Berlin Stories

Archive of Silence Open Call

Archive of Silence, a crowd-sourced archive documenting media erasure and violence against Palestinian advocacy here in Germany, is collecting testimonies of censorship, silencing, discrimination, and professional consequences here in Germany by those who challenge the dominant political narrative on Israel–Palestine. The archive documents cases across institutions, organisations, and workplaces where expressions of solidarity with Palestine, political criticism, or even personal ties have led to exclusion or punishment. Despite the visibility of public cases, far more remain undocumented.

If you have experienced or witnessed silencing, feel free to submit your story to this email. Submissions have the right to remain anonymous, and should include what happened, where and when it occurred, and the reasons given. The archive currently focuses on cases after October 7, but is also open to instances before that. The archive’s work helps dismantle dominant, false narratives that perpetuate oppression by holding those in positions of power accountable for their complicity. More info here.

The Racist Origins of Zionism: Online Lecture

On 23 January, from 18:30-20:00, join researcher, activist, and JEW. DESPITE GERMANY. author Udi Raz, in their online lecture, exploring the parallels between Jewish and Palestinian liberation. This lecture explores the origins and history of Zionism, examining how it developed alongside antisemitic racial thinking. While antisemitism cast Jews as inferior, Zionism adopted racial frameworks to claim superiority, often at the expense of Palestinians and non-European Jewish communities. The session will unpack both historical causes and contemporary contexts, highlighting why challenging Zionism is also a step toward freeing Judaism from its racialised and colonial entanglements. More info here, or register here.

Conference for Academic Boycott

From 23-25 January, a conference organised by Interbündnis Berlin will take place on the topic of academic boycotts in Germany. Since October 2023, movements in solidarity with Palestine have continued to surface across German universities, and this conference brings students, academics, and university workers together to reflect on where the movement stands and where it might go next, especially given the institutions' repression of solidarity actions. Panel talks and workshops aim to examine the role of universities within capitalism, imperialism, and settler colonialism, and to discuss how institutions in Germany can be held accountable for their political and material ties. The programming topics include the importance of boycotts and sanctions, actions against Israeli settler colonialism here in Germany, skillshare workshops, and more. More info here.

Backhaus Open Call – Feb, March, April

Backhaus Projects will remain on Weserstraße until May, providing a few extra months for projects in the space. If you’ve been thinking about doing something at Backhaus while it’s still on Weserstraße, this is an open invitation to get in touch. The space is open to a range of formats, including exhibitions, pop-ups, workshops, screenings, collective gatherings, or other proposals that respond to the space and its community. Submissions can be made via this form.

Backhaus also welcomes suggestions for their next chapter. As a community space, hearing your thoughts on what kinds of spaces, formats, and resources are most needed can help the team plan for the future and ensure the space continues to best support artists and communities. More info here.

Radical Fashion Show + Market

On 31 January, experience a Berlin-style fashion week with the Alt Fashion Show. The day includes a designer market (12:00–20:00, free entry) featuring local brands such as Letter Art and Fashion, Unleashed Berlin, and Ivy Berlin, plus bold jewellery, rave wear, and alternative fashion. At 18:00, three fashion shows take the stage alongside rope-and-pole performances and hypnotic DJ sets. Drinks and more round out the evening. More info here.

VibeLab Open Call: Grassroots Collectives Exploring VR

Vibelab, a Europe-wide advocacy agency preserving nightlife culture, is looking for grassroots cultural collectives, researchers, or venues exploring virtual reality in nightlife. This project is in collaboration with Democracy in Action, an organisation that connects individuals, grassroots cultural initiatives, and policymakers to explore how arts and culture contribute to activism that supports democratic structures. Reach out via dm! More info here.

Soli Flohmarkt

On Friday, 25 January, a soli-market will take place at Roter Löwe from 13:00-19:00. Entry is donation-based (0–5€), and all funds raised will support a Palestinian friend in need who has lost their job and is facing ongoing repression because of their identity. Join for a day of shopping for clothes, vintage pieces, art prints, and crafts. To accompany, there will also be live music, food, and drink. Entry is donation-based (0–5€). More info here. For those who can’t attend in person, contributions can also be made via their GoFundMe.

Elijah Fox: XJAZZ!

On 04 February, XJAZZ! brings pianist and producer Elijah Fox to Emmauskirche, Berlin, for an improvised solo piano performance. Elijah Fox, a three-time Grammy–nominated musician, is known for his performance approach, treating each show as shaped in the moment, recorded as a response to the place it happens, drawing loosely from traditions of solo improvisation while staying open to mood, space, and spontaneity. Doors open at 19:00. More info here.

