20 years after the artist, author, and performer Vaginal Davis moved from Los Angeles to Berlin, the Gropius Bau presents the first comprehensive solo exhibition of her work in Germany. In her groundbreaking creation, punk and glamour, queer activism and Black counterculture, as well as resistance and desire, intertwine. Vaginal Davis: Fabelhaftes Produkt unites large-scale installations, paintings, video and film works, zines, texts, music, and performance, offering a comprehensive overview of Davis' multifaceted practice and her artistic collaborations. As part of the exhibition, the art collective CHEAP presents the installation Choose Mutation with photographs by Annette Frick. Fabelhaftes Produkt invites you into the universe of Vaginal Davis, populated by literary heroines, mythical figures, and real icons.
Initiated by the Moderna Museet, Stockholm, in collaboration with the Gropius Bau, Berlin, and MoMA PS1, New York
 
 
 
 

Ten years ago with their production “Drawers”, members of She She Pop sat across from some of their East German contemporaries. “Drawers” explored the systemic conditions that forged their identities, showing two strong ideologies and opposing doctrines each with their inner logic. As a mental extension of “Drawers”, She She Pop has once again invited various guests for their new production, “Mauern”. Together, they travel through time along walls that permeate how we perceive shared reality and its emotional impact. She She Pop and guests sift through the rubble of documentary material to turn the stage into a time capsule. In it, our heroines try to pull themselves out of the quagmire of their present and the baggage of their past lives to look at possible visions. In doing so, they try to form a community that surpasses linguistic or physical barriers, which are outside the range of solidarity or imagination or even brutally defined by visa requirements.

Black Rooster Kapelye (NYC/BERLIN/RIGA) and Cherry Bandora (BERLIN)
Shtetl Berlin’s Closing concert, followed by a DANCE BALL
June 15, ufaFabrik Summer Stage, 19:30

The grand finale of the Shtetl Berlin 2025 Festival (June 10-15, 2025, more info about workshop and other events below) on ufaFabrik's beautiful open-air stage. From Latvian-Jewish experimental folk to an enchanting oriental psychedelic dance party, this is not a night you want to miss! After the concert join us for a dance ball with the Shtetl Berlin House Band and our world class dance leaders. Bring your instrument and stick around for the late night jam and after party for maximum enjoyment.

Black Rooster Kapelye
Black Rooster Kapelye brings to life Jewish and Latvian folk music collected by Emilis Melngailis at the turn of the 20th century. In December 2024, they released their debut album, Vos Mir Zaynen ("Who We Are"), on Lauska Records. The album features a mix of Latvian, Latgalian, Lithuanian, and Yiddish lyrics, exploring themes of identity and belonging, with a diverse range of instruments including violin, accordion, Latvian zither, bagpipes and electric guitar alongside rapturous polyphonic vocals. Blending deep archival work with contemporary sounds, Black Rooster Kapelye connects the past and present, navigating centuries of shared experience and understanding through music.

Cherry Bandora
Cherry Bandora is an oriental Jewish princess. This urban underground bellydancer found her golden band playing the squares and markets of Berlin, reviving 50’ and 60’ mediterranean classics with surf rock influences. While some of the songs are about drinking, hashish-smokin or simply about living the life of an outlaw, most of them tell the universal story of the desperate love of the broken-hearted, sang in poetic Greek, rhythmical Turkish and Hebrew slang. The fresh combination of the greek blues guitar, the bouzouki, with the psychedelic hammond organ, accompanied by lively middle eastern grooves on drums creates an exciting clash of tradition and rebellious attitude. On top of this cream the bitter-sweet voice of Cherry is flying lik an ornamented arrow that pierces through every beating heart in the crowd

Shtetl Berlin House Band
Szilvia Csaranko – Piano
Christian Dawid – Tuba
Emil Goldschmidt – Clarinet
Sanne Möricke – Accordion
Ilya Shneyveys – Drums
PLUS SPECIAL GUESTS


