BRACHE.09

Shortly after moving to Berlin I was lucky enough to quickly find 'my people' : a collective of passionate rave-throwers and artists. Their D.I.Y underground ethos and philosophy of 'being the party', not just consuming it was a perfect match with mine.

Early summer of 2021, when clubs and venues had been closed due to the pandemic for over a year, it was announced that we would be able to legally dance again: at open air events until 11pm. Concurrently, Fraktion Nimmersatt managed to secure a lease on a piece of land to throw legal events on, thanks to the Draussenstadt initiative.

From June to October the cycle repeated weekly: prepare for the weekends event (improving bar/stage/backstage areas, creating new deco pieces, taking up/putting down tents, re-inventing the space, etc. etc.) work the event (providing bar staff, artist care, door staff, corona test stations, technical team), after party with crew, clean up after event. Repeat.

With a small crew most people jumped around from department to department, doing whatever needed done, which only accelerated the learning processes and team morale. Spending more nights at the space than in our own homes, using the term 'became family' wouldn't even be an overstatement.

The space hosted numerous parties and collectives, including Gegen, Fluid Vision, Konvent, Witches Are Back, Humanoid, Sondr, and 3 day event 'Queerport' (collab between Gegen and Brenn) and more.

The collective received a 'Tag der Klubkultur' award and grant - on the same weekend of finding out the space had to be vacated, thanks to a noise complaint from a neighbour (it was a right-wing voting area of town.) There were to be no more music events at Brache 09, and the party due to happen the following weekend was forced to quickly find a new venue or cancel.

For Tag der Klubkultur, the collective decided to have another demonstration, ''Raum für Subkultur! Für eine partizipative Stadtgestaltung!'' calling for
- the preservation and strengthening of threatened self-managed cultural spaces
- the promotion of non-profit cultural venues and project formats that are conducive to participatory urban design.

Although the physical space of Brache 09 is no more, the working and personal relationships between this family lives on: working on different projects, starting new collectives, calling on each other for their skills, help and support, still partying together, perhaps throwing a rave or two. This extensive network of friends and creatives born from the Brache summer has positively effected our lives and opportunities, which only confirms the importance of cultural and creative spaces like this.