The Cities Wrapped Around Our Bodies is a five-day journey running from January 25th to 29th, 2025. Driven by Kottbusser Tor’s vibrant landscape and communities, TWAOB features an exhibition showcasing artworks from around the globe. We warmly invite you to join our concerts, film screenings, and performances.
Free Entry - Recommended Donation: 5€

The transdisciplinary exhibition, hosted at Kunstquartier Bethanien Studio 1, will showcase hybrid digital-analog installations, photography, sculptures, video art, and live music, aiming to offer investigations on self-representation, digital data bodies, colonialism, counter-surveillance, art in exile and cultural labor. A digital and open-source model of Kottbusser Tor will be launched to host interactive scenarios, to be experienced during the festival in VR.

Participants in the festivals are Esra Akcan, Qusay Awad, Evelyn Bencicova, Dhia Douss, Orhan Esen, Omer Fast, Petja Ivanova, Muhammad Salah, Yashar Shirdel, Tracey Snelling, and Tadej Vaukman, alongside films from the Kiarostami Short Film Festival (January 26) and Bill Morrison (January 27).
‍Kotti Sessions I and II (January 25) will integrate local soundscapes by Alexandra Grubler and Mohammed Reza Mortazavi.

The Mittelpunktbibliothek and Jens Nydahl School will host workshops with artists and children from the neighborhood. Colonial Neighbours, an archive by SAVVY Contemporary, coordinated by Lynhan Balatbat-Helbock and Matthew Hansen, will serve as a platform for discussion. The festival’s program aims to foster a sense of solidarity across communities and organizations.

TCWAOB and Virtual Kotti were conceived by Rick Gerardus, who acts as curator and director. Partners, curatorial associates, and supporters include Dalia Maini, Petja Ivanova, Abhishek Nilamber, Neço Celik, Paul Schaffitzel, Jonas Braukmann, Tobias Kern, Lars Wittmaak, Thorsten Jasper Weese, Esra Akcan, Hamed Soleimanzadeh, Tommy Saalfrank, Michael Fritz and Carlos Anguera Jover. Funded by the Senate for Culture and Social Cohesion Berlin: Möglichkeitsraum Kotti. Supported by recom.