The parallel realities of Berlin's Reference Festival
What went down at the event aimed at relaunching Berlin Fashion Week
Art & Design
February 5th, 2021
February 5th, 2021
The second edition of the Reference Festival, Berlin's review of the creative landscape of the city that wants to relaunch Berlin Fashion Week, founded by Mumi Haiati's Reference Studios and held this year between January 21 and 23 with the theme Navigating Parallel Realities, was a perfect example of a phygital and multidisciplinary event: the contents presented on the Reference Realities platform, in fact, were joined by the event held at the Zeiss Major Planetarium with performances by Die Hässlichen Vögel, while in collaboration with Carhartt WIP, Bill Kouligas' PAN label presented Anne Imhof & Eliza Douglas, Act 1 by MJ Harper & David Jainz by Stefano Pilati in Random Identities, Pan Daijing and Amnesia Scanner whose show was enriched by the side effects of Freeka Tet; one in the very headquarters of Reference Studios, transformed into an art gallery in the cultural hub of Schoeneberg and also a mobile installation of 032c – a truck with an LED screen that toured the city.
The exhibition at Reference Studios' Potsdam headquarters included a selection of sculptures by Tobias Spichtig for Balenciaga, the launch of a collaborative coffee table by furniture design duo Chapel Petrassi x Mowalola, an Endyma's edit of the Helmut Lang archive curated by Michael Kardamakis, an interactive installation by creative collective Treffpunkt, an exclusive colours film screening by up-and-coming designer PunkZec and also the presentation of acteTM contemporary creative studio dress in collaboration with Sucuk & Bratwurst that was created for the event. The GmbH FW21 show was also held in the context of the Reference Festival.
Reference Festival has also closed with the announcement of an award for emerging talents in partnership with Slam Jam, which will be presented with more information and the introduction of its full committee in the coming weeks. Slam Jam offers an incubator program, while Reference Studios will take on the winner's PR. The prize aims to highlight underrepresented items, no degree or even formal education is required to enter. More context was created in the talk panels held, among others, by Hans Ulrich Obrist and Honey Dijon.
