Artsy and establishing Berlin

This week's Berlin Art Forum again was a frenzy week of numerous openings, dinners and parties. The city has become an Euriopean art hub, nothing new, but you feel it. When I lived in Berlin Mitte eight years ago, the city was fun, but lacked a clear profile, a loaden history, Plattenbauten Osten, a patchwork, cozy West Berlin, Mitte was yet more a construction site, some big hotels, few restaurants and most clubs were temporary. We were the New Economy generation, experimenting a new media. So was the arts, yet leading figures of today's art world worked in Berlin since the nineties. Olafur Eliarsson or Klaus Biesenbach.

2008, Berlin is an artsy, young and vibrant metropole. New galleries emerge and leading galleries are coming to Berlin. Sprüth Magers or Capitain Petzel (picture at Karl-Marx-Allee), both with impressive places in Berlin Mitte. Private collections are built and temporary Kunsthallen (see below). Grill Royal is the place to go, Cookies has arrived on Friedrichstrasse and art magazines like Monopol or 032c set the talklines. Actually rents went up a lot in Mitte, too.

On a typical evening, you move around from place to place (see Monopol Party in picture). With some luck you see Quentin Tarantino, Diane Kruger or Malcom McLearan. Hollywood likes Berlin, too. Next Monday James Bond is premiered. The city has created momentum. It becomes a political hub, has good universities and a bunch of internet companies and creative minds. Actually, we just put a small team to Berlin to build some websites. Nevertheless, there is high unemployment, no industry nor capital, actually the city is almost bankrupt, less elegance than Munich or Hamburg and now has an airport less. And it is shining. But keep going Berlin, you are changing a lot and give coolness to Germany.