Black Rooster Kapelye (NYC/BERLIN/RIGA) and Cherry Bandora (BERLIN)
Closing concert of Shtetl Berlin with a subsequent dance ball
June 15, ufaFabrik Summer Stage, 19:30

The grand finale of the Shtetl Berlin Festival 2025 (June 10-15) on the beautiful open-air stage of ufaFabrik: From Latvian-Jewish experimental folklore to the oriental-psychedelic dance party – this evening will be unforgettable!
After the concert, we invite you to the exciting dance ball with the Shtetl Berlin House Band and international dance masters. Bring your instrument – and stay for the afterparty and jam session!

Black Rooster Kapelye
Black Rooster Kapelye brings Jewish and Latvian folk songs to life, collected by composer Emilis Melngailis at the turn of the century. In December 2024, their debut album Vos Mir Zaynen ("Who We Are") was released by Lauska Records.
With lyrics in Latvian, Latgalian, Lithuanian and Yiddish, the album addresses identity and belonging – musically realized with violin, accordion, Latvian zither, bagpipes, electric guitar, and captivating, multi-part vocals.
By connecting deep archival work with modern sounds, the band bridges the gap between past and present, musically traversing centuries of shared experiences.

Cherry Bandora
Cherry Bandora is an oriental-Jewish princess with a rebellious soul. The urban underground belly dancer found her golden band in the streets and markets of Berlin – with a sound that reinterprets Mediterranean classics from the 1950s and 60s with surf rock influences.
Between songs about alcohol, hashish, and the wild life of an outsider, her songs mainly tell of broken hearts and desperate love – poetically sung in Greek, rhythmic Turkish, and Hebrew slang.
Her distinct style emerges from an explosive mix of Greek blues guitar, bouzouki, and psychedelic Hammond organ – driven by energetic grooves from the Middle East. Above it all, her bittersweet voice flies like an ornamented arrow that strikes straight to the heart.
________________________________________
Shtetl Berlin House Band
Szilvia Csaranko – Piano
Christian Dawid – Tuba
Emil Goldschmidt – Clarinet
Sanne Möricke – Accordion
Ilya Shneyveys – Drums
+ Special Guests

Box office opens at 18:30

The exhibition presents works from seven decades and traces the development of Ono's innovative, multidisciplinary oeuvre and its ongoing influence to this day. The exhibition showcases more than 200 works, including instructions and scores, installations, films, music, and photographs, highlighting Ono's radical approach to language, art, and participation, which continues to resonate in the present.
Organized by Tate Modern, London, in collaboration with the Gropius Bau, Berlin, and the Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, Düsseldorf

Curated by Patrizia Dander, Deputy Curatorial Director, Gropius Bau, and Juliet Bingham, Curator, International Art, Tate Modern
 
 
 
 

20 years after the artist, author, and performer Vaginal Davis moved from Los Angeles to Berlin, the Gropius Bau presents the first comprehensive solo exhibition of her work in Germany. In her groundbreaking creation, punk and glamour, queer activism and Black counterculture, as well as resistance and desire, intertwine. Vaginal Davis: Fabelhaftes Produkt unites large-scale installations, paintings, video and film works, zines, texts, music, and performance, offering a comprehensive overview of Davis' multifaceted practice and her artistic collaborations. As part of the exhibition, the art collective CHEAP presents the installation Choose Mutation with photographs by Annette Frick. Fabelhaftes Produkt invites you into the universe of Vaginal Davis, populated by literary heroines, mythical figures, and real icons.
Initiated by the Moderna Museet, Stockholm, in collaboration with the Gropius Bau, Berlin, and MoMA PS1, New York
 
 
 
 

In the clutches of the Middle Ages

Karla celebrates her birthday with a colorful assortment of friends. Together they play a live exit game, in which roles from a medieval village community are assigned to them. The goal is to find out which role is in league with the devil. They must gradually uncover the secrets of the villagers to expose the false game. Initially, it's just an exciting puzzle, but soon the lines between reality and fiction blur, and the game pulls them further into its grip. Will they manage to defeat the game together and escape the clutches of the Middle Ages?

