ALL ARTICLES | COVEN BERLIN | COVEN Berlin is a sex-positive transdisciplinary genderbender collective focused on feminism, love, gender, sexuality and art.

A colorful illustration of a bug-like troll figure, with cars and bugs and a cityscape in the background. The city is black, and the sky is turquoise, with a large green vine and pastel-colored bugs.

The Troll: Between the Mythological and the Digital

Not so long ago I met a troll for the first time. Or I think I did. I’ve probably met others, but since they usually work in the shadows, their identity is anonymous. Trolls never show they are trolls. But this time we were living together.

A person in silhouette, bathed in orange light. The image is quite dark, and the person is holding a guitar and gold bead shoulder pads catch the light as they turn toward the camera.

Suddenly You’re Pointing Everywhere and Everywhere Points Right Back

DOOM leaves space for not just the work, but also specifically the footwork of mourning to pop up, which at times might look like a teetering dance and heavy breath from under a lace mask.

An image that shows muddy colors like brown green and blue flowing into each other. It almost looks like a blurred section of a map.

We started calling ourselves mycelium

Moisture fills all pores. When the whole planet is immersed in tropical weather, there will be no infertile soil and diversity will flourish in every corner.

A surreal watercolour painting of a black sky, red sea, and green creatures. Many planets seem to rise in the sky, and there appear to be gohsts and amoebas coming out of the sea.

Poem 1, 2, 3

Poems by Inky Lee.

I knew of an asian man. His body was small and he was going blind. He quit his office job and was training to become a masseur – to see with his hands while his eyes cease to see. He was a devout christian and was known to pray for many hours every day. People called him a holy man. One time, I went to his place to get a massage. After the massage, he prayed for me. As I was about to leave, he smirked and told me to never bring a black man home because that would make my mother go into a long fast.

An image of a water bottle with a pink label and cap, resting on medium sized river rocks. The label text has been swirled in an obviously edited fashion.

Aqualiteracies: Understanding (and Sensing) Water as a Hybrid Data Carrier

Coming from Bogotá, a previous swamp which was dried out in colonial times, I didn’t grow up with a body of water close to me. The Pacific and Atlantic Oceans were around 10 and 13 hours away from where I lived.

bogside down part 1

November 19-21 2021

at feldfünf e.V.
Fromet-und-Moses-Mendelssohn-Platz 7-8
10969 Berlin

and online

A few nights in a friend’s apartment, a Zoom support group, a Telegram chat that share free hormones: these are the bogs of queer commons some of us rely on. In an upside down hyper-capitalist world, COVEN BERLIN welcomes you to bogside down part 1: a weekend of discussion and workshops looking at the alternative structures that support us when the outside world can’t or refuses to.

Turf House Erotica: Soft Darkness and Radiating Body Heat (Honoring Our Icelandic Ancestors)

I am a farmer. An Icelandic male farmer. (It is sometime in the Olden Times.) I live in a traditional Icelandic turf house.

A drawing of a boot, a series of mechanical objects, and scratchy lines. The edges of the paper are visible.

The future toddlers of my friends clamber over me and affectionately sprinkle grass onto my shoulders

I sit here- writing this while the sound checks for a festival in Victoria Park sound out. It is like 1, 2, 3- 3 ch’ ch’. I sit here writing this while my childhood best friend is preparing to play at this festival- I will be able to hear him from my window.

A soft, blurry, circular, geometric pattern of blue and white

Initiation.

This is the story of my arrival to Berlin.

1. The setting. (Separation) t is spring 2019, and I have just moved to Berlin. I am filled with excitement and curiosity to rediscover the city I was born in, but that I haven’t lived in since I was a toddler. I am still able to romanticise the U-bahn and the fact that I sleep in a bare room on a shitty mattress. It suits the coming of age narrative I created in my head. The 30 days I spent here so far have been full of encounters and activities, as if I made it my goal to explore each facet of the city as fast as possible.

A black and white ink drawing of barren plants surrounded by a thin, wiggly border

soul death in a digital dating app

Have you ever walked into a room on a warm evening and noticed an unpleasant odor? So unpleasant and complicated that it is visible to the naked eye?

I haven’t smoked for two months, yet I wake up every day with an acid taste in my mouth. The bitterness that I reflect to others mirrors the bitterness within me. It’s a bitterness so rich with associations, so raw and complicated.