{"id":1702,"date":"2021-04-14T06:13:34","date_gmt":"2021-04-14T06:13:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uberlin.co.uk\/october-2013-page-2-of-3-uberlin\/"},"modified":"2021-04-14T06:13:34","modified_gmt":"2021-04-14T06:13:34","slug":"october-2013-page-2-of-3-uberlin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/uberlin.co.uk\/october-2013-page-2-of-3-uberlin\/","title":{"rendered":"October 2013 – Page 2 of 3 – \u00fcberlin"},"content":{"rendered":"
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October 17, 2013<\/abbr><\/h5>\n
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Berlin Portrait: Dolly Demoratti of Mother Drucker<\/a><\/h3>\n

by James Glazebrook<\/span><\/h4>\n
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We think that the best way to discover Berlin is through the eyes of the people who live here. For our Berlin Portrait<\/a> series, we\u2019re asking artists, musicians and other interesting Berliners to introduce us their corner of the city. Discover creative Kreuzberg and Friedrichshain with Dolly Demoratti<\/strong>, owner of the Mother Drucker<\/strong> print studio.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"Dolly<\/a><\/p>\n

So tell us: how did you end up in Berlin?<\/b><\/p>\n

I followed a girl out here. I met somebody in London, and they said they were coming here in a few months\u2019 time, so I ended up quitting my job and coming out here. It felt like the right time to do it\u2026 as it happens, she\u2019s back in England and I\u2019m out here! But it worked out really well for me, and I\u2019m glad I made that leap.<\/p>\n

And how long have you been here?<\/b><\/p>\n

About three or four years\u2026 I purposefully don\u2019t keep count. I feel slightly embarrassed because I still know so little German, so people always ask me, \u201chow long have you been here for?\u201d and I\u2019ve been saying \u201ca year\u201d for about three years now!<\/p>\n

\"20131005-Noble-Dolly-020a-650px\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Do you feel settled here?<\/b><\/p>\n

I definitely feel like it\u2019s my home. I\u2019m very happy here and I think I have more friends than I did in London, and I have a much nicer way of life. I\u2019m working on what I always wanted to work on, which wouldn\u2019t have been possible in London. My best friends are German, so I guess I am quite integrated here.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t speak good German, which does make me feel like a bit of an outsider \u2013 but there are so many people passing through Berlin, staying for one or two years, that it\u2019s easy to not speak the language and still feel involved in what\u2019s happening here.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s the best thing about living in Berlin?<\/b><\/p>\n

That I get to do the thing that I always want to, and get to have a studio of my own. When I was about 16, I built a darkroom in my bedroom \u2013 I\u2019ve had an obsession with printing in all its forms since a young age. So now to be here, and have a studio \u2013 with my own printing press \u2013 is just great.<\/p>\n

\"Dolly<\/a><\/p>\n

And what are your favourite places in Berlin?<\/b><\/p>\n

Urban Spree<\/a><\/strong>, where my studio is, is developing all the time. It\u2019s an art space, with an \u201catelier\u201d, sharing vibe, and now a venue for gigs and parties. They asked me to move in here before Urban Spree had opened, and even knocked down a wall for me! I had the first exhibition in the main hall, which was completely trashed \u2013 of all these shiny, perfect bicycles hanging in this fucked-up space…<\/p>\n

\"Dolly<\/a><\/p>\n

Markthalle Neun<\/a><\/strong> on Eisenbahnstra\u00dfe is fantastic. I had my first studio on that street, right when they re-opened the market. I really liked the community vibe of what Markthalle Neun did, going around the block asking everyone what they should do with the space \u2013 it was a community decision. People were proposing different ideas like \u2013 someone wanted to open a kind of Victorian swimming pool \u2013 and in the end, the consensus was to take it back to its original use: a food market. Any kind of restoration of anything, rather than scrapping it or changing or modernising it\u2026 I just love it when things are taken back to their original state.<\/p>\n

\"Dolly<\/a><\/p>\n

The K\u00fcnstlerhaus Bethanien<\/a><\/strong> is another building that survived the war. They have the most fantastic print studio there, which so many people don\u2019t know about. Downstairs, it\u2019s almost a museum of old machinery to do with printing, lots of letterpresses and cutting machines, and it just smells so old! You can only get there via one lift in the print studio, which no one knows is there.<\/p>\n

…and I go to Tempelhof<\/a><\/strong> most Sundays, to either exercise or just cruise around on my bike. I love it out there\u2026<\/p>\n

\"Dolly<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Dolly<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Dolly<\/a><\/p>\n

\"20131005-Noble-Dolly-036-650px\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Dolly is organising Druck Berlin 2013, an art festival focused on screen printing, at Stadtbad Wedding<\/a>. Check out the Druck Berlin website<\/a> for full details.<\/em><\/p>\n

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