Graphics
Judith Albrecht works as a social anthropologist and documentary filmmaker in Germany and abroad. For her fieldwork and film projects she spent long periods of time in Iran, Tanzania and Malawi. After the Libyan revolution she started to work with the Libyan women’s movement…
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Lena is a Russian artist and urban sketcher based in Berlin and Freiburg, Germany. She loves unveiling tales of different cities and their inhabitants by capturing them on paper. Architecture and city silhouettes play a leading role in her drawings…
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Pınar Özütemiz is a storyteller from Turkey. In 2018, she graduated from the Masters programme of “Künstlerisches Erzahlen – Storytelling in Art and Education” at UdK Berlin…
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Anja Werner & Sarah Fichtner (text & story) Azam Aghalouie & Hassan Tavakoli (illustrations & video) How did it feel to ride the underground train underneath the divided city of Berlin? Passing through dimly lit, construction site-like stations where trains no longer stopped? What was it like to hear those very trains rumbling underground, but not being able to reach them from East Berlin? To picture them as ghost trains
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During the last more or less secluded months, Mina and Farshid started a YouTube channel where they publish drawing tutorials called “Draw Happy Things”. Franzi was curious to learn more about their concept and got in touch with them. The conversation they had is summarized in the following.
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A guide for newcomers to Germany – particularly from Iran. By Azam Aghalouy Aghmiyouni When arriving in Germany, there are some small details that newcomers notice in everyday life, but which often remain unexplained. Being aware of these little things can make it easier to settle in. A project in User-Centered Design @ HMKW Berlin
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By Sarah Fichtner Illustration Ashbee Wong I was 10 years old when the wall came down. The wall that divided my hometown, creating the artificial “island” of West Berlin. I remember climbing on top of it on the 10th of November 1989 together with my parents, my best friend Susi and our brothers. I was scared of falling. It was really high. But the wave of joy and excitement spreading
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Story by Judith Albrecht (Germany) Video & Illustration by Mina Aghalouy (Iran) & Farshid Tavakoli (Iran)
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In November 2016 I spent one short week in Berlin. I went to visit friends and explore Berlin’s realities. Building my traveling and city experiences in mostly southern European destination, the low sky and fairly empty spaces of Berlin stroke me. I wanted to grasp Berlin’s character. During my stay, I spoke to several people; I asked them to imagine Berlin as if it were a person; who would it
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Run, Ahmed, run! You’re late for your German course. Six goddamn minutes until the next train? What will I tell this new teacher? I need to convince her I am the best student. She could now make an impression that I am just another lazy ‘migrant’. How do you say excuse my being late in German? Ouf! The class is closed. There is no course today. Fuck me, how could
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This collaborative article was written in spring 2016 and can thus be seen as a ‘record of encounters’ after the arrival of a large number of refugees in Berlin. What encounters do you recall? And how have they shaped ‘your’ Berlin? Sarah Fichtner in collaboration with Hussam Tumma Al-Saadi, Rawaa Azizi, Alaa Ali, Sarah Hartmann. Illustrations Alvaro Martinez
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