It’s easy to disconnect from yourself in Berlin. Time is seamless and brews are cheap. But when was the last time you nourished your soul with something actually reflective of your mind or your inner, creative side?
It’s not too late to craft this idealistic artistic retreat. After all, it’s Berlin. It’s where the artists go. And you can join them.
Agora Collective‘s Burnt Sienna Berlin gives you the tools—the time, the nourishment, the guidance (from some incredible artist-teachers), creating a bubble in which to hide and build something. Fuck, we’re humans, after all—just a vessel of brain-synapses, popping with creative insight back there. Why let it go to waste?
AGORA Art Collective: A Safe Haven for Budding Neukölln Artists
AGORA is an art collective of painting, sculpture, drawing, and other studios, in a little strip of confusing dirt-patch nothingness in Neukölln (the very place the magic usually happens in Berlin, I think). Each Thursday, Burnt Sienna Berlin presents two-hour Life Drawing Class in this artist space–hosting a range of artists from beginner to those wishing to pull together a portfolio. As far as I could tell, once class began, there were only two rules: don’t be afraid to blast across your paper with COLOR, and lots of it, and, of course, don’t feed the idea of failure.
Over two hours, art in all its electric power and personality–spewing from the pencils, pens, charcoals, and paints of about 15 artists–took form.
Louise, the head teacher of Burnt Sienna Berlin, is a force of creative energy, herself–providing active assistance and tips to every artist in class, no matter their skill level. She finds beauty in the sloppiest line or the most ill-guided color choice. No accidents. No “do-overs.” (I’m mostly speaking of myself, here. Most of the artists in the room are stellar–a firm handle on their pencil or charcoal and an idea in mind.) As the model sits, statuesque, before us–Louise rotates from table to table, providing insight and offering suggestions. It’s both collaborative and individual.
After a warm-up of several blisteringly-quick one-minute poses, the model sits for us for an entire hour. Immediately, the air shifts. Concentration makes the air sizzle. We give no thought to our phone messages, our unlucky dating lives, our shit WGs. The reason we exist, for this one-hour pose, is to create.
The time together is meditative. It puts you back in line with your body, making you aware of how long it’s really been since you sat in the silence of yourself. You learn to take risks with color and line, adding many layers to the creation as it takes form. In some ways, this single hour feels like it stretches out many days. In others, it feels like mere minutes.
The time with Louise was nourishing in ways the typical night at the kneipe could never be. At just 15 euros for two hours, it’s a proper flirt with art school–without the commitment. You owe it to yourself to find this artistic refuge, every Thursday night.
Burnt Sienna Berlin Website
Burnt Sienna Berlin Facebook
Every Thursday 18:30 – 20:30hr
Address @ AGORA Rollberg strasse 26 Am Sudhaus 5 untergeschloss 12053
Nearest U Bahn: Rathaus Neukolln
Fee: 15 euros cash, paid on the night
Booking and enquiries: burntsiennaberlin@gmail.com