What is Pop-Kultur?

POP-KULTUR FESTIVAL 2024

28.8 – 30.8.2024

Kulturbrauerei Berlin
Schönhauser Allee 36
10435 Berlin

Answers to frequently asked questions about your festival visit can be found here.

Pop-Kultur is a hyphen between artists’ perspectives and the society they engage with. The festival, first launched in 2015, is back for 2024 in a fully live edition on the grounds of the Kulturbrauerei in 2024. Here, up-and-coming talents from Berlin will perform alongside musicians from countries that are often outside of our Eurocentric focus. Through Commissioned Works receiving their premiere, we engage in dialogue with artists in unconventional ways, allowing ourselves to be confronted or even provoked, but above all, let ourselves be moved. In the midst of the vibrant festival action, the Çaystube is a performative installation offering experience and relaxation – a safer space with its own stage.

In addition to the Nachwuchs and Goethe Talent programmes as well as residency programmes, the programme includes talks, readings and films. In the course of the Pop-Kultur Diskurs programme, we take a critical look at the current state of the music scene, learning from the past and thinking about a better future.
Because just as pop culture would remain at a standstill without discourse, Pop-Kultur as a festival could not continue to develop without it. Topics like gender equity and social criticism, accessibility and awareness, inclusion and integration are not only discursive issues that we want to discuss but also experience them directly on site.

The festival sees itself as a process in which the audience and artists participate along with the team: Collective approaches, post-migrant identities, intersectional discourse, inclusive projects, diasporic narratives, queer perspectives and the departure from musical expectations all contribute to the creation of a space for mutual exchange.
Just as the accessible and pandemic-ready implementation aims to provide true access and participation for everyone, other creatives from the city’s diverse cultural sector and beyond are encouraged to connect: Leading up to each festival edition, Berlin organisers provide important local inspiration as part of the series Pop-Kultur lokal.

SELF-CONCEPTION

Pop-Kultur is a space for diversity, where people with different experiences, identities, and backgrounds come together. We remain committed to creating an environment where everyone feels welcome.

We see Pop-Kultur as a cultural space for mutual exchange and open dialogue based on democratic values.

These values include mutual respect and the recognition of social diversity, as well as a firm commitment to combating discrimination in all its forms.

We ask all participants – visitors, partners, artists, guests, and workers – to adhere to these values and to recognise that we are jointly responsible for ensuring that everyone can feel accepted and safe at our festival.

We have a strict zero-tolerance policy towards all forms of discrimination – including ableism, anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, racism, sexism, trans- and homophobia – as well as all forms of violence – including insults, harassment, threats, bullying, hate speech, and agitation. This is based on the General Equal Treatment Act (AGG) and the Berlin State Anti-Discrimination Act (LADG).

Depending on the incident or repeated incidents, we reserve the right to determine who shall be allowed or denied access to the event.

We strive to learn from feedback, experiences, and mistakes. You can contact us at any time: awareness@pop-kultur.berlin

In our Code of Conduct, based on our principles and values, you will find various behavioural guidelines to which we are committed and that we expect all participants at Pop-Kultur to follow. Here is the link to the Code of Conduct.

Pop-Kultur is brought to you by

Funded by

Focus on Africa

Artist Support

Exchange Project »Tokyo-Berlin«

Goethe Talents

Partner

Media Partner