„Unter:Druck” meets TrutnOFF Open Air Festival

The Galerie nEUROPA is hitting the road again. Join us for the third year running at the Czech Woodstock. The TrutnOFF Open Air Festival takes runs from 13 to 16 August 2026 in Bojiště Nature Park in Trutnov, at the foot of the Krkonoše Mountains. The oldest Czech rock festival is celebrating its 42nd anniversary this year.

We’re presenting the exhibition ‘Unter:Druck’. Whilst there, you’ll have the chance to meet nEUROPA curator Jan Oelker.

‘Unter:Druck’ – Parties, Punk and Protest in East Berlin

The term ‘Unter:Druck’ has a double meaning in the German language. On the one hand, it means ‘under pressure’ and, on the other, ‘negative pressure’.

The pressure exerted on creative artists by the repressive system of the GDR unleashed enormous creativity. Art avoided state control by seeking refuge in niches and channelled its energy into flats, private properties, churches or cellars – the true underground.

In the late GDR, artists and cultural figures became increasingly rebellious and constantly tested the regime’s limits, despite the threat of reprisals. In Prenzlauer Berg, East Berlin, a vibrant arts and culture scene emerged, ranging from music and literature to visual arts, performance and theatre. This was not a fixed circle, but rather loose groups of people who withdrew from the official art scene and wanted nothing to do with it. They simply did their own thing and took the liberty that the state neither wanted nor was able to grant them. Much like in the western part of the city, they went beyond all conventional boundaries and created cutting-edge art without rules, as if the Wall did not exist. In the agony of the grey, crumbling system, they formed a brilliantly amateurish contrast: flamboyant, colourful and loud.

Michael Biedowicz, a photographic autodidact at the time, was part of this scene and was friends with artists and musicians. His photographs reflect the spirit of life in the underground culture of East Berlin. They were shot at parties, readings and punk concerts, which formed the ground for protest and counterculture. And to remain with the metaphor: under the pressure of the system, a vacuum emerged – not only in the arts – which ultimately caused the system itself to implode. Out of the ‘anti’ culture, in the euphoria of the regime’s collapse, an immense creative power for change grew. This made Berlin, on the brink of the 1990s, probably the most exciting city in the world for a short time.

Photos: Michael Biedowicz (DE)
Curated by: Jan Oelker (DE)

Exhibition contribution by the Dresden Galerie nEUROPA for the TrutnOFF Open Air Festival 2026

Das Projekt wird gefördert durch das Staatsministerium für Soziales und Gesellschaftlichen Zusammenhalt. Diese Maßnahme wird mitfinanziert mit Steuermitteln auf Grundlage des vom Sächsischen Landtag beschlossenen Haushaltes im Rahmen des Förderprogramms »Wir für Sachsen«.