Community and the people that define it have always been central to Berlin’s long-celebrated arts scene. Today, in an increasingly high-pressure and fast-paced creative landscape, finding each other on common ground is the key to cultivating authentic connections that allow ideas, collaborations and careers to grow and live on beyond a fleeting conversation or abandoned email thread. That’s why co-founders Angelique Houben and Stefanie Giesinger recently launched Ex to X, a new platform connecting FLINTA* creatives across disciplines.
Houben, whose background spans cultural strategy and creative production, sees access as one of the biggest barriers facing emerging creative talent. “For us, it’s about creating visibility beyond our own bubble and connecting emerging creatives with established people across the industry, media, institutions and potential partners. There’s so much talent out there that deserves to be seen, supported and given the opportunity to grow. Ultimately, we want Ex to X to create the conditions for genuine connections, new perspectives and opportunities to come to life, because we believe that when we bring different people and disciplines together, something meaningful can happen.”
L: Angelique Houben, R: Stefanie Giesinger. Photographer: J. Munro
Giesinger adds, “FLINTA* creatives are still underrepresented across many fields of contemporary city culture, and that’s why we focus on the FLINTA* community specifically.”
As we wave goodbye to summer and shift into an autumn of inspiration that was kickstarted by Berlin Art Week, the duo behind Ex to X to introduce us to the FLINTA* artists that should be on your radar right now, and we asked them to tell us about what drives their passion, and how community has provided them with spaces to flourish.
Brittney Scott | @brittneyscott
“I started doing portraits for people on Twitter, which was one of the first times I realized how art can connect people and build community. I enjoy creating things that can make life a bit more fun.
Community and collaboration are important to me. I believe we should prioritize taking care of each other, especially at a time when the world feels like it’s imploding. The Ex to X Art Week event was fun because it was a team effort amongst friends contributing in different ways. Angie has been so supportive of me since I moved to Berlin, and Chippy is one of my best friends of a long time. We’ve watched each other grow creatively over many years.”
Leyla Yenirce
“Art makes me feel alive and gives me space to thrive towards freedom. It can be very funny and weird, which is great.
My first encounter with a radical DIY approach was when I was active in a leftist squad. At some point, it became too stiff for me. When I started to make music, I felt more free. The experimental music scene in Hamburg felt very accessible. That, mixed with YouTube tutorials, helped me get going quickly. It allowed me to play music with a real PA coming out of my bedroom, with no studio. That way, I was able to learn quickly: how to record music made with hardware synthesizers on a software programme, and how to play live with gear on a real PA. It was and is all really hands-on and so much fun.
In the end, I translated it onto the canvas when COVID happened and the clubs closed. It was because of the pandemic that I started painting, because I had access to the art school studios but no access to a club.”
Marie Schubert | @mary_ssshh
“Drawing has always been an instinctive way for me to make sense of the world — to hold onto my ideas, observe what surrounds me and try to understand it.
My artistic language has developed not from one particular person or community, but through an ongoing engagement with cultural images, objects and historical forms. I’m drawn to things that carry a strong history and meaning. The history of fashion and the performance of identity are also important to me. The wig is a good example: once a symbol of vanity and power, particularly for figures such as Louis XIV and Marie Antoinette, it later became an important element of theatre, opera, film, cosplay and drag, for example, as a way of playing with and performing different roles. I’m interested in these shifts in meaning and in how people use objects to construct and empower a persona.”
Marina Melentieva | @marinamelentieva_
“In ninth grade, I wore a hoodie as a skirt instead of my school uniform. My teacher sent me home to change. I couldn’t have cared less. But I remember that day because it inspired me to move through life on my own terms.
The best case is when the exchange is part of the process. That is my goal, at least. When it clicks — and usually you know after the first conversation — then it can lead to a beautiful dialogue for years. It’s like falling in love.”
Maxi Hoffmann | @hapceramics
“Ceramics has been around me my whole life. My mother was a ceramicist when she was younger and always talked about that time as one of the happiest periods of her life. She stopped when I was still little, and somehow I think that made it even more fascinating to me.
When I started working with clay myself, there was never really a big plan. It was actually a very slow and intuitive process. I just kept following what interested me and trying new things. The work moved from more functional pieces towards objects, and whenever I felt I was getting bored with something, I wanted to push it somewhere else.
Community has become very important to me, especially this year. I went through a period of burnout and had a lot of doubts about what I was doing. Talking to other designers and realising that many of us share similar struggles really helps.”
Nicole Economides | @n.economides
“I think I was always into art. I painted and drew from a young age, but during the second year of my undergraduate studies, I became deeply involved in painting and that part of myself really made an appearance. Since then, I have chosen art every day.
Referring to it as a passion feels like it is actually less than what it is. There is always this idea of the passionate artist, or the artist who is inspired, and all of that. But the reality is that I paint out of necessity. It is the way I work through thoughts and emotions, and I have to show up every day. Philip Guston describes painting as “the kind of freedom that’s weighed down with a lot of baggage, but it’s a very necessary kind of freedom because it must be achieved.” That idea resonates with me.”
Text MILLY BURROUGHS
