CORONA NEWS
Berlin 5 February
As of today, minor facilitations apply:
1. The obligation to document attendance is abolished.
2. An additional test is usually required for 2G Plus events. This is no longer the case for people who have been vaccinated or recovered within the last 3 months. For boostered people this requirement was already lifted before. We still recommend the additional test because it has been shown that especially vaccinated and boostered people can still be infected.
Berlin 15 January 2022
As of today, the rules have changed again. The changes only concern details, but have the effect that Open Stages can now only take place under 2G Plus conditions, while ensemble rehearsals with fewer than 10 people can take place under 3G conditions. As always, all the regulations that affect us are summarised under the following link, whereby we have marked the innovations in blue colour for quicker orientation: https://doku.exploratorium-berlin.de/en/regulations-in-times-of-corona/
Berlin, 8 December 2021
Dear friends of improvised music,
we have to correct ourselves, our “Corona exegesis” from November was not correct. In fact, 2G plus applies to almost all events at the exploratorium, at least for any kind of classes and rehearsals. 2G plus means: only vaccinated and recovered people are allowed, in addition EITHER mask must be worn OR distance must be kept OR an additional test must be proven.
At “events” – this can be a Christmas party, but also a concert – this regulation only applies if there are more than 20 people in the room. If there are less, 3G (vaccinated, recovered or tested) applies, plus mask and distance requirement.
All regulations affecting us are summarised here: https://doku.exploratorium-berlin.de/en/regulations-in-times-of-corona/
Berlin, 27 November 2021
Dear friends of improvised music,
as of today, stricter regulations apply. In 2G events (only vaccinated or recovered persons are allowed here), additionally EITHER masks must be worn OR distance must be kept OR an additional test must be presented. 2G still applies for events with 21 or more people and for singing and dancing in groups. All other events remain with 3G (vaccinated, recovered and tested persons are allowed), but here a stricter mask obligation applies. As always, the regulations affecting us are summarised here: https://doku.exploratorium-berlin.de/en/regulations-in-times-of-corona/
Berlin, 16 November 2021
Dear friends of improvised music,
since Monday, 15 November, the so-called 2G-regulation has been in force in Berlin for events with more than 20 people as well as for singing and dancing in groups, i.e. only vaccinated and recovered people are allowed to participate. For all other events, the previous 3G regulations remain in force, i.e. people who have been tested can also take part. The regulations concerning exploratorium are summarised here: https://doku.exploratorium-berlin.de/en/regulations-in-times-of-corona/
Berlin, 2 August, 2021
Dear friends of improvised music,
our program after the summer break can take place without any problems for the time being, considering a set of Corona rules that are subject to constant changes in detail. We try to keep up with these changes and continually update the canon of rules. All details can be found on this page:
https://doku.exploratorium-berlin.de/en/regulations-in-times-of-corona/
However, all these regulations are feasable and therefore we are looking forward to welcoming you soon again in the exploratorium!
The team of the exploratorium berlin
Berlin, 5 June 2021
Dear friends of improvised music,
there is a new decision by the Berlin Senate. Since Friday, 4 June, further significant opening steps have taken place. Permitted again are in particular:
– Concerts, also indoors
– Dance and movement, indoors for up to 10 people
– Singing, also indoors
– Wind instruments
The exact details of the regulations are very differentiated depending on the type of event and can be found here: https://doku.exploratorium-berlin.de/en/regulations-in-times-of-corona/
For our programme this means:
→ After a long break, a concert can take place again, namely on 27 June with Fred Frith and three musicians of the younger generation. The talk with him on 26 June can also take place. Due to the still valid obligation to keep a distance, only a limited audience is allowed. The concert is therefore already sold out. However, we will broadcast both events in a livestream via YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/exploratoriumberlin
→ Our weekend workshops planned for June can all take place.
→ The series “Improvisation as an Art of Living” can also be held again. On 6.6, the voice artist Christian Wolz will be our guest. As he will be presenting his work with the voice, the event will take place outside in the Sarottihöfe. More details on the website.
→ Alos the Open Stage will be revived on 13.6! The number of participants is limited to 20, prior registration is absolutely necessary.
So, see you soon at the exploratorium!
