What's on in Germany: February 18 - 24

This week's highlights: Shaolin monks in Munich, experimental film in Berlin, and an exhibition of sacred Himalayan art opens in Cologne.


BERLIN


Film


Heinz Emigholz - The Formative Years

The German filmmaker's early works were strikingly avant-garde. Berlin's Hamburger Bahnhof screens a day-long program of seven of them all weekend. See how urban and natural landscapes interact with abstract compositions in short films like "Arrowplane" and "Tide," seminal works from the 1970s.

Price: €12
Location: Hamburger Bahnhof, Invalidenstrasse 50-51
Times: Thursday, February 18 - Friday, February 19, 10am-6pm; Saturday, February 20, 11am-8pm; Sunday, February 21, 11am-6pm
Phone: 030 3978 3439
More Information: www.smb.museum



Theatre


The Marvellous Variety Show

Perhaps you know Meret Becker from her work with Einstürzende Neubauten, her role in Spielberg's Munich, or in the U2 video "Stay (Faraway, So Close!)." The actress/performing artist's latest projects brings her to Berlin where she and her band The Tiny Teeth perform alongside Russian clowns and French-Dutch aerialists. Marvellous indeed!

Price: €19.50 - 82
Location: Wintergarten Berlin, Potsdamer Strasse 96
Times: Wednesday - Saturday, 8pm; Sunday, 6pm; through May 1
Ticket Hotline: 030 588 433
More Information: www.wintergarten-variete.de



Galleries/Museums


Drawn in Light - Carl Blechen: The Amalfi Sketchbook

In 1828 the German artist Carl Blechen spent some time walking Italy's Amalfi coast. The sketches he made during that excursion are considered some of the most important contributions to 19th century drawing. View his Mediterranean villages and leafy landscapes at Berlin's Alte Nationalgalerie. And take a cue from Blechem - pack a sketchpad on your next vacation.

Price: €10
Location: Alte Nationalgalerie, Bodestrasse 1-3
Times: Tuesday - Sunday, 10am - 6pm; Thursday, 10am-10pm; through April 11
More Information: www.smb.museum





COLOGNE



Galleries/Museums


Bhutan - Sacred Art From the Himalayas

Chances are slim any of us will take a tour of Bhutan temples this year. That's why this new exhibition, opening Saturday at Cologne's Museum for Asian Art is so important. It offers the rare opportunity to gaze upon enlightening images of Buddha and Bodhisattvas without having to hike the Himalayas. Go and meditate on some ancient statues for a while.

Price: €4.20
Location: Museum for Asian Art, Universitätsstrasse 100
Times: Tuesday - Sunday 11am-5pm; Saturday, February 20 - May 24
More Information: www.museenkoeln.de



Yiorgos Kordakis - Global Summer

Shot on Polaroid film, scanned, then enlarged, the beaches of France, India, Lebanon, and Denmark take on a shimmering radiance in the photographs of Yiorgos Kordakis. Meet the Athens-born artist at the exhibition opening Friday night.

Price: Free
Location: Galerie Karsten Greve, Drususgasse 1-5
Times: Friday, February 19, 6-8pm (opening); Tuesday - Friday, 10am-6:30pm; Saturday, 10am-6pm (regular hours); through March 20
More Information: www.galerie-karsten-greve.com




FRANKFURT



Tours


Fishing Rod, Hessian Cider Jug, Car Parts - A Short Guided Tour of Some Remarkable Things

Expand your knowledge of unusual objects this weekend. A guided tour of Frankfurt's speciality shops reveals a cavalcade of cultural curios. Know what a Bembel is? Better sign up.


Price: Free
Location: Frankfurter Kunstverein, Stone House on the Römerberg, Markt 44 (meet in the foyer)
Times: Saturday, February 20, 11am
Registration: post@fkv.de or 069 2193 1440
More Information: www.fkv.de



Galleries/Museums


Radical Conceptual

Films, musical scores, sculptures, installations, and a poem laid out in a 25-meter-long strip of neon letters comprise this new exhibition of conceptual art. Be baffled by the brilliance of works by European and American artists, dating from the 1960s to the present day, when the show opens Thursday night in Frankfurt.

Price: €8
Location: Museum for Modern Art, Domstrasse 10
Times: Thursday, February 18, 7pm (opening); Tuesday, Thursday - Sunday, 10am-6pm; Wednesday, 10am-8pm (regular hours); through August 22
Phone: 069 212 30447
More Information: www.mmk-frankfurt.de




HAMBURG



Events


On Safari in Africa - Travel Story: Botswana - A Diamond in Southern Africa

Author Joachim Frank reads from his book Botswana - A Diamond in Southern Africa Sunday afternoon as part of the Museum Elbinsel Wilhelmsburg's Sunday Culture Series. Though the reading will be in German, the inspiring images of elephants and other Okavango Delta wildlife that he'll show during the presentation are universally understood.

Price: €5
Location: Museum Elbinsel Wilhelmsburg, Kirchdorfer Strasse 163
Times: Sunday, February 21, 3pm
Phone: 040 3118 2928
More Information: www.museum-wilhelmsburg.de



Music/Concerts


Vampire Weekend

No, it's not a black cape-wearing, fang-bearing two-day festival in the Hamburg hinterland. It's a quirky New York band inspired by Congolese rhythms, which has been getting a lot of buzz lately. See what the guys' live show is all about Sunday night at Docks.

Price: €21.70
Location: Docks, Spielbudenplatz 19
Times: Sunday, February 21, 8pm
More Information: www.vampireweekend.com




MUNICH



Theatre


Mystical Worlds: The Return of the Shaolin

A breathtaking kung fu show about China's legendary Shaolin monks, "Mystical Worlds" combines thrilling fight scenes with moments of quiet meditation. Witness the unbelievable feats of these masters of body and mind.

Price: €24 - 52.20
Location: Deutsches Theater München, Werner-Heisenberg-Allee 11
Times: Sunday, February 21, 3 and 8pm; Monday, February 22, 8pm
Ticket Hotline: 0231 917 22 90
More Information: www.shaolin-moench.de



Festivals


Finest Spirits Munich Whiskey Festival

Forty-five different whiskey producers, three chocolate companies, two cigar makers, plus rum, vodka, grappa, and brandy. This is one festival you won't want to miss. Here's mud in your eye.

Price: €20
Location: Forum am Deutschen Museum, Museumsinsel 1
Times: Friday, February 19, 4-11pm; Saturday, February 20, 2-11pm; Sunday, February 21, 12-7pm
Phone: 089 2103 1472
More Information: www.finest-spirits.com