Articles by Kelly Miller

May 18, 2013 1

Happy Weekend: Karneval der Kultur(en), Carnival of Culture(s)?

What if the local government wanted to take stock of its cultures, parade its diversity through the city streets – what would you wear to participate? This weekend Berlin’s parade of culture, Karneval der Kulturen, takes over my Kreuzberg Kiez (neighborhood) once again, promising to leave trails of glitter and plastic cocktail remnants in its wake, as well as much food for thought in answering this question of cultural self-representation... [Read More!]

May 11, 2013 1

Happy Weekend: “It’s not about integration”, or isn’t it?

Tonight at Ballhaus Naunynstraße, İmran Ayata und Neco Çelik will present the opening of their newest play, "Liga der Verdammten" (League of the Damned), tackling the dynamic configuration of players and fans in Kreuzberg's very own "Multi-Kulti" football league, Türkisempor. Originally formed by Berlin's marginalized 'guest workers' just 35 years ago, its reputation proceeds it, as do the stereotypes... [Read More!]

May 9, 2013 8

Interview: Ali, Zoe, and the Gentrification Debate

Meet Ali and Zoe. You may have heard of them. Zoe takes pictures of Ali while walking down the street and posts them on her tumblr called What Ali Wore. They share a special connection, one reflective of a city in flux and a district in crisis. He, the assumed-Gastarbeiter (politically-charged term for 'guest worker') fighting against stereotypes and categorizations since arrival // she, the ex-pat fighting off armies of criticism for displacing the very people one considers a neighbor: difficult situations that have arisen not out of malice but out of circumstance, no matter the scale... [Read More!]

May 2, 2013 0

Rave: “I am not a Terrorist”

In Berlin, the dimensions of migration and diversity may sometimes be over-simplified, but groups like Migrantas are changing that, and doing so creatively. The best part: the voice and agency of the "immigrants", so often talked-about and so seldom talking-back, take center stage... [Read More!]

April 27, 2013 0

Happy Weekend: Israeli Hummus, Sudanese Tamiya, and Barack Obama?

Happy weekend, folks and happy art-watching, art-critiquing, art-consuming, if you find yourself in Berlin among the packed galleries from Neukölln to Friedenau (that’s right, there is art to be found in the Berlin answer to the suburb, as well). For the rest of us, avoiding crowds and awkward glances from gallerists who accuse us with their eyes of only coming for the champagne, here are a few things that made me giggle or my stomach grumble. They are also things that don’t necessarily have ANYTHING to do with trend or art... [Read More!]

April 25, 2013 3

Lens: Lamb on Fridays

The children may eat Milka and Haribo but they will tolerate spice. Broiled fish in chili or ribs of lamb in a bed of sour stew. Onions sweated in pepper and vinegar on oily rice. Pineapple with salt. Dried cod fried in dough. Tamarind in everything. Sour, spicy, and sweet stuck to the curtains. “Africa” - as the boy says - in the carpet, on the tablecloth, in each and every pot and pan, making its way into daily life in the apartment of a Lichtenberg concrete sky-scraper. It is Friday and A is making lamb... [Read More!]

« 1 2 3 4