Berlin, 22 May 2021,
Dear friends of improvised music,
we cheered too soon. The press release of the Berlin Senate, to which our jubilant news below referred, had been on the website of the Berlin Senate Administration (www.berlin.de) as an official announcement since Friday, 14.5. A whole 5 days later, namely on 19 May, a hygiene framework concept of the cultural administration was published, in which the opening steps were considerably relativised. After all a step-by-step plan was published at the same time, which provides for further opening steps, the implementation of which, however, is not yet sure.
Roughly summarised, the regulations for indoor spaces are as follows at the present time:
→ Artistic instruction for children and adults is permitted,
→ but only in group sizes of a maximum of 5 participants + 1 facilitator.
→ Not permitted are: singing, wind instruments, dance and movement.
→ Testing and masks are compulsory, as well as keeping distance (special regulations apply to vaccinated and convalescent persons, see link below).
→ In addition, the familiar regulations apply, such as hygiene rules, regular ventilation and documentation of attendance.
→ Concerts and similar cultural events in front of a physically present audience are not permitted.
→ Special rules apply to professional training and professional ensembles.
The following changes are planned for 4.6:
→ Permission for events with dance / movement
→ Further openings for indoor events, whereby the validity for cultural events (especially concerts) is unfortunately not clear from the step-by-step plan.
→ There is nothing yet to be found in the (still very brief) step-by-step plan about the re-permission of wind instruments.
On 1 June, a decision will be taken on whether these changes will be implemented.
The exact regulations for us can be found on our website here:
https://doku.exploratorium-berlin.de/en/regulations-in-times-of-corona/
For the programme of exploratorium we hope that the weekend workshops in June can finally take place and possibly also the talk and concert with Fred Frith on 26.6. and 27.6. respectively. On our website, especially in our calendar, you can read which events will take place and which will not.
All the best
your team of the exploratorium berlin
Berlin, 18 May 2021
Dear friends of improvised music,
the reopenings begin!
Starting from Wednesday, 19 May 2021, institutions of general adult education as well as music and youth art schools in Berlin may once again offer face-to-face events. For the exploratorium this means that our weekend workshops, regular courses and ensembles in the learn space and young explo will be possible on site again, as will some of the play space!
The prerequisite for all attendees is basically a negative test (or alternatively a complete vaccination). Furthermore, masks are still compulsory, although medical masks are allowed again, as an alternative to the FFP2 masks. The usual distance and hygiene rules as well as the obligation to document attendance remain valid.
A maximum of 1 person per 10 square metres applies to our rooms, i.e. up to 15 people in hall 1 and up to 12 people in hall 2. Singing in closed rooms is still not permitted.
Concerts or events with an audience are only permitted outdoors for the time being. Therefore, the residency of the ensemble LDP (Urs Leimgruber – Jacques Demierre – Barre Phillips) planned for the end of May must unfortunately be cancelled; we have rescheduled these events for September 2022 (!).
Further openings are planned for the coming weeks.
With this in mind: See you soon at the exploratorium!
Your team of the exploratorium berlin
Berlin, 2 May 2021
Dear friends of improvised music,
The current Berlin Corona Ordinance is “only” valid until 16 May, but due to the new nationwide regulations, changes are not to be expected until the 7-day incidence in Berlin is below 100 for at least 5 days. However, it is completely unclear whether there will then be opportunities for us as a cultural institution to open up, both in terms of our concert activities and our educational work. What is allowed at least at the moment is professional training.
We refer to our calendar, where you can find some digital events. Our cancelled concerts will all be made up for at a later date, as will the workshops and courses.
We will get back to you as soon as there is news.
In the meantime, we wish you all the best through this exhausting time!
The team of the exploratorium berlin
14.4.2021: Another lockdown extension, this time until 9 May 2021.
Please note our three digital events between 20 and 25 April! More details can be found in our calendar.
29.3.2021: Lockdown extension until 24 April!
Three digital events in April can be found in our calendar.
Berlin, 5 March 2021 (& update on 19 March 2021)
Dear friends of improvised music,
we must continue to be patient! The lockdown has officially been extended until 28 March, although it is theoretically possible that from 22 March onwards, if there are sufficient incidence numbers, openings in the cultural sector will take place under strict conditions. (Update on 19.3.: The openings will not take place due to rising incidence figures!)
Unfortunately, this is of no use to us for the numerous events we wanted to hold between 8 and 22 March. Some of them will have to be cancelled, others may be postponed. Details can be found in our calendar.
If hotels and restaurants remain closed during the Easter holidays (27.3. – 11.4.) and trips are cancelled, we hope to at least be able to offer our holiday course for children Elements in Movement.
