2023 Terminalia Festival Photo Dérive – Walk
23 February – 14:00 – 16:00 UTC+1
Join us for a photo dérive and walk to commemorate commemorate Terminalia, a one day festival of walking, space, place and psychogeography on 23rd Feburary. Terminalia was the festival of Terminus, Roman god of boundaries and landmarks. Events have been run on this day since 2011.
The walk will take us along the river Spree, a natural boundary between the districts of Friedrichshain on the East and Kreuzberg in the West. Between 1961 and 1989 this was also the border between West and East Berlin.
What is a Dérive?
Dérive also translates as “drifting”, to move slowly without control or direction. A Dérive is one way to live the psychogeographical experience: you will walk through, search, reflect on and photograph the spaces. You will go on a dérive by walking and purposefully giving up control to allow random explorations. In doing so, you will see the spaces in a new light, understand them differently while you learning about yourself through how you think or feel about them. Your photographs will tell your story and express how you felt during your PhotoDérive.
What is Terminalia ?
Terminalia was an ancient Roman festival in honour of the god Terminus, who presided over boundaries. Terminus would be shown as boundary markers, milestones, as god patron of geographical limits.
We will go for a walk, a dérive as the psychogeographers describe their wanderings, reflecting on how we feel about the spaces, how we feel about the changes that they are going through and how this affect us.
This photo walk is free of charge, but we ask that you register so we know how many people are attending.
Departure / Meeting Point: At 14.00 h under the Oberbaum Bridge entrance on the Stralauer Allee side (East side of the Bridge)
At the end of the walk we will meet at Holzmarktperle, the cafe at Holzmarkt 25, for a hot or cold beverage of your choice and share impressions of the walk. Holzmarkt is an iconic space along the river banks, self organised and beeming with cultural spaces. Check them out at https://www.instagram.com/holzmarktperle/
Check the Festival´s website to see other events worldwide wwww.terminalia.org
What is Psychogeography?
Psychogeography is basically how places make you feel. Places are defined by borders and boundaries, what’s there and what isn’t. Psychogeography is also about transforming the places where we live. It’s about experiencing the urban environment in other ways. It’s a reaction against the prescribed, officially allowed uses of places – that of consumption, entertainment, transit, habitation. It seeks towards a transformation of the everyday. It offers a critique of urban planning. It is a form of play. It’s the poetry of place. It’s the effect of an area on your emotions and thoughts.
By doing psychogeography, by walking across places and spaces in a different way, we may learn three new things: About the places themselves, about ourselves and how we relate to these particular spaces, and about space and place in general with possibly seeing a glimmer of whats really going on there. (Source: Terminalia Festival)
If ever there was a god of psychogeography, Terminus would be it, and Terminalia would be the feast day. The Festival of Terminalia has therefore been adapted and transformed! It is about the boundaries and borders, real, historical, symbolic and imagined. Places of beginnings, endings and thresholds.
Reserve your spot
Participation is free of cost. However, please register register below, so we can let you know about any last minute changes or other important information. We also appreciate knowing how many people are joining to book a table for a get together coffee at the end of the dérive. Registration closes 24h before the event, on 22 February at 14.00h
Meeting Point
How to get to the Oberbaumbrücke?
🚇 U-Bahn: U1 Station Warschauer Strasse (on the East side of the river) or U1 Schlessisches Tor (on the west side of the river). There are repair works on the rails, so there are buses running between the terminus Warschauer Strasse and the rest of the U1.
🚌 Bus: 347 Stop at Warschauerstrasse
🚉 S-Bahn: S3, S5, S7. Stop: Warschauerstraße
Check for connections on the BVG app or on the BVG website:
https://www.bvg.de/de/verbindungen/verbindungssuche
