URBAN NATION

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URBAN NATION

URBAN NATION MUSEUM FOR URBAN CONTEMPORARY ART URBAN NATION is the world’s first noncommercial museum-quality institution focusing on urban art. Come visit us!
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URBAN NATION MUSEUM FOR URBAN CONTEMPORARY ART is an international institution for art, creative projects and social exchange. In September 2017, the URBAN NATION museum opened at Bülowstrasse 7 – in central Berlin between the rainbow district on Nollendorfplatz and the new art district around Potsdamer Strasse. The museum presents a unique overall picture of current urban contemporary art from ci

ties around the world thanks to high-calibre, permanent art exhibitions the likes of which have not been seen before. URBAN NATION is the only player in the art world with the objective of giving a home to fleeting and ephemeral street art – urban art – and of documenting the history of this fully fledged artistic movement. In Berlin, urban art is especially significant: it has characterised the city over the last few decades, conveying an international image as an artistic metropolis. That the first urban art museum appeared here of all places is no coincidence. But the museum’s appeal shines out far beyond Berlin. Because urban art is current and global – a democratic, low-threshold art form, interactive and accessible to all, moving all generations and nations, and provoking social dialogue. URBAN NATION is an initiative by Berliner Leben, a foundation of Gewobag. For more information check out our website www.urban-nation.com and follow us on Facebook and Instagram ().

19/06/2026

Rafael Schacter. Monumental Graffiti: Tracing Public Art and Resistance in the City (2024)

In Monumental Graffiti, urban art scholar and curator Rafael Schacter rethinks what a monument can be. Rather than understanding monuments as permanent structures, Schacter approaches them as acts: gestures that remember, warn, or bring communities together in public space.

Using examples from graffiti cultures around the world, the book explores how street-based practices can carry social meaning without relying on permanence, scale, or institutional approval. Tribute walls, memorial tags, and collective pieces emerge as forms of living monuments shaped through participation, repetition, and shared memory.

For Schacter, graffiti’s impermanence does not weaken its impact. Instead, disappearance can intensify remembrance.

Monumental Graffiti offers a compelling perspective on public art, memory, and the marks cities choose to preserve, or erase.

📘 Discover a different way of thinking about monuments and public space.

📖 Explore this publication at the Martha Cooper Library at URBAN NATION Museum Berlin. Make an appointment and drop by the reading room. More info on our website, link in bio.

You can find the detailed review by Jaime Rojo and Steven P. Harrington of Brooklyn Street Art at https://urban-nation.com/about-us/martha-cooper-library/

📸 Photos: Stiftung Berliner Leben

17/06/2026

Planning a visit to URBAN NATION? Here's everything you need to know!

Discover urban contemporary art, explore thought-provoking exhibitions and take your time wandering through the museum. And best of all, admission is free of charge.

📍 URBAN NATION Museum
Bülowstraße 7, 10783 Berlin

🕒 Opening Hours
Monday: Closed
Tuesday & Wednesday: 10 am – 6 pm
Thursday – Sunday: 12 pm – 8 pm
Special opening hours on public holidays: 12 – 8 pm

Want to visit as a group? Groups of 8 or more are kindly asked to register in advance. Service fees apply only to groups of 20 people or more.

♿ The museum is fully accessible.

How to get there:
You’ll find us just a short walk from Nollendorfplatz station (U1, U2, U3, U4; buses 106, 187 and M19). As parking is limited, we recommend using public transport.

Whether it’s your first visit or you're returning to discover something new, we look forward to welcoming you at URBAN NATION 🖤

📸 Photo: Nika Kramer Photography

12/06/2026

🎨 What characterizes a good neighborhood?

Next week, residents in Falkenhagener Feld will explore this question together with internationally renowned artist Jim Avignon. As part of Stiftung Berliner Leben's Stadtraum!Plus program, two Community Walls and one ONE WALL are being created.

The Community Walls are designed in collaboration with children and young people from Familienwohnungen im Kiez by casablanca gGmbH and Outreach Spandau. For the ONE WALL, local residents are invited to share their ideas and visions of what good neighborhood means to them. The murals being created therefore reflect the community and diversity of the people who shape the Falkenhagener Feld.

💬 “These murals are not only created for the neighborhood, but together with the neighborhood. That is the unique strength of this project: art becomes a catalyst for encounters, exchange and participation,” says Xenia Müller, Stadtraum!Plus coordinator in Falkenhagener Feld.

The projects are also part of our LOVE LETTERS TO THE CITY exhibition chapter and demonstrate how contemporary art can bring people together and strengthen local identity. They are accompanied by our ambassador Sonja Terboven, who particularly values the connection between artistic excellence and social impact.

