Nettelbeckplatz, in Berlin’s Wedding District, exemplifies an open urban space—a spot for hangouts and chance encounters. For the artists, it evokes memories of similar places in their Russian hometowns, where one could drop by anytime and bump into friends. As police presence intensified in public spaces back home, such havens gradually disappeared. Yet, Berlin’s urban landscape still embraces loitering. While authorities occupy institutional buildings, squares like Nettelbeckplatz provide welcoming benches to those for whom institutional doors might be locked.
Perhaps it is a means of control—to gather the lonely, those leading shadowy lives, or those with severe addictions, in one place. But, it is also a place without turnstiles and face recognition, without the division between ‘insiders’ and ‘outsiders’. They all gather in one space with their music, drinks, or other entertainments. Here, one can meet migrants, artists, writers, workers, the unemployed, and members of the LGBTQ+ community. Some admire this place and come here regularly, while others just don’t know where else to go and, seeing the liveliness, join groups based on shared interests or language. The square is difficult to unify; it is hard for everyone to find solidarity because there is no common rational basis, and no prospect of proving this rationality. But, there is for sure something else.
For Bebe Magazine, ZIP Group and Borya Pospelov created a score in three acts. Each act represents an activity on the square, documented through text, sound, video, and hand-drawn sketches. Let the captivating flow of random and absurd elements carry you away into the melody of the trees.
curator Evgenia Skvortsova



