In the 2020s, Berlin’s status as a global cultural capital seems cast into doubt by a number of factors, among them political renationalization, budget cuts across the cultural sector, and rising tensions between the international creative class’s self-image and the needs of locals.

Was the idea of the city as a hub for artists from around the world merely a fiction of the last two decades? More still, are there viable alternatives to nostalgia for the poor but sexy Berlin, or is the city doomed to decay in ever-shorter cycles of memetic self-commodification?

Concluding Berlin Art Week, forthcoming Volksbühne intendant Matthias Lilienthal, artist Henrike Naumann, and Berlin Biennale director Axel Wieder will unpack the end of Berlin as a cosmopolitan nowhere and what comes after, moderated by critic Pablo Larios.

Post-Cool Berlin? is the first in a series of four yearly Spike roundtables on the critical conjunctures in contemporary art, proudly hosted by JSF.

Entry is 10 €, cash only. Proceeds from the door and the bar exclusively support the Spike Roundtable.

Sunday, 14 Sept 2025
Doors: 6.30pm; Start: 7pm
Julia Stoschek Foundation
Leipziger Str. 60, 10117 Berlin

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MATTHIAS LILIENTHAL (*1959) is a dramaturge, lecturer, and actor. In 2026, he will begin his second tenure as artistic director of the Volksbühne am Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz, Berlin. 

HENRIKE NAUMANN (*1984) is an artist whose immersive, scenographic installations trace the marks of politics and societal trauma. In 2026, she will co-represent Germany at the 61st Venice Art Biennale, along with Sung Tieu.

AXEL WIEDER (*1971) is an art historian, curator, and writer. Since 2024, he has been the director of the Berlin Biennale for Contemporary Art.

PABLO LARIOS is a writer, editor, and International Editor at Artforum. Born in Honduras and raised in the US, he lives in Berlin.