter festival. Now in its last days this weekend, Palinale brings together film, photography, music, and conversation in collaboration with Music 4 Palestine.

Friday, 20 February’s program includes film screenings, photography, and talks at 90mil, with all proceeds going directly to Yahya & Friends to support food aid during Ramadan in Gaza and to a family in the West Bank. Further events spread across Berlin at venues including Casino for Social Medicine, Ringbar, Spore Initiative, and more. The festival closes with a party at Panke Culture on 21 February, followed by a final lecture and film screening at Spore the next day. More info here.

Still from documentary film "Sudan, Remember Us" (2024)

Berlinale update

Current and former participants of the Berlin International Film Festival have signed an open letter criticising the festival for its “silence” on the ongoing war in Gaza and what they describe as efforts to sideline artists who speak about it. As of mid-February, the letter has been endorsed by at least 81 filmmakers, actors, and industry figures, urging the festival to take a clear moral stance rather than remain neutral. 

The controversy was sparked in part by remarks from the festival’s jury president that “filmmakers should stay out of politics,” prompting the novelist Arundhati Roy to withdraw from this year’s event in protest. In response to the open letter, festival director Tricia Tuttle rejected the censorship accusation, stressing the complexity of taking official positions while defending artists’ freedom of expression. Read the full open letter here.

Soli Küfa and lecture on Nazi structures 

This Friday, 20 February, a bar evening at TU Berlin’s Zwille brings people together to raise funds for ongoing costs related to repression. Doors open from 19:00, with affordable drinks and vegan food throughout the evening. Alongside the bar, the programme includes a detailed lecture unpacking the far-right group Deutschen Patrioten Voran (DPV), looking at its structures, key figures, and why this information matters right now. The evening is framed as both informative and social: come to listen, talk, and spend time together. More info here. 

Deep Pockets soli auction

On Sunday, 22 February, Deep Pockets, an early-evening fundraiser that blends care, pleasure, and collective responsibility, takes place from 17:00–21:30 at Biergarten Jockel. The event features an art market, a drag showcase, and an auction. All proceeds go to two urgent causes: Ibrahim in Gaza, navigating daily life under ongoing genocidal violence, and Nafas, a Berlin-based friend living with severe ME and Long COVID, facing life-threatening neglect. Guests are asked to come COVID-tested and masked (FFP2) to keep the space safer for everyone. Hosted by Sharifa Licious, with a lineup of local performers. Expect cocktails and snacks from 17:00, followed by a drag show and auction from 19:00–21:30. The art market will run throughout the evening. More info here.

Black Power Soliparty

To close out Black History Month, Black Queer Berlin and OYA come together for Black Power Party,  a night led by Black queer artists that marks both an ending and a shift forward. February offers space to reflect, but this gathering looks beyond a single month. It’s a reminder that Black history is queer history, and that Black life, culture, and resistance can’t be confined to a calendar slot. The party doubles as a call to stay visible, vocal, and politically active, and importantly, as an evening for joy and presence. Soundscapes span from baile funk to dancehall and afrobeats, with DJ sets by XD Erica, Nuhdelay, and DJ Astro Papiii. More info here. 

Atemporal Projects open call 

Atemporal Projects, a newly opened cultural space in Friedrichshain, is calling for submissions for Hybrid Forms — a group exhibition exploring speculative objects that sit somewhere between art, design, furniture, and sound. The focus is on works that refuse neat categories, prioritising material presence, spatial tension, and imagined uses over labels. The exhibition runs 12–29 March 2026, with a submission deadline of 02 March. If your practice lives in the in-between and experiments with how objects exist, behave, or are encountered, reach out to atemporalprojects@gmail.com. The deadline to submit is 02 March. 

As well, check out their listening session on 21 February, where the space will transform into a cinematic listening experience with movie soundtracks. More info here. 

Feminist reading circle 

Yes We Bleed returns with its next Feminist Reading & Social Circle on 26 February, a monthly gathering at BIWOC Rising. The circle is a place to slow down, think together, and reconnect outside of urgency. This session focuses on radical rest, reading, and reflecting on texts by Mariame Kaba, Tricia Hersey, and Adrienne Maree Brown through an intersectional feminist approach. Sessions are open to all FLINTA+ individuals, and participants are invited to listen, share, or simply sit in the circle;  no pressure, just presence. More info here. 

Berlin’s Burning bloc party

Sunday, 21 February, Berlin’s Burning Bloc Party brings people together for a day of food, performances, conversation, and a slightly unhinged round of fire Bingo, all in support of Sudanese individuals resisting war, dictatorship, and repression. The day unfolds with Jamaican–African fusion food (vegan and meat options), followed by performances, a discussion on the topic How We Survive the Flames, and a “Burning Bingo” session that reworks the classic game into something a little more liberatory. Come to eat, listen, play, and spend time together, with 50% of proceeds going to Sudanese comrades and 50% supporting a Berlin-based exodus fund. More info here.

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Photos courtesy of Atemporal Projects and Danny Kötter.

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