© THILO FISCHER

With “The Sun Machine Is Coming Down”, the Berliner Festspiele celebrated their 70th anniversary from 7–17 October 2021 in a one-of-a-kind art event – a synthesis of performance, acrobatic  and visual arts, films, concerts and discourse in the abandoned ICC. The public responded enthusiastically to this artistic format; more than 26,000 visitors came to the building over the course of the 10 days, reclaiming the space that had been inaccessible for years.

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As a format, this art event stands in the tradition of a particular performance scheme preceded by the “Palace of the Republic” or “Down to Earth” as part of the “Immersion” programme series. Various parallel modules were used to construct an artistic and social framework that links aesthetic and political phenomena in generating new realms of experience. Here existing artistic elements such as Frank Oehring’s “Große Lichtplastik” were combined with works developed especially for this project such as Markus Selg’s glass vitrines resembling dioramas, or Cyprien Gaillard’s “Suspire (for ICC’s control room)”. 

A promising confrontation that came into effect through the connection of bodies, nature and technology in the works of Chloé Moglia, Tino Sehgal, Andrea Salustri, Darragh McLoughlin, Jörg Müller, Alexander Vantournhout / not standing, Ayaka Nakama, Grace Tjang / Needcompany, Monira Al Qadiri and Raed Yassin, was reflected in the resistance of the protagonists of the video works from the Julia Stoschek Collection, the range of the music and lecture programme with appearances by Alexis Taylor (Hot Chip), Nazanin Noori and Rosaceae and was explored further in the cultivation of conversation by the Floating University or the séances programme developed by Joulia Strauss in memory of Friedrich Kittler.

These distinct components melded together, dissolving the boundaries between genres. The sound and lighting of individual works intertwined to form an overlapping ambience in the presence of other worlds, complemented by a film programme to mark the Berliner Festspiele’s 70th anniversary.

The line from which the title is taken: “The Sun Machine is Coming Down… and we’re gonna have a party” comes from David Bowie’s 1969 song “Memory of a Free Festival”.
“The Berliner Festspiele wish that this mixture of transformation, poetry and ‘Sun Machine’ has set an example for a different kind of artistic institution in Berlin, both for the future and for this incredible building.” – Thomas Oberender, Director of the Berliner Festspiele and the project’s initiator. “We would like to thank all those involved, especially the curatorial team consisting of Thilo Fischer, Wolfgang Hoffmann, Martin Hossbach, Julia Stoschek and Jeroen Versteele, as well as Messe Berlin and their entire team for their excellent cooperation – and the fans of this building who have worked tirelessly with us to turn it into the ‘Sun Machine’.”