Travels in Zürich (2/2): Urban development and creative projects

Urban development and city planning is a fascinating topic, in particular the temporary use of industrial wasteland and empty urban spaces. Berlin is a good place to be if you like this sort of thing – there are plenty of creatives/communities/artists/galleries based in abandoned houses, old factories or other unusual places. And Berlin still has  a surprising number of urban spaces left although over the last years, many areas have been redeveloped or are currently under construction.

In Zürich the case is quite similar. Although this is a city of tremendously high property prices, especially in the city centre, there are little pockets of creative communities that use whatever urban spaces are currently unoccupied. Like Basislager, an art collective based in containers, or the non-commercial communal area of Stadionbrache Hardturm, both of which are located in the Zürich suburb of Altstetten. Continue reading

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Travels in Zürich (1/2): Vintage design, Inuit sculptures and contemporary art

I just came back from a few days in Zürich, Switzerland. It’s a very pretty, historical city in a rich country, a European financial capital and one of the most expensive urban areas in the world; with a high density of rich individuals and minimal unemployment. The city centre is packed with luxury stores, property prices are unbelievable high and consumer goods, food and cosmetics are expensive. But there are some cool museums and galleries. Continue reading

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New Year, new trade shows!

Happy New Year everyone! I hope it’ll be a fabulous year 2014 for y’all. And for me too, of course. One of my New Year’s resolutions is to travel more than ever and 2014 will be the year of European short trips and trade show visits! (I’m also planning a major Asian holiday in late 2014 (Taiwan, Japan and HK!) but that’s still a long way off and nothing’s been booked yet).

However, I have sorted out my trade show schedule for the first half of 2014. First up: Vivaness and Biofach in Nuremberg (www.vivaness.de) – 12th to 15th February, which means that unfortunately the dates yet again collide with the Berlinale film festival! Nothing I can do about this, however, and I’ve booked five days in Nuremberg already. Hooray! Continue reading

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Mintel articles: Harry Lehmann and Manhattan Pop-Up Store

Here are two more articles I wrote for Mintel’s BPC website last year: colour cosmetics brand Manhattan’s first pop-up store in Berlin (publication date: July 2013) and a company profile of Berlin perfumery Harry Lehmann (publication date: August 2013). These articles are copyrighted!

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Gold Gummy Bears Galore: Haribo’s new flagship store in Bonn, Germany

Confectionery manufacturer Haribo, makers of the famous Gold Gummy Bears, recently opened its very first flagship store – in the beautiful city of Bonn in the Rhineland area of Germany.

Haribo (the acronym stands for HAns RIegel BOnn, the initials of company founder Hans Riegel) was established in 1920 and its fruit gums and liquorice products are available pretty much all over the world. The company has subsidiaries in 22 countries and produces some 100 million gold bears per day (!).

And now they have finally opened a proper flagship store – long overdue, I think – right in Bonn’s city centre. As a major Haribo fan I was delighted to see the shop when I was home for Christmas last week. It retails Haribo’s entire German product portfolio as well as Haribo merchandise and limited editions products. Absolutely worth a visit!

Haribo Store (3)    Haribo Store (6)     Haribo Store (5)

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SPC article: C&T Market Report Germany 2013

For all those who want a nice compact analysis of the German C&T market in 2012/2013 – here is the article I wrote for SPC Magazine a couple of months ago. It’s the fifth or even sixth time I’ve been writing this country profile over the past ten years and it’s one of my favourite repeat assignments! Enjoy but please respect the copyright: Holding Steady

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GlobalCultureBlog – Christmas Edition!

The new round of blog entries is now live on GlobalCultureBlog; check out the Christmas wishes of the GCB correspondents…..!

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“Berlin: Symphonie der Großstadt” (1927) accompanied live by Tronthaim – Kino Central

On Friday, 29th November, Walter Ruttmann’s famous avantgarde movie from 1927 – “Symphony of a Great City” – will be shown at Kino Central near Hacke’scher Markt, accompanied by Berlin electronics duo Tronthaim. The screening at 20.30 is already sold out; however, there will be a second showing at 22.00 and I managed to get tickets for that! Yay! In case anyone is interested, as of this afternoon, there were still tickets available. It should be an awesome experience; I’ve seen “Symphonie” twice, once accompanied on a grand piano and once on a cinema organ. Never with Tronthaim’s soundtrack though!

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Exhibitions: “Art with Money” at Whiteconcepts gallery and Maki Na Kamura at Bethanien

Yesterday I went to see the new solo exhibition in Künstlerhaus Bethanien‘s Kottbusser Strasse showroom: Maki Na Kamura, the winner of this year’s Falkenrot Preis award. Different landscapes and cityscapes all folded together onto a single canvas, that was my impression of her paintings – full of details and yet open to interpretation; interesting and complex. Go and see it!

This Friday, 22nd November, Whiteconcepts gallery in Auguststrasse will open a new group exhibition: “Art With Money”. I’ve never been to Whiteconcepts so this is a good opportunity to finally visit the gallery. Also, Spanish artist duo PSJM (I interviewed them for globe-M last year) will be exhibiting there. The vernissage begins at 7pm.

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Exhibition: “The Art of Collage” at Gestalten gallery

A few days ago Gestalten gallery opened a new group exhibition: “The Art of Collage” will run until 5th January 2014 and features works by 31 international artists. Continue reading

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