With Berlin’s blue skies unexpectedly poking through almost every day, it finally feels like spring might be around the corner. The city’s energy matches the season - especially with EMOP Berlin (European Month of Photography) ahead. Every two years, Berlin transforms into an open-air gallery, and this year’s sunshine makes hopping between exhibitions even more enjoyable. A highlight close to home? Meet Me Halfway, curated by Fotografiska’s own Marie-Luise Mayer. The group show explores identity, empathy, and connection in a world that often feels fragmented. It’s also your last chance to see NACHTS by Mischa Fanghaenel, closing March 10, and we’re excited to host our next Cocktails & Conversation: Aktivkohle live podcast on March 12. Alongside festival picks, we’ve gathered open calls and more ways to stay inspired. Here’s to longer days, new ideas, and discovering what the city offers us this month.
Every two years, the European Month of Photography (EMOP) transforms Berlin into a vibrant hub for photography. With over 100 exhibitions, talks, and events (most of them free), it’s the perfect chance to discover emerging talent and fresh perspectives. Highlights include Doch so geht es auch, featuring four projects on urban life and personal experience; Passing Distance, a feminist exploration of memory and migration hosted in a former Neukölln shopping mall; and Ein Dorf 1950–2022, a multigenerational photo project capturing 70 years of life in a Thuringian village. Additionally, Marie-Luise Mayer curates Meet Me Halfway, a showcase of young talents exploring empathy, identity, and connection in an increasingly fragmented world. You can find the full EMOP program here (and some additional recommendations further below).
Event date: 1 - 31 March, Various locations across Berlin
Now in its third edition, F-Festival has become a vital platform for feminist art, activism, and discourse in Berlin. Held at Ballhaus Prinzenallee, the festival presents a bold lineup of performances, talks, and exhibitions exploring gender, identity, and resistance. A must-see is Immaterial Indignities, Mary Katharine Tramontana’s striking photo series on female pleasure and the deconstruction of normative ideas surrounding desire. Through intimate, thought-provoking imagery, the exhibition challenges societal taboos while celebrating sexual autonomy. Come for the art, stay for the conversations: this festival is all about reclaiming space and rewriting narratives.
Event date: 3-9 March, Prinzenallee 33, 13359 Berlin
Ⓒ Eva Bodemer: Feuer, 2022, aus der Serie Das Azur und die Biosemiotik, 2022–2025
DOCH SO GEHT ES AUCH
Urban life shapes not just the way we move through a city but how we see ourselves within it. DOCH SO GEHT ES AUCH brings together four artists whose work explores the tension between personal experience and the structures that define our surroundings. Eva Bodemer blurs the line between nature and technology in Das Azur und die Biosemiotik, crafting surreal compositions from plants, animal traces, and human-made objects. Astrid Piethan’s Johnnyporträtiert turns her lens on the raw, uncertain, yet determined early moments of self-awareness and identity. In Webertal, Stefan Schilling walks the industrial corridors of Wuppertal, tracing layers of history embedded in the city’s architecture. Meanwhile, Frank Schumacher’s Monde exposé captures the fragmented reality of a youth culture shaped by political shifts, climate anxiety, and the search for belonging.
Event date: Kunstquartier Bethanien, Opening 21 March 7PM , 22 - 23 March 2 - 7 PM
Ⓒ A-I-R e.V.
OPEN CALL: A-I-R Residency Luckenwalde
Did you know that Berlin has over 1.3 million square meters of vacant commercial space? What if these empty sites were seen not as lost potential but as opportunities for community-driven transformation? A-I-R (Architektur-In-Residency) is a design education residency that democratizes access to architecture and explores alternative, anti-speculative, non-financialized land use practices.
As part of their ongoing yearly residency for young spatial practitioners from Berlin and Brandenburg, this year focuses on researching and intervening in vacant spaces. The residency fosters critical dialogue and hands-on experimentation in an inclusive environment. While German is the working language, other languages are welcome.
Apply by March 16, 2025. More info and application: a-i-r.xyz
The photography class FotoZweiSechs, now in its fourth semester at Lette-Verein Berlin, presents its exhibition "Untethered", offering a first glimpse into their work. The 23 photographers represent various photographic and artistic perspectives, featuring documentary works on topics such as activism, personal stories, and socially critical observations, as well as conceptual approaches, still life photography, portraits, and fashion. Through different presentation formats, the photographers showcase analog, digital, and experimental photography, as well as moving images.
Event date: 27 – 29 March 2025, Brunnenstr. 105 – 109, 13355 Berlin - Gesundbrunnen - Opening March 27 6PM
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