100 + 10 Years (working title)

With the festival “100 + 10 Years” (working title), the Maxim Gorki Theater in Berlin commemorates the genocide on Armenians between 1915 and 1917 in the Ottoman Empire. 2025 marks the 110th anniversary of this brutal act. The festival brings together Armenian, German, Turkish, Kurdish and Jewish voices.

In an exhibition, film series, performances, installations, readings, discussions and concerts, artists belonging to the third and fourth generation since the genocide will revisit its history and discuss its repercussions to this day. One of the project’s most topical references is Azerbaijan’s seizure of the self-proclaimed Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh whose inhabitants consist mainly of Armenians. Although hundreds of thousands of Armenians were forced to flee in September 2023 as a result, the military intervention drew little international attention.

The festival focuses on the perspectives of the young Armenian generation in the diaspora, especially in Berlin. In contrast to a similar festival held at the Maxim Gorki Theater ten years ago that primarily called on the international community to recognise the genocide and explored Germany’s role in the historic events, the programme in 2025 will focus on assessing and reappraising the genocide. The festival organisers are calling on the young generation of Kurds, Turks and Germans to assume a greater sense of responsibility. The focus shifts away from the question of historical guilt and toward reconciliation and solidarity among one another. The goal of the festival is to facilitate intergenerational German-Armenian-Turkish-Kurdish-Jewish encounters marked by a spirit of reconciliation.

Artistic Director: Shermin Langhoff
Visual arts: Vigen Galstyan (curation) & Erden Kosova (co-curation & organisation)
Film: Vigen Galstyan (curation) & Gary Vanisian (co-curation & organisation)
Literature: Anahit Bagradjans (curation) & Endre Malcolm Holéczy (co-curation & organisation)
Theatre: Johannes Kirsten & Endre Malcolm Holéczy

Festival: Maxim Gorki Theater, Berlin: 24 Apr. – 6 Jun. 2025