THINGS TO DO IN MÜ: 5 - 11 MAY

This week in Munich is going to be HUGE. Five (!) festivals kick-off, the Frühlingsfest continues with a great program, and there are enough events to get every geeky culture vulture's heart beat faster! Naturally we are especially looking forward to the opening night of the 100-Word-Pilgrimage at Platform on Thursday, after weeks of hard work by Anna and her fellow artists and helpers. Come along and say hi!

All week:
FUNFAIR CONTINUES: The 50th Frühlingsfest is still on. Apart from beer, fried chicken and funfair rides, there are some highlights in the program. Don't miss the musical fireworks on Friday (10PM) and the street artists' competition on Sunday (11AM).
 
Monday, 5 May:
FREE CONCERT: The US folk rock trio The Sweet Remains play the Amerika Haus tonight at 8PM. All three band members are songwriters playing different instruments and used to be solo artists until a chance meeting in 2008. The gig is free, so why not give it a go?

Wednesday, 7 May:
FESTIVAL I - DOCUMENTARY FILM: The international documentary film festival DOK.fest kicks off tonight at the HFF and will continue until Wednesday next week. The festival is a must for all film lovers - 135 films in the official selection, specials, retrospectives, open air screenings, a Best-of-Oscar series, a framework programme with concerts and exhibitions - it's just WOW. 

 
FESTIVAL II - MUSIC THEATRE: The Münchner Biennale is another international festival kicking off today. This one should not be missed by fans of classical music, opera and experimental musical theatre. Check out the programme here.

Thursday, 8 May:
BIG OPENING NIGHT: It's the big opening night of the 100 Word Pilgrimage at Platform! Come and see the results of several weeks of hard work and artistic creativity, meet the wonderful international artist team and enjoy a live performance by the fantastic 8-string-guitarist Alexander Vynograd. Check out Anna's recent blog post to learn more about the project, subscribe and share the event on Facebook. The exhibition will run until Monday.

FESTIVAL III - SCI-FI FILM: As a kind of an antipole to the DOK.fest, a new film festival premieres in Munich tonight: Munich's first Science Fiction Festival "ALL über ALL". The festival venue is the KiM-Kino in the Einstein Kulturzentrum. The programme sounds absolutely amazing: classics such as Georges Melies' "A Journey to the Moon" (1902, with live piano accompaniment) and the director's cut of Terry Gilliam's "Brazil" (1985), local productions such as the Bavarian trash sci-fi horror "Zombies from Outer Space" (2012), a Stanislaw Lem Special on Saturday, an afternoon programme for children, interesting guests, talks, drinks and live music. Sounds like a hell of a start - the only downside being that you probably need to speak Germany to fully enjoy it. Check out the full programme here. Dressing up is encouraged, aliens enjoy free entry.

FESTIVAL IV - CONTEMPORARY DANCE: The festivals keep coming. Admittedly, Relations: Tanz is quite a small one. Still, if you are an admirer of contemporary dance theatre, you probably shouldn't miss it. Three different shows will run at Kammerspiele / Spielhalle: Sketches / Notebook from on 8th, 9th and 10th of May, Non stop on 14th and 15th of May and finally For love on 18th and 19th of May. Tickets are quite affordable for theatre (19€), especially if you are a student (8€).

GET YOUR HANDS DIRTY: If you are not in the mood for cultural events and would rather get your hands dirty - no problem! Bring your broken stuff to Repair Café at WerkBox3, or get your bikes ready for summer at the BikeKitchen at MackWerk.

Friday, 9 May:
FESTIVAL V - LIVE MUSIC: The weekend begins with another festival start, and this one we are quite excited about. The team of Hauskonzerte has been pampering us with "Munich's finest live sessions" since 2010, and now they are organising a festival! "Deeper Down" is supposed to be a week full of gigs, arts, table tennis, beer, BBQ and Bill Murray - quite a promise! The list of participating bands and artists is impressive:  Tiny Ruins, Ian Fisher, Diane Cluck, Leif Vollebekk, Rosalie und Wanda, Town of Saints, Muup Mumu and De'Borah. As always with Hauskonzerte, to find out where and how you can join, you need to send an email to the organisers. Be quick, places are limited!

Saturday, 10 May:
FIVE FESTIVALS: Just to make it clear - all of the five festivals described above run through the weekend, and in most cases into the next week. So check out what's on tonight at DOK.fest (don't miss the free open-air-screenings if weather allows!), Biennale, ALL über ALL, Relations: Tanz and Deeper Down!

ROCK THE KITCHEN: Here's an alternative to eating out in a restaurant: Cookasa. Whatasa? Exactly our first thoughts. So, here is the idea: 6-8 people are randomly thrown together. They build three teams, each team being responsible for one dish. They shop, get to a kitchen, where they meet their hosts, and start cooking. The costs for the ingredients are shared, as is the food and the fun. Sounds pretty simple and ingenious. What's more, the ingredients for tonight's big simultaneous Cookasa party in Munich come at no cost at all, thanks to a collaboration with Foodsharing. Register here and rock the kitchen!

