Berlin questions 2021 was a blast.
See you next year.
Berlin questions is an annual, multi-day conference and a platform for transdisciplinary dialogue - providing ideas for structural change and collective action. Since 2017, the conference has made Berlin a home for debate, inviting politicians, journalists and artists from all over the world to address topics of global importance. The last edition of the conference, Berlin questions 2021 - Metropolis: The New Now, was dedicated to local solutions to global challenges, with a special focus on the future of the city after the Covid-19 pandemic. Hosted by the Governing Mayor of Berlin, the conference took place in a hybrid format for the first time: both in person at six locations in Berlin and online, via livestream and in the 3D virtual environment The Virtual Now.
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Moderator Sumi Somaskanda opening Berlin questions 2021, Photo: Mike Auerbach
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Video statement from Prof. Dr. Christian Drosten at Berlin questions 2021, Photo: Kevin McElvaney
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Photojournalist Yagazie Emezi at Berlin questions 2021, Photo: Mike Auerbach
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Berlin questions 2021 at ewerk Berlin, Photo: Kevin McElvaney
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Hito Steyerl in conversation with Benjamin Bratton at Berlin questions 2021, Photo: Kevin McElvaney
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"Disrupted Mobilities" panel discussion at Berlin Tegel Airport, Photo: Kevin McElvaney
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Panel discussion on "Civil Responsibility" at Haus der Statistik, Photo: Kevin McElvaney
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Berlin questions 2021 at Floating University, Photo: Kevin McElvaney
Speaker Statements
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Statement from Artist & Photojournalist Yagazie Emezi
At the start of the pandemic, there was a moment of release. In early March of 2020, I was at the height of getting my work year started with talks lined up in different cities and pending stories to pitch and cover. I was taking in as much as I…
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Statement from Architect Sumayya Vally
albalad al’umi (Arabic – “homeland” literally – “land of the mother”) home/homeland/homeground Sumayya Vally, Counterspace On Constructing Belonging Architectures are intimate, incriminate and implicated – always drawing together a constellation of interests around the construction of home and belonging – across territory and geography – looking at how people…
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Message from Michael Müller, Governing Mayor of Berlin 2014-2021
The New Now – What does the present mean for the future? What lessons do we need to learn from the here and now in order to hit the ground running after the pandemic? What role will metropolises play in this process? And why are we asking this question in…
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Rosebell Kagumire, Editor African Feminism at Berlin questions 2019, Photo: Kevin McElvaney
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Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Muhammad Yunus at Berlin questions 2017, Photo: Sebastian Gabsch
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Berlin questions 2019 at Station Berlin, Photo: Kevin McElvaney
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Author Chad Sanders at Berlin questions 2018, Photo: Sebastian Gabsch
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Activist Eugenia Chow at Berlin questions 2019, Photo: Kevin McElvaney
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Architect Rem Koolhaas at Berlin questions 2017, Photo: Sebastian Gabsch
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Berlin questions 2017 at Schiller Theater, Photo: Sebastian Gabsch
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Actvist Ivan Lam Long-Yin at Berlin questions 2018, Photo: Sebastian Gabsch
WED 11.08.21
Main Conference Day
Dating back to 1885, E-WERK is Germany’s oldest surviving electrical substation. With its impressive quadrant-shaped control room, it is one of the few architectural remnants of the country’s industrial past, and served for years as a techno club. Today, E-WERK is an events venue in the heart of Berlin Mitte that welcomes people from across the worlds of art, culture, business and media. Versatile and central, it is the quintessential urban location, and as such has welcomed international mayors on the opening day of the conference.
Thu 12.08.21
Deep Dive Program
Public Luxuries
Spreepark Berlin
Quarantine Economies
San Gimignano Lichtenberg
Fri 13.08.21
Deep Dive Program
Disrupted Mobilities
Berlin Tegel
Civil Responsibility
Haus der Statistik
