transmediale 2027

What transmediale 2027 is about

transmediale is an annual festival and a platform for a critical look at cultural change from a postdigital perspective. For more than thirty years it has been one of the leading international events for digital art and culture. In 2027 it marks its 40th anniversary as RFC 40. RFC stands for Request for Comments, a series of notes from the early days of the internet, when protocols and standards were still exchanged in small circles around ARPANET. The name was deliberately open, with no claim to finality. The texts invited disagreement and shared revision instead. The 40th document in that series, from 1970, gives the anniversary edition its title and fits a festival that has been looking critically at networks, failure and cultural change for decades.

Under the title groundstates, Barbara Cueto curates four days at silent green Kulturquartier. In parallel, fragile currents runs at the Akademie der Künste on Hanseatenweg, curated by Antonina Stebur and on view until early March. You come here if you care about digital culture, critical tech debate and experimental formats, and meet scene, art, research and the curious in one breath.

When and where it takes place in 2027

The festival groundstates runs from 28 to 31 January 2027 at silent green Kulturquartier on Gerichtstraße 35 in Wedding. The exhibition fragile currents opens on 28 January at the Akademie der Künste on Hanseatenweg and stays until 7 March 2027. In the week before, transmediale lists among other things the Marshall McLuhan Lecture on 26 January and the exhibition opening on 27 January. Ticket details are not out yet, once the shop opens on transmediale.de.

What awaits you in the programme

The festival groundstates focuses on discourse, performance and formats that refuse to be pressed into a single tech future. Instead of a large exhibition hall you get an event on a more compact scale, with room for conversation, live programme and shared thinking. The exhibition fragile currents stays longer and takes decay and ruins as a starting point for other kinds of order. If you visit both, you get the short focus in January and can still return to the exhibition weeks later.

Is it for you?

You come to transmediale if you read technology as a social question rather than a gadget. As a student, curator, developer or simply someone looking for an intellectual counterpoint between Berlinale, Green Week and club season. It pays off especially if you take CTM Festival and transmediale in one week, because both run in parallel at the end of January and complement each other well.

How to plan your festival days

The silent green Kulturquartier sits in Wedding, the Akademie der Künste on Hanseatenweg in Tiergarten. Both venues are easy to reach by public transport, but they sit in different corners of the city. Plan two calm journeys rather than rushing between them. You can pair a festival event in the evening with the exhibition the next afternoon.

From Wedding you reach silent green on the U6 in about 15 minutes from Oranienburger Tor, four stops. To the Akademie on Hanseatenweg you need closer to 30 minutes from Mitte by public transport, so a little more walking and a change. If you want both venues on one day, plan for two separate journeys rather than a quick hop across the city.

Stay for transmediale

silent green sits in Wedding, the Akademie more towards City West. You explore both more easily from Mitte or Schöneberg than by crossing Berlin every evening, and still have room for a restaurant or a walk afterwards. CALMA Berlin Mitte is especially practical for groundstates at silent green, from Oranienburger Tor the U6 takes about 15 minutes towards Wedding. For fragile currents at the Akademie, the fjord hotel berlin and LINDEMANN’S work well, about 20 minutes by Uber or taxi. Our the YARD Berlin sits a little quieter, away from the neighbourhood bustle, and makes a good starting point for exploring Kreuzberg in the evening.

If you are still looking for a room, we at little BIG hotels have five boutique houses in Berlin with personal service. With discount code LBH_TM27 you save 5% on stays from 27 January to 1 February 2027. For five rooms or more, group bookings are available with us.

In short

transmediale 2027 is your culture date if you want to think about tech critically and artistically. RFC 40 runs from 28 to 31 January at silent green, with fragile currents until 7 March at the Akademie der Künste. Mark the date, keep an eye on tickets, and take Berlin as a whole.