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Democracy in Energy

Can there be democracy in energy? Power supply and power distribution are core topics in the theory of democracy as well. One of the foundations of democracy is the separation of power into a legislative, executive and a judicial power. A resilient democracy can assure a sufficient functioning of this fragile “balance of power”. In an energy market or a nation’s energy distribution a comparable balance of (electric or gas) power provision might be envisaged. The costs of parallel infrastructures of power distribution are high, but the resilience of overall power distribution will benefit. Also from a redundancy perspective, more than one distribution system may step in if there are failures or delivery problems with one of the distribution networks. The democracy in energy perspective goes beyond this simple analogy. Power supply as well as power distribution have been concentrated in large public or private enterprises, which might care little in terms of security or reliability of the overall system, not only during armed conflicts. Independent energy production and use, for example through wind and solar energy including batteries have pushed the feasibility of more democracy in energy to new boundaries. These technologies have enabled a new bifurcation and make room for more democracy in energy. It is a rather realistic version of a previously rather utopian vision.

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Democracy in architecture

Over centuries we have pondered how to bring more democracy into architecture. This very idea is different from designing parliaments or other democratic institutions like courts or the representation of executive power in a democracy. Bottom-up or direct participation, beyond the pseudo open participation in a competition for the chosen best design, could take the form of voting by and/or listening to the people before any realization. Rather than relying on the choice of elected representatives, we may envisage the observation of people’s choices. Such a kind of bottom-up approach has been chosen by Anna Jung and Lea Krueger who let persons chose, where they wanted to take a rest at the Kulturforum in Berlin by moving chairs to a  specific place or a nearby location. Rather than yet another grand design people could freely choose their favorite niche for 1 or 2 chairs. Sometimes just looking for shadow next to a wall or under a tree, sometimes desperate for a little green spot. Democracy in architecture can simply mean to think architecture from the people’s perspective or an observed user’s experience. Democracy in architecture could resemble a bit more the internet revolution and think in terms of user interface, UX-design. With the construction of the “Berlin Modern” well under way, such green niches shall be appreciated by many people passing by and those who would like to rest for a while.  

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Art and fashion

There is fashionable art and arty-ish fashion. The links between art and fashion are manifold and new explorations of the link are always an interesting variation of the original theme. The Berlin “Gemäldegalerie“ has added a contemporary perspective in connection with Berlin fashion week 2026 to the already rich collection on the topic. The exhibition confronts the craft of the world of fashion represented by the dresses on actual display with photographs of those dressed worn by models against the backdrop of the historic inspiration. Add sound and video to this format and you will be close to total immersion into the world of art and fashion yourself. Art and fashion may be a part of all us, not only the privileged few in society. It is most of all a question of crafts related to art, design and fashion, which dominates the creative process. A strong message from all involved in the project to the visitors.

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Free Lunch

Who told you that there is no free lunch? On the premises of “The Berlin Philharmonic” a group of toddlers and babies had a free musical lunch. On the occasion of the lunch concert on 2026-1-28 in the spacious entry hall young musicians (piano, Ana Bakradze, and violoncello, Carlo Lay) gave a concert with Sonatas from Beethoven (op. 69) and Britten (op. 65) to an exceptionally broad range of ages in the audience. People fully enjoyed the concert, irrespective of uncomfortable seating also on stairs, if they managed to find a seat at all. The occasional breast feeding seemed to be the free lunch for some privileged babies. The adults were invited to contribute a donation to the UN refugee fund. Instead of the usual seasonal coughing, there were delighted outcries from the youngest, which enchanted the aging audiences additionally. The 2 musicians excelled in concentration on their performance in spite of the challenging setting.

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German Cinémathèque

The “Deutsche Kinemathek” in Berlin has moved to its new location in the old E-Werk. There is room for temporary exhibitions and screening on all walls. Small boxes (3 seats) give a brief overview of the history of television. The library is accessible again to the public. In order to research what went wrong in the history of mass media and cinema in Germany during the 1930s and 1940s can get access to the archives as well. In the age of new digital media technology the study of historical approaches helps to be aware of the power of persuasion of this form of mass communication. A critical thinking perspective on the material presented and the long history of cinema can bring generations together through the exchange of experiences with different media. 