Furthermore, we refer to our three digital think space events in March: We think that not only practising improvisation but also thinking about it is a very useful option – especially in times when practising is not possible as usual. More about this here.
We wish all our guests and sympathisers continued patience, serenity and health. We look forward to seeing you again as soon as possible,
the team of the exploratorium berlin
Berlin, 13 February 2021
Dear friends of improvised music,
Corona restrictions will be extended once again until at least 7 March. In the meantime, it will still not be possible to hold any presence events, only digital formats are possible.
Considering the falling incidence numbers, however, we are optimistic that at least our workshops, courses and ensembles can restart in the course of March. Therefore, we recommend a look at our calendar overview.
All the best and stay healthy!
The team of the exploratorium berlin
Berlin, 21 January 2021
Dear friends of improvised music,
Once more, the lockdown is extended until 14 February 2021. Until then, no live events can take place at the exploratorium. Only digital formats are possible. More details on our calendar overview.
All the best and stay healthy!
The team of the exploratorium berlin
Berlin, 8 January 2021
Dear friends of improvised music,
The lockdown is extended until 31 January 2021. Until then, no live events can take place at the exploratorium. Only digital formats are possible. More details on our calendar overview.
All the best and stay healthy!
The team of the exploratorium berlin
Berlin, 16 December 2020
Dear friends of improvised music,
starting from today, Wednesday 16 December, Berlin is in lockdown and with it the exploratorium. No events will take place until 10 January 2021. How things will continue after 10 January will most probably be decided only a few days before. We will get back to you when the decisions have been made and when it has been clarified what they mean for the exploratorium.
In the meantime, we will recover from this rather exhausting year and recharge our batteries for 2021. The programme for the period February to June 2021 is already online!
All the best and stay healthy!
The team of the exploratorium berlin
Berlin 30 November 2020
Dear friends of improvised music
for us, the Corona rules of November will stay in December: since the exploratorium’s pedagogical department has the status of a music school, our corresponding events (i.e. all those listed in the learn menue) may take place. Only singing in groups and offers for dance are not allowed.
Concerts and open stages are not allowed, either.
An overview of all events with the respective identification, if they cannot take place, can be found on our calendar page on the Internet: https://doku.exploratorium-berlin.de/en/calendar/
And, of course, we will continue to make every effort to keep the risk of infection as low as possible during the events that are still permitted with the help of our hygiene concept (see https://doku.exploratorium-berlin.de/en/events-in-the-exploratorium-berlin-in-times-of-corona/). We have obviously succeeded in doing this so far!
All the best and stay healthy!
The exploratorium berlin team
Update: According to the Senate regulations of 3.11., singing in groups is not allowed in closed rooms in November.
Berlin, 2 November 2020
Dear friends of improvised music,
the November lockdown also affects the exploratorium, but only partially. For in Berlin, music schools, adult education centres and youth art schools may remain open. With many of its offerings, the explo is a kind of mixture of these three types of institutions. This means that our regular courses and ensembles, but also the weekend workshops and, of course, the events of the young explo may take place.
However, we have to postpone our concerts planned for November, as well as the talk imp[or]trait #2, until 2021. The open stage on 15.11.will be cancelled.
For the weekend workshops we have carefully considered which ones can and cannot take place. Here is an overview of them: https://doku.exploratorium-berlin.de/en/learn-weekend-workshops/
At all events we try to ensure the safety of our explo guests as much as possible. With this in mind, we look forward to joint activities in a protected environment!
All the best and stay healthy!
The exploratorium berlin team
Berlin, 11.8.2020
Dear friends of improvised music,
our new season starts with the good news that we can hold almost all of our events despite ongoing corona measures. Some musicians from Great Britain and the US had to cancel, but we will make up for their events next year!
We have revised our corona regulations. They are posted in the exploratorium and can be found on our website via this link.
Even more good news: Wind instruments and singing are allowed again, although they are subject to special “rules of the game”, which can be found on the same page and are displayed in the exploratorium.
We are also working on new room plans, as we have found that, with appropriate partitioning, a considerable number of guests can be accommodated, especially in our studio 1, despite distance rules. We still have to discuss these plans with our district health authority, but we assume that there will be no problems, because we can comply with all the requirements of the current hygiene rules.