Sunday, 11 May:
FIVE FESTIVALS: And once again, for those of you jumping straight to the day: Check out what's on tonight at DOK.fest (don't miss the free open-air-screenings if weather allows!), Biennale, ALL über ALL, Relations: Tanz and Deeper Down! And visit the 100 Word Pilgrimage at Platform!

 

Munich, Ostbahnhof

THINGS TO DO IN MÜ: 28 APRIL - 4 MAY

Did you have a good week? We certainly hope you did. We feel a little bit guilty that you had to miss out on last week's blog post. It's not like nothing has been going on in Munich, on the contrary! Unfortunately, we both were too busy to write it down. Let's start making up for it straight away!

All week:  
FUNFAIR I: Frühlingsfest, the spring festival at Theresienwiese, is something like a small sibling of the Oktoberfest. Made from the same ingredients (beer, sausages and funfaire rides), it's smaller in size and considerably less excessive. The focus is also more shifted to Gemütlichkeit and family fun rather than boundless consumption of alcohol. It can still get quite crowded when the weather is fine.

FUNFAIR II: If you choose to go to just one fun fair, our pick would be the Auer Dult. A combination of fun fair and crafts fair, the "Dult" is a festival with a great relaxed traditional atmosphere, and it's beautifully located at the foot of Mariahilfkirche in Au. Don't miss the small kiosks selling antiques and crafts.

Monday, 28 April:
ENGLISH IMPROV THEATRE: Improv shows in English are rare in Munich, so if you are not native German and would like to have some laughs without straining your brains to get that joke in German - don't miss the Bake This show on Monday! Starts at 8pm.

Tuesday, 29 April:
MAGIC BULLETS: Have you already seen "The Black Rider" at the Metropoltheater? If not - you really should! Music and lyrics were written by Tom Waits, and the musical has been brilliantly interpreted by director Jöchen Schölz and the actors at the Metropol theatre. There are still tickets available for the tonight's show, but check out other dates as well if you can't make it tonight.  

Wednesday, 30 April:
DANCE INTO MAY: The night before the 1st of May holiday in Germany is when you get together with friends and drink and dance all night. In fact, the tradition is so old that some time ago on that same night in Germany you would burn a few witches and dance around the fires. Must have been a lot of fun -  that is, if you were not the one who was being burned... Luckily, times have changed, and nowadays witches are quite safe. However, the tradition lives on and the dancing continues. If you can't pick a club, we suggest the Milla in Glockenbach. Trio Infernale will be playing at Milla and the entrance is free. We do not actually know the band, but Milla is a great location often hosting fantastic gigs, so we think it's a safe choice.

ARTS & COMMERCE: Guess we should mention the Stroke Art Fair that starts today. When we first heard about it last year (it was the fourth Stroke, but we missed the first one and lived in London during the second and the third), we were quite excited: Urban art is certainly underrepresented in Munich, so we thought it was a great gain. Unfortunately, when we visited the fair, we were rather disappointed. It was more a sales market for galleries than an urban art show, and for this, the entrance fee for visitors seemed unfairly high. On the other, there will be some live paintings and a birthday party on Friday. So check out their website and decide for yourselves.

Thursday, 1 May:
SURREALIST FILM NIGHT: "Open Scene" at the Filmmuseum is showing Luis Buñuels surrealist classic "L'age d'or" (1930), followed by "Dreams that money can buy" (1947) by dadaist artist Hans Richter. The Museum Villa Stuck is currently hosting an exhibition based on Buñuels strongly influential film, so watching it tonight and visiting the exhibition later sounds like a good plan. The curators of the exhibition will be at the Filmmuseum to give an introduction.

Friday, 2 May:
YURT OPENING: Kulturjurte München opens it's doors in Fröttmaning (from 1pm). That is, if a yurt has doors. Anyway - the Kulturjurte seems like a great project, a new space for workshops, discussion and arts exhibitions, organized by great enthusiasts. We are curious and look forward to interesting events.   

Saturday, 3 May:
FLEA MARKET: The Hofflohmärkte return! This week you can walk into more than 250(!) courts and gardens in Haidhausen and Bogenhausen, buy useful utensils, useless junk and homemade cakes, and have wonderful chats with the locals.

Preview for next week:
DOK.fest, the 29th International Documentary Film Festival in Munich, starts on May 7th. Book your tickets before it's too late!

THINGS TO DO IN MÜ: 19 - 21 APRIL

Here a few ideas to make sure that you do not get bored during the long Easter weekend. 