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Paper and Scissors

In order to produce art it is not always necessary to have expensive materials at your disposal. Henri Matisse has demonstrated that paper and scissors can go a long way. With this in mind, the work by Johanna Beckmann, shown in the upper hall of the “Kulturforum” in Berlin, is quite astonishing. Beckmann relied on just paper and scissors, in addition to her paper and pencil work, to illustrate her own texts as well as collections of fairy tales. Her paper cuts of some hobbit stories might be remembered by a whole generation of children and even some of today’s world. Paper cuts and theatre based on such figures have been a cross-cultural treasure. The illustration of stories, but also the creation of own characters might be derived from such cuts using just paper and scissors. The “Kunstbibliothek” and the “Lette-Verein”-academy in Berlin joined forces for this exhibition and they both continue to transmit this creative craft to students actively involved in this “intergenerational exhibition”. Please bring your (grand 😉 children.
All those who travelled to Paris recently will be well aware that at “Montmartre” you can still have your profile cut these days. At this exhibition there is a “do-it-yourself” section, not only reserved to children.

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Holocaust commemoration

The commemoration of the Shoa or the Holocaust is part of an international remembrance of atrocities against humanity. It needs to be present in countries beyond Germany, even if Germany under Hitler’s rule caries the sole responsibility for the ruthless execution of a plan and the murder of 4 million of its own people of Jewish decent and additional 2 million Jewish people of neighboring countries. In the speech by Tova Friedman, a Shoa survivor, she pointed to the perceived threat which children posed to the Nazi-regime as witnesses of mass murders. There she is. In front of the whole nation she testifies for what seems like a distant past, but for many this past is still not over. Responsibility of Germany does not stop after a certain number of years, maybe in judicial terms, but a moral obligation to act against denial of these atrocities is primordial. 20 years after the inauguration of the memorial of the holocaust in the center of Berlin and the exhibition center “topography of terror” (image below, 2026-1-27) we should start an initiative to make the International Day of the commemoration of the holocaust a national day, of commemoration, where all daily routines are paused in Germany to give people time to act and reflect on what can be done that such atrocities will never happen again.

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Time simultaneously

The simultaneous experience of time forms part of the basic understanding of what society is about. However, the participants of a simultaneous game of chess might arrive at a different perspective on time. At the same time when time advances for say 20 chess players, the one person facing the 20 players is advancing on 20 processes simultaneously, but also on a single time measure shared by all. The different processes, or chess clocks, all run in the same timeframe. The experiences of time will be rather different as the simultaneous games usually stop at very different times. Each player has to live up to her own competence, only the one simultaneous player lives in multiple games or time simultaneously. The experience, even on a much smaller scale to handle just 3 parallel processes is a challenge for us. The fascination of juggling might convey a similar experience just on a more physical level.

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Time in Chess

The more you advance in playing chess, the more time and timing becomes an issue. Sooner or later you will want to have your very own chess clock to be in control of time when playing chess. It will be difficult to keep your mind hooked on the chessboard rather than the clock as each move is linked to a point in time as well as a duration.
It was common practice for advanced players to note, not only the moves they played, but also the time they needed to play the next move. This helped to analyse the quality of your game. In specific openings of a game of chess you even keep track of “time advantages” in bringing more of your pieces into powerful positions or a “developed” position on the chessboard.
You may choose to play a “Blitz” game, which allows only 5 minutes per player to think about the next move overall, which may turn into a fast hitting battle in an protracted endgame for each side. In anticipation of this you way your time very carefully right from the beginning of the game. In short, you will never consider time as a mere second by second running of time as time has a different weight depending of the progress of the game.
Come on, it is just a game of chess, isn’t it?

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Timely timeless

It is very timely to discuss timelessness. Some inventions or artwork appear to have a timeless value. The creation of books has this feature as we have known also a lot about the conservation and restoration of books across centuries. Timelessness is about an open-ended vision of time. In mathematics it is a usual part of the differential equations‘ calculus to handle infinity as an operationalisation or a form of a projection of time into timelessness. Humans have made considerable efforts to create material and, most of all, immaterial goods which try to exist independently from time. Geek or Roman philosophy are with us for more than 2000 years and we still benefit from returning to this original concepts. Egyptian culture and the wall paintings in caves still speak to us, thousands of years afterwards. Each clock suggests that time is advancing, but some treasures achieve the level of a timeless beauty, art or conceptual masterpiece. The more we talk about time, the more we shall cherish timelessness. (Image: Neue Nationalgalerie, Berlin 2026-1, The clock screening)