Inspiration Is Everywhere!

As KommandCore people, we are always wide open for something new, we get our ideas and inspiration from various kind of things: books, movies, pictures, music, conversations, and people around us… Well, my inspiration usually comes from travelling, meeting people from all over the globe and visiting different places of interest. Last September I’ve spent one wonderful month in Germany and here is my little “list” about Berlin and top 10 things I loved about it.  

I’ll start with so called “U-bahn” and “S-bahn”.  It is a very convenient transportation system for everyone that can lead you all around the city, for example, to the “Beergarten” where you can have a nice pint of Erdinger Beer –just an excellent and not expensive drink, there you can always listen to a traditional German music as well. Another way to enjoy the city is to take a good old bicycle, because you can find bicycle roads everywhere, you can rent or buy a bike very easily. Also there are many places where you can lock it and be sure, that nobody is going to take it away. You’d probably get hungry from riding a bike, so now the time is to try one of the best hot dogs with curry sauce ever –Currywurst – it’s very cheap and it is sold almost on every corner. If you would like to sit down and to take a rest, try Punk-pizza It’s the best pizza in town with gorgeous punk-waiters, amazing posters on the walls and excellent music, there are actually more than 64 places related to punk –culture if you are interested in it.  As for nightlife and leisure time, it’s good to know that bars are closing at 5 a.m. – well, there is nothing else to add here. Museums are for free on Thursdays – yes, they are, unless some special exhibition is in progress. Also, there is always a nice way to enjoy various Workshops and festivals – as for me, I  had a  Tai-chi lesson in a park just for 5 euro and visited the Georgian music festival in “Berliner Dom” – for free.

Now, I would like to tell you about the place that became one of the most long lasting memories I’ve ever had from visiting Berlin. Mysterious spot called Tacheles.

I would love to tell you about this place in details, because it had touched me really deeply, I’ll explain you why…

Do you remember the time, when you felt like a white crow among the rest of the people and you were thinking about meeting some other crazy folks that have an alternative way of thinking, never ending creativity and optimism, people, who live to love and believe in something that won’t be understood by the crowd?  Well, I found that place and I met those people… artists and musicians, architects and people who dance with the fire… This place is located on Oranienburger Strasse and it has very strange and mysterious name “Tacheles”, it sounds pretty Spanish to me, but it’s an Yiddish* word for "plain, honest, straightforward talk" is based on censorship problems in the GDR. Nowhere captures the essence and energy of Berlin in the 90s as acutely as Tacheles does. It all started at the very beginning of the decade, just after the Berlin Wall fell, when a group of artists successfully saved the building - an erstwhile department store - from demolition. As a result of limited freedom of speech, musicians, directors and artists were not permitted to openly express themselves, and they were forced to conceal the true message of the work. The use of Yiddish is probably a result of the building's location in the old Jewish quarter (now it is called Scheunenviertel).

Tacheles was originally occupied by a number of international artists, performers and musicians before becoming an art center with a cafe, cinema, performance space, workshops and exhibition space. In the beginning it was run by well-known curator Jochen Sandig who expanded the building considerably. In its early days, Tacheles provided both housing and work space for its artist residents. In 1991, the associated housing burnt down, and there was considerable suspicion that the fire was started deliberately in order to pave the way for a new art center. It became a shelter and it inspired lots of famous art-people, such as Mark Divo – the artist, sculptors the Mutoid Waste Company, musicians Spiral Tribe, performance artist Lennie Lee and many others for their creative work. The Art center Tacheles is functioning nowadays and moreover, its huge, colorful graffiti-style murals with modern art sculptures featured inside and its liberality are attracting more and more talented and creative people from all over the world. Bright, vital, progressive - these definitions can be used to describe Tacheles and its inhabitants, just to name a few. Why talk more, let’s take a look at some pictures.

Well, I hope you liked my little “guide-book” about Berlin and I believe Tacheles inspired you for something new, unusual and positive, and…don’t forget, inspiration is everywhere and it’s inside each and every one of us, all we need is to do everything that we are doing with confidence and smile.

*(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kunsthaus_Tacheles).