On 14 September 2025, the first of four Spike roundtables hosted by the Julia Stoschek Foundation followed through on a questionnaire in our 20th-anniversary double issue: Is Berlin Post-Cool? The participants were dramaturg Matthias Lilienthal, the forthcoming artistic director of the Volksbühne am Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz; art historian and curator Axel Wieder, current director of the Berlin Biennale for Contemporary Art; and the late artist Henrike Naumann, who passed away in February 2026. Their conversation, moderated by writer and editor Pablo Larios, soon to be published as a posdcast, is dedicated to Henrike’s memory.

Sunday, 14 Sept 2025 at 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) was an artist whose immersive, scenographic installations traced the marks of politics and societal trauma. She passed away in 2026, while preparing to co-represent Germany at the 61st Venice Art Biennale.

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.