With much of the world still locked over COVID fears, even iconic venues, now starved of customers, are looking to diversify their offerings. It makes sense then that Berlin’s Berghain, an industrial nightclub so notoriously hard to get into that fans have made a game out of it, would temporarily reopen as an art gallery focused on works made during the pandemic.
From September 9 onwards, STUDIO BERLIN, made possible in collaboration with German art collector Christian Boros, will allow guided tours inside the difficult-to-access former power plant, with virtual tours available to visitors who can’t make it to Germany (or are forbidden from entering the E.U.). Over 80 pieces from 85 Berlin-headquartered artists, including Olafur Eliasson, Wolfgang Tillmans, and Tacita Dean, and a number of up-and-comers, will be viewable, all of it produced under the COVID-19 lockdown; as such, none of Boros’s vast collection will be included. The entirety of the 37,000-square-foot club will be transformed, and it’s assumed that occupancy restrictions and other virus mitigations will be in place for the physical tours.
Although entry to Berghain was age-restricted (this Rolling Stone article from 2014 fully illustrates why) in the pre-pandemic times, anyone over 16 will be able to attend STUDIO BERLIN, though the club’s strict “no photos or videos” policy will remain intact for in-real-life visitors. Entrance won’t be free, and although the cost hasn’t been disclosed yet, all of the proceeds will go towards keeping Berghain afloat during this period of uncertainty. No end date has been given for the show.
