Since 2018, TRAUMA has operated as a counter-infrastructure: part exhibition site, part social experiment, part survival instinct. What began as an alternative art space in Berlin grew into a scene-defining platform where art, nightlife and research blurred into one continuous field of production.

For seven years, we offered artists, musicians and performers autonomy outside funding cycles and institutional gatekeeping, becoming both refuge and amplifier for practices that resisted containment.

After the venue years, TRAUMA shifted into a mobile format. It spans across cities, builds new alliances and lets each context determine what comes into being.

Across both phases, TRAUMA has realised over 230 events with more than 900 artists and collaborated with institutions including Neue Nationalgalerie, Hamburger Bahnhof, Amant New York, Berlin Art Week, Art Basel Basel, Art Basel Paris, New Models, Texte zur Kunst and Arte.

At its core, TRAUMA remains an open question about how art circulates, who authors it and what persists when structures fall away.

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TRAUMA is shaped by the work of Leonardo Liccini (music curator),Troels Primdahl (manager and artistic director) and of Madalina Stanescu (manager and creative director).

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MANIFESTO:

IN THE 20TH CENTURY, YOU HAD TO SEEK ART TO EXPERIENCE IT. TODAY, ART SEEKS YOU TO EXPERIENCE IT, THROUGH THE FEED, IN BETWEEN VIDEOS OF A DJ SET, A DANCER, AN UNREAL ENGINE WORLDBUILDER, A SCULPTOR, A FASHION DESIGNER, A MEDIA THEORY PODCASTER, A BULGARIAN FOLK CHOIR, AND AN UNDERGROUND MAGAZINE PUBLISHER. TODAY, AN ART SCENE IS NOT FORMED AT GALLERIES BETWEEN 6 AND 9PM, IT IS FORMED AT CLUBS BETWEEN 6 AND 9AM, IN DMS, GROUP CHATS, AND MEME ACCOUNT COMMENT SECTIONS. TRAUMA IS AN ARTS ORGANIZATION FOR THE WAY ART EXISTS TODAY.

TRAUMA IS A SUBSTRATE FOR NEW CULTURE, PROVIDING INFRASTRUCTURE FOR SITE-SPECIFIC INTERVENTIONS AND HYBRID ARRANGEMENTS OF VISUAL ART, MEDIA, PERFORMANCE AND MUSIC. TRAUMA ACTS AS CURATOR OR COLLABORATOR, INSURGENT OR INSTITUTION, DEPENDING ON NEED AND CONTEXT. TRAUMA IS ALSO A NETWORK OF SOCIAL RELATIONS, CHANNELING THE SHARED VISION OF THE DISTRIBUTED SWARMS THAT ASSEMBLE AT ITS EVENTS. TRAUMA IS IRL, MAINTAINING A BASE IN BERLIN WITH STUDIOS FOR ITS ARTISTS-IN-RESIDENCE.

IN 2018, TRAUMA OPENED AS TRAUMA BAR UND KINO IN AN OLD COMMERCIAL BLOCK ON HEIDESTRAßE NEAR BERLIN’S CENTRAL STATION. CONCEIVED AND DESIGNED BY ARTIST ADRIAN GHENIE, THE VENUE FEATURED A LABYRINTHINE LAYOUT OF ROOMS, PLATFORMS, VITRINES, AND A CINEMA. AND THIS PHYSICAL ARCHITECTURE, IN TURN, SHAPED TRAUMA’S PROGRAMMING. HERE, A WIDE RANGE OF CREATIVE PRACTICES COULD COLLIDE DURING EVENTS LASTING THROUGH THE NIGHT.

RUNNING THE VENUE, TRAUMA DEVELOPED A NOVEL CURATORIAL VISION FORTIFIED BY FULL-STACK PRODUCTION, CONSTRUCTION, AND LOGISTICS KNOWLEDGE. A RISING GENERATION OF MULTI-MODAL ARTISTS FOUND TRAUMA TO BE AN IDEAL PARTNER—ESPECIALLY WHEN REALIZING UNORTHODOX (OR VIRTUAL) ARTWORKS AS COLLECTIVE, EMBODIED, ECSTATIC EXPERIENCES. INCREASINGLY, THE IDEAS STARTED EXCEEDING THE PARAMETERS OF THE BAR AND KINO. SO IN DECEMBER 2024, AFTER NEARLY SEVEN YEARS OF EXPERIMENTAL SHOWS AND CONCEPT-DRIVEN CLUB NIGHTS, TRAUMA CLOSED ITS VENUE AND OPENED TO NEW POSSIBILITIES.

IN 2025, TRAUMA BECAME A NON-PROFIT GGMBH, INSTANTIATING ACTS OF IMMEDIATE ART IN BERLIN AND BEYOND. TRAUMA IS NOW EVERYWHERE.