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The Needle: Berlin

The Needle: Berlin

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Berlin Arts 

Bellini or Mantegna?: A Personality Test

24/03/201924/03/2019 Joseph Pearson

“Are you more Bellini or Mantegna?” an Italian friends asks me. Belliniano o Mantegnano? Not every art exhibit is also

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Berlin Arts 

Goodbye Sir Simon

21/06/201823/06/2018 Joseph Pearson

Berlin is losing one of its cultural figures: Sir Simon Rattle. The British maestro conducted his final concert in the

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Berlin Arts 

Pretty in Pink. The Renovated Staatsoper in Berlin

18/12/201723/06/2018 Joseph Pearson

After eight years of renovation, the German State Opera House, or Staatsoper, on Unter den Linden, has reopened its doors,

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Berlin Arts 

A New Concert Hall in Berlin

08/03/201723/06/2018 Joseph Pearson

8/03/17. Berlin has a new concert space, The Pierre Boulez Hall, named for the French composer and conductor. It opened this

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Berlin Arts 

FEAR and the German Far Right: Conversations with Falk Richter

22/06/201623/06/2018 Joseph Pearson

The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) is a movement that cannot stand criticism. I got my own taste of their

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Berlin Arts 

The Docufiction of Yony Leyser: a preview of Desire Will Set You Free

21/04/201623/06/2018 Joseph Pearson

If you were on the Kreuzberg-Neukölln gay scene two Mays ago, you saw your regular haunts become a film set. Your

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Berlin Arts 

What’s Good at the Berlin Film Festival 2015?

12/02/201523/06/2018 Joseph Pearson

Here’s my take on what I’ve seen so far at the Berlin Film Festival, or Berlinale, from great to dreadful

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Berlin Arts 

Street Art, on City Streets

25/11/201423/06/2018 Joseph Pearson

Bear with me and figure out the riddle. If you’ve ever moved out of a rented apartment here in Berlin,

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Berlin Arts 

Goodbye to Berlin? La JohnJoseph’s ‘Trial Separation’ and his New Novel.

29/09/201423/06/2018 Joseph Pearson

Berlin’s beloved performance artist and novelist, La JohnJoseph (also known as the ‘boy hero of pop’ Alexander Geist), has left Berlin

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Berlin Arts 

Flying Bach: A Successful Berlin Export?

26/06/201423/06/2018 Joseph Pearson

  I first saw Flying Bach four years ago in the modern interior of the Neue Nationalgalerie. Breakdancing to JS Bach’s

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Berlin Arts 

240 Hours Later: The MEAT Debriefing

17/04/201423/06/2018 Joseph Pearson

The most talked-about installation of the year in Berlin has been MEAT, directed by Thomas Bo Nilsson. A 240-hour project,

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About the Author

Joseph Pearson is a writer based between Berlin and New York City. Born in Canada, he was educated at Cambridge University, UK, where he received his doctorate in history in 2001. His non-fiction portrait of Berlin was published in 2017. He is also the essayist and blogger of the Schaubühne Theatre, one of Berlin’s best known state-funded institutions. Since 2008, he has written The Needle, which has become one of Berlin’s most popular blogs. His writing has appeared widely in the press, literary and academic journals, and has been translated into German, Italian, French, Arabic, and other languages. For professional inquiries please contact:  joseph [AT] cantab.net.

What is The Needle?

The changing meanings of The Needle are the inspiration for these pages. Above Alexanderplatz is Berlin's television tower. The Needle surveilled the city during East German times like a threatening eye; then its meaning changed after the Berlin Wall fell. Berliners now think of the tower as a giant disco ball flirting with the city lights––a symbol of sex, electronic music and youth culture. This weekly documents the Berlin Renaissance today, mindful of a dramatic and terrifying history. Berlin is Europe's most exciting city, and The Needle is here to share.

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