Saturday, 19 April:
EASTER SHOPPING: With the shops closed on Friday, Sunday and Monday, Saturday is your only chance to stock up supplies. If your fridge is full and you are still in the mood for shopping, you could make a short trip to Ottobrun where the Bareso Bistro is organising a Saturday market with local suppliers (10am to 3pm) and special guests like the Gustavo, whose upcycled earrings, sewing machines and coat pegs look very beautiful. If you want to stay more central, Markt der Sinne on Praterinsel may be your choice (also open on Sunday and Monday).

Sunday, 20 April:
MUSEUM DAY 1: David Shrigley's Drawing exhibition in the Pinakothek der Moderne has been met with a lot of excitement, in the first place due to its unusual concept that allowed everybody who can draw to participate and co-create the exhibits. Check it out today for just 1EUR (since it's Sunday). Anna has also contributed a drawing, so we are quite excited to see the result.

Monday, 21 April:
MUSEUM DAY 2: Münchner Stadtmuseum (city museum of Munich) is a real jewel often unjustly overlooked by locals and visitors alike. Apart from the very entertaining sections permanently on display (the historical musical instruments section is especially recommended), there is always a great selection of temporary exhibitions. Here's what's on now: Asylum at the Stadtmuseum (African puppets and masks), Hermann Landshof Retrospective (photographs from 1930s to 1970s), M.T. Wetzlar silversmith's (Jewish family business aryanized by the Nazis) and our personal highlight - Soundlab1, the museum's music collection relaunched as a "sound laboratory" that allows you to experiment with the exhibits. The museum is open on Easter Sunday and Easter Monday. Here's some additional motivation from the museum staff: during the Easter holidays every visitor will get a nougat Easter egg while supplies last.

SPRING SPRAYING: And here's another idea for any sunny day: take some friends and spray cans (best place to buy cans in Munich is the Ghostyard shop in Westend) and head to Tumblinger Strasse (Schlachthofviertel). Find a wall and spray something awesome or simply try something and have some laughs. We certainly had a lot of fun when we did this!  

Spring sprayers, Tumblinger Strasse

THINGS TO DO IN MÜ: 14 - 18 APRIL

Monday, 14 April:
DIX VS BECKMANN: Their lives show several parellels, however it is not known whether they ever met in person. Whatever the case may be, the juxtapositon of two of the most important German painters of the 20th century at the Hypo-Kunsthalle is definitely worth checking out. "Dix / Beckman: World as myth" will run until August (10am to 8pm daily), Mondays tickes are only 6€ (half the regular price).

Tuesday, 15 April:
MUC PHOTOGRAPHY: Portraits, landscapes, photo essays and macros - Munich's emering photographers' exhibition opening tonight at 8PM at Provisorium will represent the city in all its facets. The exhibition will run only until Sunday, so hurry up. Entrance is free. 

Wednesday, 16 April:
EASTER EGGS: How do you want your eggs for Easter? Join the HUIJ Easter workshop and give them your indivudal style! One hour for a tenner, 2 to 5 hours for 20€. 

Friday, 18 April:
CYCLING AT NIGHT: In keeping with its motto "We are not blocking the traffic, we are traffic!", Critical Mass Munich is calling upon cyclists to join the "disorganized, untihierarchical" protest for equal rights with motorised traffic. All you need to do is jump on your bike and join the crowd meeting at the foot of Bavaria tonight at 8pm. Don't forget your lights and helmets!

We leave you with this fantastically edited MUC-version of Pharell Williams "Happy" earworm. Thumbs up to everybody who participated and helped produce the video!

THINGS TO DO IN MÜ: 7 - 13 APRIL

Monday, 7 April:
PURE DATA: For all you hands-on electronic music enthusiasts: there will be a free introduction to Pure Data software at Hochschule für Musik und Theater, Carl-Orff-Auditorium. Free, just turn up. Starts at 6pm.

Tuesday, 8 April:
ACADEMY OF FINE ARTS: The students of the Academy of Fine Arts are showcasing their work at their Debütantenausstellung 2014. Akademiestr. 2-4. Free, just turn up. Starts at 7pm, performance by Lisiena at 9pm.

Thursday, 10 April:
PINAKOTHEK: Last week there was a fun art performance at Pinakothek der Moderne by the Scottish artist David Shringley, at which Anna also took part - all illustrators and drawers were invited to sketch the 'Secret Sculpture' in a hidden room. Shortly before the exhibition the sculpture will be destroyed, and the only remaining imagery of the sculpture is going to be the drawings. The exhibition opens at 7pm and runs from 11 April until 10 August, from 10am until 6pm.

Saturday, 12 April:
FLEA MARKET: It's time for another Midnight Bazar at Reithalle! Shop, drink and dance! 5pm - 12am, tickets 3€. And before that there will be Munich's biggest flea market for kids at the same venue. 9am - 1pm, tickets 2€, free for kids. 