📅 Don't miss it! Discover the Community Walls at the neighborhood festival
on 26 June. We look forward to seeing you there ✨

🎉 The official unveiling of the ONE WALL will take place on August 28, 2026, at Kraepelinweg
3.

📸 Photo: Nika Kramer

11/06/2026

Chapters in our current exhibition:

⚫️ LOVE LETTERS IN THE CITY

As part of our current exhibition LOVE LETTERS TO THE CITY, we are moving beyond the museum and into Berlin’s neighborhoods.

Designed by artist Hannes Höhlig aka AGE AGE, this mural on the facade of the Streethouse youth club was developed together with the children and young people who spend their free time there. Their ideas helped shape a vibrant artwork that reflects the club’s identity, diversity, and strong sense of community.

At the center of the mural stands the 'Super Sami Robot', a tribute to youth club manager Sami. With its many arms, the figure symbolizes the wide range of opportunities the club offers, from sports and creative activities to friendship, guidance, and belonging.

Created with the active participation of around ten young people, the project demonstrates how collaborative art can foster creativity, strengthen community ties, and bring local stories into public space.

The mural was realized with the support of Stiftung Berliner Leben as part of the Stadtraum!Plus program. The foundation was established by GEWOBAG in 2013. Through initiatives in art, culture, sports, and education, Stiftung Berliner Leben helps strengthen local communities across Berlin.

From the Martha Cooper Library and the Fresh A.I.R. residency program to HipHopHub workshops, support for local sports clubs, and collaborations with schools, these initiatives create spaces for exchange, participation, and creative engagement throughout the city.

🎨 Streethouse Unlimited
🧑‍🎨 Hannes Höhlig aka AGE AGE
📍 Schluchseestraße 46, Berlin-Reinickendorf

📸 Photos: Felix Seyfert

04/06/2026

🎨 The transformation of the pedestrian tunnel at Staaken Center is in full swing!

The tunnel connects Staaken Center with the facilities along Obstallee. For many residents, it’s an important and daily route.

Now, this space will be given a new look. What's special about it: the design is being created together with the local community.

Back in April, 59 residents shared their ideas and wishes for the tunnel’s futur design in a special workshop. Many expressed a desire for a more welcoming atmosphere and artworks that reflect the neighborhood and its diversity.

Based on these creative ideas, young people from the KiK Youth Café developed the concept for the mural together with artist Gizem Erdem. On May 11, the first columns of the KiK building were painted by the kids, who added their own tags and artistic contributions. By exploring different lettering styles and creative forms of expression, the children discovered their own artistic identity. The opportunity to actively contribute to the artwork and see their design become part of their neighborhood fosters self-confidence, pride, and a sense of belonging and community.

📅 From June 12 to 23, Gizem Erdem will paint the main mural on the tunnel wall. The official unveiling is scheduled for July 3 as part of the local neighborhood festival.

This project is part of a broader initiative to improve the neighborhood, led by Gewobag. The redesign of the tunnel is funded through the program “Social
Cohesion” by the Berlin Senate.

We are happy to contribute to the artistic realization of this project 🖤

📸 Photos: Britta Leuermann

02/06/2026

✨ What an afternoon!

To celebrate International Museum Day on May 17, 140 participants joined us at URBAN NATION Museum for the workshop “Letters & Beats“, hosted by Berlin style-writing legends Dejoe and Planet 256.

From first-time sketchers to experienced writers, everyone came together to explore lettering, illustration, creativity, and to discover their own personal style. The event was part of Dejoe’s signature “Sketch Circle“ format. Accompanied by his live DJ set and inspired by our current exhibition LOVE LETTERS TO THE CITY, the museum turned into a vibrant space for creative exchange.

A huge thank you to Dejoe, Planet 256, and everyone who sketched and created with us. 💛

🗓️ International Museum Day, May 17
📍 URBAN NATION Museum
Bülowstr. 7
10783 Berlin

📸 Photos: Diana Pǎun

28/05/2026

In the heart of one of Berlin’s most vibrant neighborhoods, URBAN NATION is more than a museum — it’s part of the city’s lively street art culture 🎨✨

Surrounded by independent cafés, late-night bars, galleries, murals, and the energy of Schöneberg’s diverse community, the museum reflects the spirit of the streets
around it: open, creative, expressive, and constantly evolving.

Here, urban contemporary art doesn’t stop at the museum walls. It continues throughout the neighborhood and can be found on facades and corners, as part of conversations, and everyday life of the people living here.