Our procedure at the events will be different than before. Very important: Whoever wants to visit an event must register in advance! This also applies to concerts and open stages. In addition, at events with many visitors we have to place the chairs firmly and, if necessary, also mark predetermined routes. But all this is feasible!
So we hope to see you (again) soon in the exploratorium. All the best
The exploratorium berlin team
Berlin 7.6.2020
Dear friends of improvised music
it’s going on! After consultation with the Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg health authority, we are now allowed to work in larger groups: in studio 1 up to ten people, in studio 2 up to eight. We are also allowed to hold events with a limited number of spectators, provided we observe the 1.5 m distance rule. Therefore the Open Stage can also take place again on 14.6., although with a limited number of participants.
Unfortunately there is no permission for wind instruments and singing yet. However, since there are scientific studies that suggest very pragmatic and feasible regulations, we hope to be able to announce positive news in this respect soon.
But we can also do it differently: On Thursday (June 4th) we streamed an event (already with a small audience) for the first time! Namely the beginning of the new Denkraum event series key_concepts. You can find it on our newly created youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuoMNoRHJPiFqdAysZeEF0Q. Just have a look!
And in view of the new possibilities above all: just come and visit us again!
All the best and see you soon at the exploratorium!
The team of exploratorium berlin
Plexiglas protective screen installation in studio 1
Berlin May 9, 2020
Dear friends of improvised music,
we can start again – even though only in small steps at first!
From Monday, 11.5. on, it will be possible to rehearse in music schools (and our workshop department is a kind of music school) in small groups of up to 5 people, but for the time being without voice and wind instruments. This means that our ensembles and regular courses can start again in small groups. I recommend that for now, vocalists and wind players use the sound objects and percussion instruments that are abundant in the exploratorium – which can also be a nice creative stimulus for the time after Corona.
The concert of the “A” Trio can not take place on 14 May, but we hope to be able to make up for it in the coming weeks.
Concerning the impro-meetings (open stages etc.), we are currently in a coordination process with the moderators, which of them can work under small group conditions. We will soon mark the events accordingly on our website. An overview of this information can be found on our website calendar.
Best wishes from the exploratorium team and above all: Stay healthy!
Berlin, April 17, 2020:
Dear friends of improvised music,
as you have certainly already learned from the media, the measures to contain the corona virus are still ongoing. This also means for the exploratorium that we (have to) remain completely closed at least until May 3rd.
After all, two of our offers can take place in virtual space for a transitional period:
The Reading Circle Improvisation Literature, which will be moderated from now on by our new head of the think space Mathias Maschat, will take place on Tue, 21.4., 18 – 19.30 h as a video conference.
The regular course Feldenkrais + Improvisation facilitated by Dragana Cukavac will start on Wed, 22.4., 18.15 – 19.45 h as an online course and will be continued in the exploratorium as soon as the measures are relaxed and it is possible to meet again.
Detailed information on both offers can be found under the respective link on our website.
Currently, major events throughout Germany are cancelled until 31 August. Whether smaller events such as our improvisation concerts can possibly take place earlier has not yet been decided. We will get back to you as soon as there are any news.
Best wishes from the exploratorium team and above all: Stay healthy!
Berlin, March 26, 2020:
Dear friends of improvised music,
many of our users are artistically active themselves and get into a difficult personal situation due to the current situation.
Here are a few helpful links:
An overview of measures of the Federal Government “Aid for artists and creative people” (in German language) can be found here:
https://www.bundesregierung.de/breg-de/themen/coronavirus/hilfen-fuer-kuenstler-und-kreative-1732438?view=renderNewsletterHtml
For those who miss the cultural stimulation at home, we recommend a look at the video archive on the explo website, where a very rewarding selection of improvisation concerts from recent years are stored: https://doku.exploratorium-berlin.de/en/videos/
We will upload more videos in the near future.
Best wishes from the exploratorium team and above all: Stay healthy!
Berlin, March 16, 2020:
Dear friends of improvised music,
due to the current corona treat, we are closing the exploratorium completely up to April 18. This includes all public events as well as the ensembles, regular courses and rentals.
Should it remain the case that the measures to contain the corona virus are lifted or eased from April 20 onwards, we might start normal operations on April 19.
We want to make up for the residence of the trio LDP in one year. We very much hope that we will be able to resume operations after April 19 and that the events still planned for April can take place regularly.
Best wishes and above all: stay healthy!
The exploratorium berlin team
