Berlin Art University calls for creative utopia!

Berlin Art University calls for creative utopia!

The Berlin Summer University of the Arts 2025 started on June 23, 2025 and runs until September of the same year. The event takes place at the Berlin Career College of the Berlin University of the Arts and includes over 30 different courses in artistic disciplines. The motto of this year's edition is "Utopia", with the aim of inviting artists and creatives from all over the world to further develop their practice and engage in creative exchange.

The summer university focuses on topics such as visions for a better world, shaping the present and future, and questioning existing structures through art. These topics are intended to encourage reflection on questions such as: What is an ideal world and what role does art play in uncertain times? This will be addressed through various workshops in the coming weeks.

Course offerings and structure

The extensive range of courses offered by the Berlin Summer University of the Arts offers a broad framework for creative development. The workshops include, among others:

• 23. Juni: The (Art-)School of Provisional. Artistic Practice in times of Crises (Leiter: Margit Schild)
• 23. Juni: Crafting Beyond Utopia: Bio-Materials and Poetic Futures (Leiter: Annika Haas und Petja Ivanova)
• 18.-22. August: Overwriting Berlin: Utopian Futures (Leiter: Stefan Mießeler) – Audiowalks zur Vision Berlins im Jahr 2525
• 22.-26. September: FAST FORWARD 2050 – Inventing Interactive Performing Scenarios (Leiter: Gudrun Herrbold) – Theaterarbeit mit autobiografischen Ereignissen
• 15.-18. September: Upcycling Utopia (Leiter: Nina Birri und Teresa Fagbohoun) – Techniken des Upcyclings und Narrative in Kleidung
• 8.-12. September: Let`s get circular! (Leiter: Gunilla Jähnichen und Christina Mrosek) – Künstlerische Möglichkeiten eines perfekten Kreislaufs mit Wellpappe
• 1.-5. September: Utopian Institutions – Inventing and Performing Collective Imagination (Leiter: Anna Volkland) – Entwicklung einer eigenen (Kultur-)Institution
• 22.-26. September: World Order of Our Hearts (Leiter: Gabriela Manda Seith und Matthias Böhler) – Utopie als Ort der Liebe und Fürsorge
• 4.-8. August: NO UTOPIA: Artivism and collective action today (Leiter: Işıl Eğrikavuk und Silvia Gioberti) – Austausch mit artivistischen Gruppen und Entwicklung eigener Interventionen

Interested parties have the opportunity to register up to four weeks before the start of the workshops. In addition, discounts of 50 euros for multiple bookings and 100 euros for alumni of the Summer University and the University of the Arts are offered.

A look at international cultural exchange

The Berlin Summer University of the Arts 2025 contributes to promoting international cultural exchange, which is considered essential to overcoming global challenges. The Importance of cultural encounters is particularly clear as they strengthen dialogue about different positions and values. In this context, support for democratic developments is also encouraged, especially in regions where freedom of movement is restricted.

An example of such initiatives is the “Shaping the Past” project, which brings together artists and activists from North America and Germany to research anti-racist and anti-colonialist perspectives in the culture of remembrance. These artistic practices make a significant contribution to addressing social issues and reflecting on one's own history in order to provide an informed basis for shaping the future.

The Berlin Summer University of the Arts not only offers a platform for artistic development, but also an opportunity to deal with global challenges and develop creative solutions.