What's in store for culture in 2022
Whether it's the Berlin Film Festival or Venice's Berlinale, the year 2022 promises great events in art, music and literature. The Benin Bronzes are also scheduled to be returned.
January
In 2022, Kaunas in Lithuania, Esch in Luxembourg and Novi Sad in Serbia share the title of European Capitals of Culture and will launch their programs in January. As Germany starts returning the Benin Bronzes looted in colonial times this year, the new culture commissioner, Claudia Roth, will conduct a round table discussion on the topic. The Grammy Awards are scheduled for January 31.
February
Gerhard Richter celebrates his 90th birthday on February 10. Dresden's Albertinum museum will show his works from private collections, and Berlin's Neue Nationalgalerie will display his artist's books for the first time. The Berlinale is to kick off on February 10, and is planned as a live film festival despite the ongoing pandemic.
March
Lit.Cologne, Germany's largest literature festival, which takes place in Cologne, is hoping for live, on-site events starting March 15. It kicks off with a reading by newly crowned Nobel Prize winner for literature Abdulrazak Gurnah (photo). Shortly thereafter, the Leipzig Book Fair is to open its doors with Austria as the guest country. The month ends with the Oscars in Los Angeles on March 27.
April
Power structures and coming to terms with the past — those are topics artist Maria Eichhorn addresses. In 2022, she will represent Germany at the Venice Biennale. The International March of the Living on April 27 recalls the victims of the Holocaust. People walk three kilometers from Auschwitz to Birkenau, the largest Nazi concentration and extermination camps.
May
To have God spare them from the plague,the people of Oberammergau in Bavaria vowed in 1633 to perform every 10 years the Passion Play about the death and resurrection of Christ. The 2020 event had to be postponed by two years due to the pandemic. The 42nd Passion Play is to take place from May 14 to October 2. The band Rammstein also had to postpone its European Stadium Tour, now to start May 20.
June
The 70th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II's accession to the throne is to be a jubilee party with a "Bollywood" feel, which includes four-day celebrations from June 2 to 5 at Windsor Castle. A highlight in the German city of Kassel: Held every five years, the 15th world art show Documenta is held from June 18 to September 25. It is curated by the Indonesian artists' collective ruangrupa.
July
Pristina, capital of Kosovo, will be the site of the traveling biennial "Manifesta" in 2022, which takes place every two years in a different location in Europe. Manifesta aims to use art to help the people of Kosovo "reclaim public space and reshape the future of their city as an open-minded metropolis in the heart of the Balkans." It runs from July 22 to October 30.
August
After two pandemic-related cancellations, the three-day Wacken Open Air (WOA) is to take place again from August 4. However, it is already sold out. In Essen, the Folkwang Museum celebrates its 100th anniversary and is addressing the history of art denounced as "degenerate" by the Nazis: "Expressionists at the Folkwang. Discovered - Defamed - Celebrated."
September
On September 2, the "Lord of the Rings" saga will get another media boost: Amazon Prime will show the fantasy trilogy exclusively as a series, which is expected to cost around $1 billion. Berlin's Gemäldegalerie will honor a special master of the arts: "Donatello. Inventor of the Renaissance." Brazil will be celebrating 200 years of independence.
October
"Love Me Do," The Beatles' debut single, celebrates its 60th anniversary on October 5. The Frankfurt Book Fair takes place in this month, with 2022's guest of honor being Spain. Also strongly awaited is the announcement of the winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature and winner of the Peace Prize of the German Book Trade.
November
Some people are said to have had time during the various lockdowns to delve into that the mammoth work of literary history: "In Search of Lost Time." Its author, Marcel Proust, was born 100 years ago on November 18.
December
Another anniversary that is bound to spark discussion: Michael Jackson (photo) released the album "Thriller" 40 years ago on December 1. With more than 50 million copies sold, it is the best-selling pop album of all time. Thirty years ago, the first SMS text message was sent. And Austrian Nobel Prize for Literature winner Peter Handke was born 80 years ago, on December 6.