The coolest place to shop for designers: Q110 – Die Deutsche Bank der Zukunft. It’s at Friedrichstr., close to Galleries Lafayettes. Germany’s biggest bank Deutsche Bank has created a show room & loft in cooperation with berlindesign.net. You will find the newest creations of 30 Berliner designers. Hurry … some products are only available in a limited edition.

The designer: 44spaces, Alexander Keip, Atelier Cacao, Bandee, Betonware, Bombdesign, Camoart, Coordination, Chris & Ruby, Eicie, Extratapete, Form Tween, Gabi Berlin, Gerold Achim Adamietz, Gesellschaft für Raumfragen, Intimsport Objektdesign, jf.design, Kingbär, Komat, Lang & Gierten, Lyk Carpet, Marlies von Soden, Marron, MH Berlin, Monia Herbst, Redmaloo, Roomsafari, Royal Plus, Sawadeedesign, Sinum, Smil, Suparina, Ybdd.

Q110, Friedrichstr. 181, 10117 Berlin

Presenting about 350 objects for the first time, this exhibition gives a comprehensive insight into the world of vodou. The focus is on the Bizango, a vodou secret society whose objects were only to be seen by initiated members in Haiti, and thus hitherto concealed from any broader public.

The objects shown represent a selection from the collection compiled by Swiss-born Marianne Lehmann in Port-au-Prince in the course of the past thirty years. Her collection comprises about 3,000 vodou items. On 12 January 2010, Haiti was shaken by a devastating earthquake. The situation for the Haitian people is still disastrous. Despite being poorly sheltered, the Lehmann collection survived the quake largely without damage. It is planned to donate part of the entrance fees in support of the building of a cultural centre in Haiti, which is intended to become the new depository of the Lehmann collection.

The image shows: Bizango creatures, filled fabric, bones, wood, mirrors, metal (© Collection Marianne Lehmann, FPVPOCH, Photograph: Johnathan Watts)

Museen Dahlem, Lansstraße 8, 14195 Berlin (Fri, Sat, Sun 11 am – 6 pm)

Every summer, Berlin celebrates its own unique carnival, called the “Carnival of Cultures”. More than 1.5 million visitors flock to the district of Kreuzberg to celebrate the multicultural spirit of Germany’s capital. For 4 days, this unique carnival brings together people from around the world. Traditional clothes from the whole world, tasty food and music from different ethnic communities create the great atmosphere of this extraordinary event. Visitors to the German capital, and “Kiezbewohner” alike, will experience the unique atmosphere of Berlin when the Metropolis shows itself at it’s best: cosmopolitan, multicultural and passionate.

This year Berlin will celebrate the 15th Carnival of Cultures on Whitsunday weekend. The street parade on Whitsunday (May 23rd ) is the highlight of the festival. The celebratory procession, which will last about nine hours, featured around 4,500 participants from 70 different nations. The soundtrack for the four day street festival (May 21st – 24th) will be delivered by roughly 950 artists. Worldmusic, Dances and interactive performances attracted music and dance maniacs.

15th Carnival of Cultures, Berlin Kreuzberg, May 21st – 24th 2010

The Sensorium, 2003 (© Walton Ford, Courtesy Paul Kasmin Gallery)

At first glance Walton Ford’s large-scale animal watercolour paintings evoke prints by French and British colonial-era illustrators from the 19th century. After closer examination however, they reveal a pictorial universe of complex and disturbing allusions. The various tigers, lions, birds and primates that populate the life-size pictures appear as vivacious protagonists locked in allegorical struggles. The resulting combination of historical fact, natural history inquiry and surreal imaginings give rise to a brilliant ‘Bestiarium‘.

Walton Ford was born in 1960 in Larchmont in the state of New York and now lives in the mountains of The Berkshires in Massachusetts. Even from an early age, the various exhibits in the Museum of Natural History in New York held a fascination over him. In particular, Ford embarked on an intimate study of the works of the US American ornithologist and drawer of animals, John James Audubon (1785-1851). Ford’s search for finding analogies between the past and the present day has led to a series of pictures, created from the 1990s onwards, in which he superimposes intricate natural history depictions with current perceptions and critical commentaries, as well as adding quotes from literary sources from past centuries, rendered in the style of the old masters. In glorious colour, his pictures open up a view of a reality that we have long since suppressed or forgotten and, with a haunting strength of imagination, a present day ‘Bestiarium‘ unfurls before our eyes.

Hamburger Bahnhof (Museum für Gegenwart), Invalidenstraße 50-51, 10557 Berlin

The Museum of Letters is devoted to preserving and documenting public letterforms. It is currently in the process of building a permanent collection of property letterings. At the moment the museum is more a storage space than a showroom. The pieces range from single letters (e. g. the ‘E’ that flew toward the screen from the cinema marquee in Quentin Tarantino’s “Inglourious Basterds”) to signs and symbols from savings bank Sparkasse, former East Berlin’s main train station Hauptbahnhof and East Germany’s national radio broadcaster. An overview of the items can be found under www.buchstabenmuseum.de.

Because the museum is financed solely through its memberships and donations from visitors to the Schaudepot, the entire concept hasn’t been completely realised yet. Until the museum finds its permanent home, font lovers can view the collection for free several times per year. TYPO visitors have luck because the depot is open twice: May 20th & May 23rd, 1–3 pm.

The showroom is located at Leipziger Str. 49, 10117 Berlin Mitte.