It's a place where art, identity, and community meet. Welcome to URBAN NATION 🖤

🎨 Facade: Lady Pink
📸 Photo: Diana Pǎun

27/05/2026

Chapters in our current exhibition:
🟣 WORD ON THE STREET

What happens when language becomes part of the city itself?

In WORD ON THE STREET, a chapter of our current exhibition LOVE LETTERS TO THE CITY, writing, letters, and language take on a new dimension. Letters are more thansymbols here. They turn the city into a living surface for communication, reflection, and exchange. Graffiti typography, poetic interventions, and calligraffiti (a practice that fuses traditional calligraphy with the dynamic power of graffiti) transform the urban landscape.

The central work in this chapter is 'Made of Desires and Fears' by Drew.Lab_One. Combining influences from various calligraphy traditions, the artist creates layered compositions that reflect the architectural and cultural diversity of the city. Reflective mirror elements invite visitors to become part of the work itself.

💌 The city becomes more meaningful through the collective voices of the people who inhabit it. Thus, we invite you to write your own love letter to the city in the comments. Share your thoughts, dreams, and hopes for the urban spaces we share.

🟣 Artist in this chapter:
Drew.Lab_One

📍 URBAN NATION Museum
Bülowstraße 7, 10783 Berlin

📸 Photo: Diana Pǎun

22/05/2026

Buff Monster. Stay Melty (2021)

Buff Monster built his world from the streets up: wheat pastes and stickers in Los Angeles, murals across cities, collectible toys, and fine art editions. Stay Melty is a mid-career survey that expands his earlier 2015 book of the same name, adding six years of work and hundreds of full-color illustrations documenting a practice that never stands still.

An opening essay by New York critic and curator Carlo McCormick frames Buff Monster's pop-inflected imagery as a quiet commentary on impermanence and sentimentality beneath the glossy surface. With his practice, Buff Monster celebrates optimism, humor, and the handmade mark. Design, advertising, and the immediacy of the street are all part of his vocabulary.

The book moves fluidly between process and result: studio sketches, murals mid-construction, sculptures lined up for production. The boundaries between mediums are fluid: murals become prints, trading cards evolve into paintings, street pieces feed back into the gallery. Throughout, his signature pink palette and dripping, smiling characters hold everything together.

The Melty Misfits, his self-produced trading card series inspired by 1980s Garbage Pail Kids packaging show that for Buff Monster, commercial formats are not something to resist but to reclaim and rewire.

Stay Melty reads as a portrait of an artist who has built a cohesive universe from color, character, and craft—and kept his sincerity intact along the way.

📘 Discover the place where street culture, craft, and commerce meet.

📖 Explore this publication at the Martha Cooper Library at URBAN NATION Museum Berlin. Make an appointment and drop by the reading room. More info on our website, link in bio.

You can find the detailed review by Jaime Rojo and Steven P. Harrington of Brooklyn Street Art under https://urban-nation.com/about-us/martha-cooper-library/

📸 Photos:

18/05/2026

Chapters in our current exhibition:

⚫️ LOVE LETTERS IN THE CITY

As part of our current exhibition LOVE LETTERS TO THE CITY we also move beyond the museum and directly into Berlin’s neighborhoods.

Together with young people from the area, Lukas Zeilinger of 'Painting Dhaka Project' realized the ONE WALL 'Local Legends: Spandau'. Using 69 names of local residents and places from the neighborhood, in August 2024 the once gray façade of the parking garage was transformed into a vibrant symbol of community and local identity.

The sketch was developed during a workshop with children from the youth club . Often reduced to vandalism, graffiti is actually an important cultural movement that creates spaces for expression, community, and support, especially for young people growing up in socially challenging environments. Art and creativity can foster confidence, identity, and connection, offering a sense of belonging when social circumstances are difficult. The goal was to create a lasting positive experience for the participants, both personally and through the artwork left behind on the wall.

This ONE WALL is made possible thanks to Stiftung Berliner Leben, established by Gewobag in 2013. The foundations program strengthens local structures through art, culture, sports and education.

From the Martha Cooper Library and the Fresh A.I.R. residency program to HipHopHub workshops, supporting a boxing club and different school collaborations these initiatives open spaces for exchange and participation across Berlin.

🎨 ONE WALL 'Local Legends: Spandau'
🧑‍🎨 A Painting Dhaka Project by Lukas Zeilinger
📍 Blasewitzer Ring 12, 13593 Berlin

📸 Photos: Diana Pǎun

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BülowStr. 7
Berlin
10783

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