Since July 2024, the BühnenBande has been working at T-Werk under the direction of Janina Sasse on their new piece "Das falsche Spiel". The concept of the play as well as staging, script, stage, and costume design were developed together with the group. The group has previously performed the plays "Wenn der Kuckuck wieder ruft" (2024) and "Es war einmal … Cindy aus Neukölln" (2023).

The classic of German cabaret

No other nation in the world has produced such a multitude of laws and paragraphs as we Germans. We simply regulate everything: marriage when unconscious (§1314 BGB) and the proper placement of warning triangles during funeral processions (§27 StVO). And the legislator puts it all in a language that even lawyers can hardly understand. There is only one defense against this: laughter! The program sets new standards in punch density, is grandiosely darkly humorous, intelligent, and highly entertaining.

"Am achten Tag..." means: two hours of refreshing humor.

Book: Werner Koczwara
Photo: Dirk Dehmel / Foto Urbschat

3:00 PM

20 years after the artist, author, and performer Vaginal Davis moved from Los Angeles to Berlin, the Gropius Bau presents the first comprehensive solo exhibition of her work in Germany. In her groundbreaking creation, punk and glamour, queer activism and Black counterculture, as well as resistance and desire, intertwine. Vaginal Davis: Fabelhaftes Produkt unites large-scale installations, paintings, video and film works, zines, texts, music, and performance, offering a comprehensive overview of Davis' multifaceted practice and her artistic collaborations. As part of the exhibition, the art collective CHEAP presents the installation Choose Mutation with photographs by Annette Frick. Fabelhaftes Produkt invites you into the universe of Vaginal Davis, populated by literary heroines, mythical figures, and real icons.
Initiated by the Moderna Museet, Stockholm, in collaboration with the Gropius Bau, Berlin, and MoMA PS1, New York
 
 
 
 

The most beautiful performances and experiences with the Köpenick artist,
Helga Hahnemann, presentation with the performer Jürgen Witt, who plays
the porter, direction by Klaus Gendries, author Angela Gentzmer.
Technology by Till von Thiele
The author, Angela Gentzmer, lyricist and confidante of "Big Helga," has constantly accompanied Helga Hahnemann during her artistic work.

Entry from 6:00 PM

You are booking a DAY TICKET for the visit to the permanent exhibition of the museum FLUXUS+. The last admission is at 5:00 PM. For a relaxed visit, please plan at least one hour.

After admission, you will have plenty of time to explore the museum.
Opening hours Wed - Sun 1:00 PM - 6:00 PM

The museum FLUXUS+ in Potsdam showcases modern art with a focus on Fluxus, Wolf Vostell, and four contemporary artists. The collection includes works by Emmett Williams, Ben Patterson, Yoko Ono, Nam June Paik, Mary Bauermeister, and Niki de Saint-Phalle, in addition to Wolf Vostell.

The free exhibitions in the atrium, a museum café with terrace, and the attractive museum shop make the museum FLUXUS+ a popular cultural meeting point by the Havel.

Last admission 4:00 PM

What did you do back in 1968? Laugh, cry, dance, sing... Three old '68ers meet again in the present and reminisce about their crazy time in 1968: With their singing skills, Eddy and Rollin compete for the favor of Susi, who constantly brings fresh air to the old rehearsal room with her ever-changing moods, while the overpowering mother urges them to study, brandishing a cooking spoon.

A tribute to a wild time, defined by a longing for love, freedom, and justice.

Starring: Marion Martinez, Rainer Eckhardt, and Roman Walkowiak

The interactive theater is a special form of theater where an experienced actress tells a fairy tale and slips into the various fairy tale characters and roles.