1. FahrInfo Berlin: Get up-to-date schedules and trip plans for Berlin’s public transport system. It’s simple and intuitive, pick your departure and arrival stations and get a list of the three next best connections to your destination. Fatures: Trip Planner, Departure Monitor, Maps, Pick recently used stations. Made by the developer of FontShops famous FontShuffle. Free

2. Berlin Unlike City Guide: The most select, innovative city guide of Berlin. A team of culture-savvy journalists and fashion, art and music professionals recommend the highlights of Berlin with constantly updated information, over 600 location listings, high-quality images and events written in punchy reviews. Location-based technology allows users to search all the best restaurants, bars, clubs, hotels, museums and shops in proximity to your current location. Access all the acclaimed content of berlin.unlike.net offline: no 3G required, no data roaming, no wi-fi needed! $4.99

3. Dict.cc: German-English dictionary/Deutsch-Englisch-Wörterbuch. Includes the complete vocabulary of the open source online dictionary www.dict.cc: No roaming costs when abroad! Find words as you type, tap to see translations, change input language by tapping the flag. Free

4. Currency: Don’t get stuck on your shopping tour, at the airport, or in hotels: Currency Provides up-to-date exchange rate information for over 100 currencies and countries, including Euro (€). Free

5. TYPO Berlin: Our Conference App provides event information and integrates multiple news feeds from TYPO Berlin. Features: Tweets and feedbacks on sessions and speakers, full editorial content of TYPOblog, browse all images of  TYPO Berlin’s Flickr group, create a custom itinerary of your sessions, navigate through a Berlin map with TYPO hot spots. Free

Our friends form Slanted Magazine & Blog proudly invite:

Celebration party of Slanted Magazine Issue # 10.
A night dedicated to Heavy Metal, Blackletters & Passion.

Thursday 20th, 10 pm at Last Cathedral, the legendary Horror Rock Bar
Schönhauser Allee 5 (U2 Rosa Luxemburg Platz)
Free entry for registered TYPO Berlin Attendees (show your ticket)!

Wir suchen das TYPO-Liebespaar 2009.

Jahr für Jahr hören wir davon, dass ein Besuch der TYPO nicht nur den Job, sondern auch das private Leben bereichere. Dank neuer Netztechniken und einer damit einhergehenden neuen Offenheit stoßen wir in den letzten Monaten vermehrt auf Tagebuchnotizen über Glücksmomente am Rande einer TYPO-Konferenz. Eine der schönsten Geschichten schrieb uns Freund Stephen Coles letzte Woche in sein Blog Stüf Stuff. Er infizierte sich im Mai 2008 in Berlin mit Liebe auf den ersten Blick, die jedoch erst ein Jahr später ausbrach und im Moment glüht wie Feuer. Die große Distanz zur Frau seines Lebens (San Francisco – Berlin) in Kombination mit Sehnsuchtsverstärkern wie Full-Screen-Skypen scheint wie ein Brandbeschleuniger zu wirken.

Bevor Ihr Stephens rührende Bildgeschichte ›Wie ich Laureola traf‹ (englisch) lest, beantwortet uns bitte zunächst diese Frage: Welches zwischenmenschliche Erlebnis während einer TYPO hat Dein Privatleben nachhaltig beeinflusst? Bitte eine Mail an typo@fontshop.de mit kurzem Text und Bild … wir wollen das hier alle sehen und lesen.

Gewöhnlich reisen die TYPO Berlin-Sprecher spätestens nach der TYPOnight und einem Berlin Schnupperwochenende ab. Schöne Erinnerungen und die Vorfreude aufs nächste Mal helfen uns mehr schlecht als recht über den alljährlichen TYPOblues hinweg. Ebon Heath hat anderes im Sinn. Er bleibt!
Nicht für immer aber immerhin den Sommer über. Anlaß ist eine Ausstellung mit der er seine neuesten virtuosen Scherereien in Berlin präsentiert. Wem die Gallionsfigur des TYPO-Spaceships gefallen hat, sei die Ausstellung wärmstens empfohlen. Die Vernissage findet am kommenden Freitag statt. Wer Ebon noch mal auf seinen tollen Vortrag ansprechen möchte hat dann die Gelegenheit.

Am 23. Mai wird die Bundesrepublik Deutschland 60 Jahre alt. Zu diesem Anlass findet am Samstag ein großes Bürgerfest rund ums Brandenburger Tor statt. Entlang der Festmeile auf der Straße des 17. Juni präsentieren sich die Bundesministerien, Bundestag, Bundesrat, Bundesverfassungsgericht, alle 16 Bundesländer sowie viele soziale und gesellschaftliche Organisationen. Auch einige unserer europäischen Nachbarn werden vertreten sein.

In der Akademie der Künste am Pariser Platz finden Lesungen und Diskussionen mit Schriftstellern, Schauspielern und Historikern statt. Dort läuft auch regelmäßig ein Film über die deutsche Geschichte seit 1949. Auf der Tiergartenbühne in der Nähe des Kleinen Sterns treten zahlreiche regionale Künstlerinnen und Künstler auf. Einer der Höhepunkte: Zwischen 17.30 und 19.00 Uhr führt die Staatskapelle Berlin unter Leitung von Daniel Barenboim am Brandenburger Tor Beethovens Neunte Sinfonie auf – mit der »Ode an die Freude«, gesungen vom Chor der Staatsoper Unter den Linden. (Foto: Monika Rittershaus c/o Staatskapelle Berlin).