Ever since the collapse of Communism and the subsequent reunification of Germany in 1990, Berlin has been a city on the up - economically, politically and culturally. Aside from regaining its previous position as national capital, it has also gained a significant and diverse colony of artists - not just from Germany but from all over the world.
Here curator and critic Mark Gisbourne asks what it is about Berlin that has drawn so many artists to live and work there. Mixing revealing interviews with thoughtful commentary, he offers profiles of nineteen of the most important practitioners in the city, including such internationally important artists as Thomas Demand, Tacita Dean, Norbert Bisky,Mona Hatoum and Michael Wesely. These profiles arc accompanied by visual essays from renowned photographer Jim Rakete, exploring the studios,creative life and secret places of Berlin, and capturing the city's excitement, chaos and sheer vitality.