Made in Potsdam — Festival of Contemporary Art

Made in Potsdam and Schiffbauergasse

Schiffbauergasse has been the cultural heart of Potsdam beyond castle tourism for years: an area of repurposed industrial buildings on the Tiefen See lake, where fabrik Potsdam, Hans Otto Theater, Waschhaus, Kunstraum, Studio 4, and other venues operate side by side. Made in Potsdam uses this ensemble as a shared stage — a productive concentration of dance, performance, visual arts, and music that is unusual in this form outside the major festival capitals.

Festival Theme and Programme 2026

The theme for 2026 is 'Resonances — Art in Dialogue with the City', positioning the festival as a 'place of encounter: between artists and audience, between city and world, between memory and departure'. The programme includes around 11 events and 2 workshops, spread across the fabrik große Bühne (main stage), fabrik Club, Kunstraum / Waschhaus, and Studio 4. Participating artists in 2026 include Current Works, Laura Gary, Johanna Ackva, Max Grote, Lisa Krauß, Yotam Peled & Nitzan Moshe, and Silvia Remigio.

Dance, Sound, Visual Arts, Family

The festival is multi-disciplinary: dance premieres, sound performances and compositions, visual arts and installations, improvisation music, and film. It also features family-friendly productions (e.g., for children aged 3 and up) and movement workshops such as 'Gaga in the Morning' — a format that teaches the Israeli dance language Gaga in the morning circle of a festival day.

Curatorial Co-Directorship

The organisers are fabrik Potsdam and Kunstraum Potsdam / Waschhaus, funded by the state capital Potsdam and the Brandenburg Ministry for Science, Research and Culture, as well as radio3. This cooperation between the venues on Schiffbauergasse makes the festival one of Brandenburg's most concentrated contemporary art events.

Brandenburg Festival Kick-off

Made in Potsdam traditionally marks the start of the Brandenburg festival season — for those who want to get to know Potsdam and Brandenburg as a contemporary cultural landscape beyond the Volksfeste (popular festivals), Stadtfeste (city festivals), and open-airs, this is the perfect introduction.