At street level!

A day of art in public spaces and salon talks to revitalize ground-floor zones. At street level! is open to the public and free of charge.

🐁 Neighborhood Procession with Krista Papista
👥 New Impulses for Berlin’s Mitte: Three Salon Talks with Anna Bernegg
🦄 Walk through Leipziger Straße with Audrey Naline and Neighbors
🤹 Childcare by Sanna Helena Berger
🎵 Choir Concert by the Ernst Busch Choir
🥣Neighborhood Dinner with Jasmin Parsley and Paula Erstmann
🎬 Video Installation by Wermke/Leinkauf at Rawan Minimarkt
🍾 POWERBAR Champagne & Energy Bar
🐸 Disco & Dancing with FRZNTE
♥️ Awareness byAm Nasr

City centers in Germany and Europe are undergoing noticeable changes. Since the 1990s, shopping malls and later online retail have diminished their economic significance. Ground-floor zones, as interfaces between buildings and public spaces, face increasing vacancies and challenges. The pandemic has amplified these trends, accompanied by digital transformation, shifts in consumption and mobility behaviors, and labor shortages. Amid these complex challenges lies the opportunity to radically rethink our inner cities.

How can we revitalize and redefine the central spaces of our cities? What creative uses and innovative ideas can transform ground-floor zones into vibrant, diverse, and sustainable spaces for community interaction?

Through three salon discussions, we will explore these topics, focusing on Berlin Mitte. Public conversations with experts, stakeholders, and citizens will identify solutions for resilient and lively ground-floor zones. Alongside the talks, At street level! will bring Leipziger Straße to life for a day with neighborhood walks, performances, and film screenings. The evening will conclude with a choir concert and a communal dinner.

Curation and production: POLIGONAL with Franziska Zahl.
Curation und moderation of salon talks: Anna Bernegg, Forward Planung und Forschung
Graficdesign: Kolbeinn Hugi.

 

Program overview:

14:00 
👋 Welcome and Introduction

14:00 – 19:30
🤹 Childcare by Sanna Helena Berger

“Kinderkünst” is an art and crafts workshop inviting children to experiment and engage with art while parents attend the salon talks. The project fosters cultural participation for families and raises funds for children in need.

14:00 – 22:00 
🎬 Videoinstallation von Wermke / Leinkauf im Rawan Minimarkt (Leipziger Straße 58)

Wermke/Leinkauf
 „Die Neonorangene Kuh“ (
2005
, 6:30min, SD-Video, Stereo, deutsch/english). A journey of discovery through nighttime Berlin. A portable swing was temporarily installed at various locations to swing there. Through the unusual use of public space, the familiar becomes unfamiliar. The former artist duo Wermke/Leinkauf engaged between 2004 and 2018 in actions, films, and installations exploring the hidden possibilities of urban space. Wermke/Leinkauf probe the boundaries between public and private spaces, temporarily suspending limitations and constraints with their interventions. They analyze existing structures and systems to find gaps and access points for their artistic actions. These range from night-time riding of a handcar in Berlin’s U-Bahn and S-Bahn networks to replacing American flags on New York’s Brooklyn Bridge with white American flags, physically overcoming architectural boundaries in the Berlin Wall strip, and poetic wanderings across the rooftops of Tokyo. Their works have been shown internationally in museums, galleries, and exhibition spaces, and have been awarded numerous prizes.

14:30 – 15:30 
👥 Salon 1: Public Spaces and Ground Floors in Transition
With: Anna Bernegg (FORWARD)
Judith Laub (Kulturamt Mitte)
Elke Plate (SenSBW)

First floors form the interface between buildings and their surroundings and the adjacent public spaces. A high quality of stay and offerings is important here, as it increases attractiveness and invites people to linger. Fresh perspectives on the first floor zones and the interface with the public space are needed in order to discover opportunities for something new when less retail space is required.

15:30 – 16:30 
🦄 Walk through Leipziger Straße with Audrey Naline and Neighbors

Audrey Naline, the sparkling wine native, star in the firmament of the pro-glam movement. Audrey is a cultural drag queen. As a stage professional, she delivers lyrical LypSyncs and extravagant boat trips on the Spree, hosts reading stages, workshops and international literature festivals. She appeared on ARTE for 3 seconds and has maintained professional relationships with the Akademie der Künste, the Berlinale and re:publica, among others. In 2024, she co-wrote her first book: The anthology “Breasts” was published by Tropen-Verlag. In the same year, she also founded her own small shipping company. Because, why not.

16:30 – 17:30
👥 Salon 2: Seeking New Usage Concepts
With: Anna Bernegg (FORWARD)
Wilhelmina Raulf (Urbane Geografin)
Jonathan Margulies (Magic John´s Pizza)
Moritz Tonn (Transiträume)

The crisis in bricks-and-mortar retail makes it clear that the centers of the future will also be characterized by “other”, “new” uses.Non-commercial approaches such as cultural, social or sustainable offerings – such as upcycling, sharing or repair projects – are particularly promising.In the transition between business, culture and civil society, such offerings can play a special role as “third places”.

17:30 – 18:30

🐁 Neighborhood Procession and Performance with Krista Papista

Krista Papista is an artist and music producer born in Nicosia (Cyprus) and based in Berlin. Papista develops and queerifies politically influenced Cypriot and Balkan pop mixed with Euro-trash EDM. She creates videos, performances and images that serve as fantasy images for re-imagined versions of history, twisting ceremonies and traditions to create powerful, political and anarchic performances. Her work has been presented at Boiler Room, Fusion Festival, Creamcake, Hyperreality and Subbacultcha, among others.

18:30 – 19:30 
👥 Salon 3: Using Resources Wisely
With: Anna Bernegg (FORWARD)
Kilian Schache (Wirtschaftsförderung, BA Mitte)
Hendrik Blaukat (IG Leipziger Straße)
Leona Lynen (Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts, freelance project developer, board member of ZUsammenKUNFT Berlin eG)

Berlin’s Mitte district and its international image could be ideally suited to initiating new uses with great impetus and impact. The “pop-up” principle must not become an end in itself, but should aim to test uses and business models that open up long-term prospects. The decisive factor is how such uses can be made permanent through cooperation, suitable financing models and the provision of space.

19:30 – 22:00 
🎵 Choir Concert by the Ernst Busch Choir
🥣 Neighborhood Dinner with Jasmin Parsley and Paula Erstmann
🐸 POWERBAR Champagne & Energy Bar
💃 Disko & Dancing with FRZNTE

 

The event venue is ground-level and wheelchair-accessible. An accessible toilet is nearby. Talks will be in German spoken language. The closest U-Bahn station, Spittelmarkt (U2), is equipped with an elevator.