Sunday, 13 April:
BOARD GAMES: Love playing board games and making international friends at the same time? Drop by at Leib und Seele, Oettingenstraße 36 for a board games session. Feel free to bring your own games or use one from the basic selection on the spot. 2pm - 6pm.

THINGS TO DO IN MÜ: 3 - 6 APRIL

Thursday, 3 April: 

PHOTOGRAPHY: A great chance to see Henri Cartier-Bresson's and Sergio Larrain's retrospective, hosted by Kunstfoyer der Versicherungskammer Kunststiftung, Maximilianstr. 53. Free entry. Runs until 9 June, 9am until 7pm daily.

Friday, 4 April:
MUSEUM NIGHT: It's time for another Friday late at Villa Stuck! This time they have invited various artists to orchestrate scenes from Buñuel's surrealistic film »L’Âge d’Or«. Prinzregentenstr. 60. Free entry, from 11am until 11pm.

Saturday, 5 April:
DIY FAIR: Come for a bunch of creative workshops on knitting, crocheting, scrapbooking and all kinds of techniques at Munich's 19th Creativmesse, which will be running from Friday until Sunday, from 10am until 6pm. You can also buy some hand-made jewelry, textiles, beads, paper, etc. Sounds like fun! See a full list of event and participants here. MTC World of Fashion, Ingolstädterstr. 45, daytickets 6€.

OPEN STUDIOS: Artists are going to open their doors for the Open Westend. A perfect excuse to sneak into all those hidden back-yards and explore the beautiful artsy Westend. Have a look at the full programme and the map. Open on Friday 3pm-9pm, Saturday 12pm-8pm, Sunday 12pm-7pm.

Sunday, 6 April:
CINEMA: If you haven't done so yet, why not head to the cinema to watch Wes Anderson's Grand Budapest Hotel? The trailer looks very promising, starring such brilliant actors as Ralph Fiennes, Tilda Swinton, Bill Murray and many others. If you enjoyed Anderson's previous films such as Moonlight Kingdom as much as we did, you definitely shouldn't miss this one!
Here are some  options for watching it in English: Cinema, 4.55pm, tickets 9€. Museum Lichtspiele, 6.25pm, 8.45pm, 11pm, tickets 8.50€. City Kinos, 3.30pm, 6.10pm, 8.30pm, tickets 9€.

Creativmesse

THINGS TO DO IN MÜ: 31 MARCH - 1 APRIL

We are back! Which means, we've been away. It was not intended, but it turned out that we needed a longer break. Now we finally feel rested and prepared for all kinds of freakish events in our blooming city, kissed by the sun and seduced by moonlight... However, to make sure that we do not need another break too soon, we will adjust the rhythm of the posts in this blog to our lifes, which means that the posts will be less regular (but not necessarily less frequent). They will also cover different periods of time, and not always a whole week. Enough said, here we go, and the week starts with a bang!

Monday, 31 March:

MUSIC AGAINST ALL WARS: "It was only this afternoon that we still believed in something. Demonstration to bury all wars R.I.P." Such is the title of a freakish performance / demonstration thought out by Munich based artist Anna McCarthy. Munich's department of Arts and Culture has selected five arts projects to commemorate 100 years since the beginning of WWI, Anna's project among them. The demonstration (Meeting Point: 1pm Marienplatz, march to Zenith concert hall) will be accompanied by dadaist poetry interpreted in songs and speech by several musicians, among them Anna McCarthy's band Damenkapelle and Anna's brother Nick McCarthy from the band Franz Ferdinand (who play Zenith this evening). Here's the description of the project from Anna McCarthy's website:   

The demonstration follows the route of the striking arms' workers in Munich, January 1918 during the 1st World War. This was one of the main demonstrations that led to the overthrow of the Wittelsbach monarchy and the shortlived Bavarian Socialist Revolution (1918-1919) led on by anarchist artists and writers including Erich Mühsam, Ernst Toller, Oskar Maria Graf and Kurt Eisner.
The highly decorated float will move through the city visiting significant points and remembering the shortlived dream of a free state through song and speech. The poems of Erich Mühsam and Hugo Ball (founder of Dada) are newly interpreted by Munich-based musicians DAMENKAPELLE, Tagar, Manu Rzytki, Federico Sanchez, Sebastian Kellig and Nick McCarthy from Franz Ferdinand (pun intended). The story will be told backwards and abstracted of the days before, during and following; to end all wars then and now.
The next day we will wake up and realise we've all been fooled.

Tuesday, 1 April:
ART IST HART: Opening of an "analog vs. digital art" group exhibition in Provisorium. A long list of interesting artists - sounds like a nice pretext to visit an arts bar with a certain charm. Talk to the artists, have some drinks, and don't be fooled!

Source: http://www.annamccarthy.de/