During the interactive theater, children experience the great art of acting up close, namely the role change - which the player performs right before their eyes on stage. They are not only able to listen to the fairy tale with excitement, but also actively participate. They can shout their thoughts and ideas to the actress on stage, who spontaneously incorporates these impulses into the story. Moreover, the children can join in on stage at many points themselves! This creates an interactive and lively theatrical play between the storyteller and the children.

Performed by: Marion Martinez

FRANZ KAFKA: DIE VERWANDLUNG
Musical Reading

With: Carl Martin Spengler and Anna Carewe (Cello)
Director: Alina Lieske
Scenography: Hannah Rütten
Costume Design: Tatjana Hajdukova

PREMIERE was on Thursday, 06.06.2024 (Thematic Week "Exclusion" / HOME_ART)

Duration: approx. 1h 35 Min. (including break after approx. 50 Min.)

How do people behave when the impossible happens before their eyes?
When, for example, a successful man suddenly transforms into an insect?

Kafka's chilling tale from 1912 describes the metamorphosis of the traveling salesman Gregor Samsa into a pest. With relentless plausibility, the Prague writer, who referred to Berlin as his "place of yearning," depicts how the former provider of the family becomes a bug that his environment increasingly perceives as a burden. A process of exclusion begins, which ends fatally for Gregor Samsa.

Kafka's compelling story raises highly relevant themes such as exclusion, social isolation, and the rejection of the different.
Selected musical pieces for cello create a particularly gripping atmosphere.

Box office / Entrance from 60 minutes before the performance starts

When the stepmother and her two daughters enter the house, a difficult time begins for Cinderella. She is laughed at, mocked, and forced to work excessively. But she has hope, because the prince is looking for a wife and is organizing a grand festival for that purpose. Cinderella succeeds in winning the heart of the prince at the masked ball, disguised and unrecognized. However, many obstacles stand in their way before the two can find each other.

The audience is invited to actively participate in the interactive theater performance, where an experienced actress narrates a fairy tale and embodies the various fairy tale characters and roles. Viewers can not only listen to the story with excitement but also join in by sharing their thoughts and ideas with the actress on stage, who spontaneously integrates these inputs into the narrative.

Performed by: Marion Martinez

Joe Bausch was the prison doctor for 32 years, treating psychopaths, murderers, manslaughterers, and rapists. They were all sentenced to long prison terms. Few people personally know as many serious criminals as the long-time prison doctor and true crime specialist Joe Bausch.

In his new book "Maxima Culpa," the "Tatort" star explores the question of how acts of violence arise and describes the cases that are considered the most brutal of our time. Because murderers, fraudsters, and high-level criminals spoke with him about their crimes. They all confide in Joe Bausch and let him peer deep into the abyss of their souls. He has written down the best of these stories. They are true stories that get under your skin.

With Joe Bausch, True Crime moderator Dr. Tino Grosche will be on tour in 2023. These are talk and reading evenings of a special kind.

Door Open: 2:30 PM

Golden Premium Card 2025

With the Golden Premium Card, the cardholder receives a 50% discount on almost all concerts of the Havelland Music Festival 2025 (children's events are excluded). Additionally, you can attend two concerts of the Italian Culture Festival in March for the price of one.

This year, you can expect exclusive, varied, and unique concert experiences again. We are celebrating 25 years of the Havelland Music Festival together with you. Planned are, among others, an Italian Culture Festival, a reading with actress Jutta Speidel at Ribbeck Castle, a concert with the Babelsberg Film Orchestra at Funkamt Nauen, a concert on Easter Sunday at the Petzow Church, a stroll concert in Reckahn, and the Märkisches Hofkonzert in Päwesin. For the first time, Schloss Görne (Havelland) will host events, and there will be Havelland Evening Music (concerts starting at 7 PM). Stay tuned. We are looking forward to a great season 2025 together with you.

With the Golden Premium Card, you receive your personal code, which allows you to order your concert tickets for the Havelland Music Festival by phone or online.

The discount applies per ticket. The Premium Card is non-transferable.