Photo Gallery Death By Gentrification
The C/O Berlin photography gallery in central Berlin has to move out by March 31, 2011. International investors want to convert the building into a hotel and shopping center.
The gallery celebrated its 10th birthday last Thursday with a big Magnum exhibition. Fittingly, the genesis of C/O Berlin was another show featuring the work of the fabled photography agency in 2000.
Part of the gallery's charm was that it was located in an unrenovated former post office.
Neighboring alternative cultural center Tacheles is also facing closure.
The artists who work here have been told to leave the building by the end of the month. The former squat has been here since just after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989.
The former department store was occupied by artists in 1990.
The demise of Tacheles and the eviction of C/O Berlin will likely mark the end of the street's cultural significance. Artists are flocking to cheaper districts in Berlin such as Neukölln and Schöneberg.