Exhibition Opening @Spore: How the Soil Remembers

On Saturday, 24 January, Spore Initiative welcomes the exhibition opening of How the Soil Remembers, the second chapter of the Welto and the Sacred Bush. The first chapter, back in 2025, sparked conversations about the anti-colonial wisdom inherent in nature’s blueprints through getting to know garden ecologies in Martinique. Now, the second chapter, “shifts focus from the sacred bush to the ground beneath it: soil as a holder of memory, injury, and imagination.” The exhibition explores soil as a living archive, holding memory, injury, and the ongoing work of care and repair.

Through sculpture, installation, performance, and collective making, artists such as Annalee Davis and Mawongany will showcase works that trace histories of extraction, colonial violence, and resilience, while highlighting practices of healing, knowledge-sharing, and communal care. The evening begins with an exhibition tour with participating artists at 19:00, followed by the Ruedas de Bullerengue at 20:00, a participatory session of dance and percussion. This one is not to miss and free to attend – sharing what grows slowly, what persists across generations, and how communities cultivate care in challenging conditions. More info here!

**Soundcloud FLINTA* Meet-Up**

On 24 January, SoundCloud’s monthly meet-up for Berlin’s FLINTA* artists and community members takes place once again. Come by our space at Niemetzstrasse 1 from 17:00-22:00 for an evening of connection, exchange, and support. This monthly space is for sharing experiences, reflecting on ongoing projects, and exploring collaboration in a respectful, confidential environment. Whether you want to discuss challenges, plan initiatives, or simply listen, the gathering creates room for conversation, learning, and celebration.The evening also features insights from the SoundCloud team on current initiatives and opportunities for emerging artists navigating the platform. Entry is free, and an RSVP is required.

CTM Workshops

CTM Festival kicks off this week on 23 January and will run until 1 February.

This year’s theme is ‘dissonate < > resonate’, and the corresponding programme will explore the polarities of tension between harmony and dissonance. This theme invites audiences to draw parallels between music and current socio-political life. In music, dissonance refers to soundscapes absent of harmony, yet it does not mean chaos. It is something which cannot be ignored. Instead , it calls for action to confront what is unresolved and plant seeds of transformation Dissonance can give life to resonance, a resonance which embodies practices of mutual aid through listening and empathy.

Through a series of research initiatives, parties, concerts, installations, and exhibitions, Berlin is urged to contemplate these binary relations in our lived experiences through the arts. The festival, as always, will be hosted at renowned venues across Berlin, including the new Haus der Visionäre, Berghain, Revier Südost, and Morphine Raum. Check out the full programme here.

This year, Refuge will team up with CTM once again—come by our Space at Niemetzstrasse 1 from the 28th-30th January for workshops, DJ sets, and more! More info here.

Police Violence Support

KOP Berlin is an organisation that offers guidance for people who have experienced police violence, racial profiling, or have received a yellow letter in Berlin. If you need support or related to these experiences, the team is a safe space to inquire, providing practical advice and connecting individuals with appropriate support structures, such as referrals to lawyers. Legal costs are also covered through the legal aid fund. If this resonates, contact is available by email or by phone at 030 23329027 and 0157 50697979. For more related information on tools to navigate police violence, here is a digital toolkit. More info here.

Music4Palestine Open Call

For their next edition of the Palinale Festival, Music4Palestine is looking for performers, musicians, poets, filmmakers, etc. to perform on the 15th or 20th February 2026. Palinale is a Berlin-based festival that brings together film, music, and other forms to open space for conversation about Palestinian liberation and wider struggles against oppression.

Artists should engage with themes of anticolonial liberation, resistance, memory, grief, survival, and collective struggle. Applications are accepted on a rolling basis, and priority is given to Palestinian artists, those who are affected by displacement, occupation, and state violence, as well as artists from BIPOC, diaspora, migrant, and refugee backgrounds. If this resonates, apply via this link!

Panel Talk: Palestine and Germany: where do we stand now?

On 22 January, Cafe Engels hosts a panel talk on the current state of Germany’s socio-political atmosphere regarding Palestine. Corner Späti is a Berlin-based podcast series talking about politics, culture, and society with a comedic flair. Alongside The Left Berlin, they team up to curate an evening featuring political journalist Hanno Hauenstein and activists Roser Gari, Lucas Febraro, and Toufiq Haddad, who will discuss the current state of the Palestinian solidarity movement here in Germany, the challenges it faces, and its prospects. The talk will run from 19:00 - 22:00. More info here.

Active Stills Film Screening: LYD

Active Stills, an exhibition series “Documenting life, death, and resistance in Palestine, presents a film screening of LYD (2023) this Friday, 30 January. This is a poetic documentary by directors Rami Younis and Sarah Ema Friedland about Lyd (the Arabic name for Lod, a city now in Israel), a 5,000-year-old Palestinian town colonised in 1948, when the Israeli state was established. The film looks back to remember what once was, examines the current state, and looks to the future for what could be. Watch the trailer here. Following the screening, there will be a talk with the activist,photographer Sherbel Dissi, as well as guided tours around the exhibition. Doors from 18:00. More info here.