WISE 2021, BERLIN

WEDNESDAY, April 21

For the second time, WISE invites bands to showcase for Chinese music professionals and music lovers in the German capital. Following up on last year´s collaboration with Reeperbahn Festival at Festsaal Kreuzberg, WISE chose an exceptional location for this year's showcase: The historic Zions Church in Prenzlauer Berg.

Inaugurated in 1873 by German Emperor Wilhelm I and Chancellor Otto von Bismarck, it was here where Dietrich Bonhoeffer - a German Lutheran pastor, theologian, and dissident organized his resistance against the Nazi regime. His decision to stand by the Jews in the 2nd World War - and therefore on the right side of history - led to his execution on Hitler´s personal order.

In the mid-1980s, opposition groups against the GDR regime, such as the “Zion’s Church Peace and Environmental Circle,” began meeting in the Church's basement. It was also where they hid the “Umwelt-Bibliothek” (Environmental Library), containing officially prohibited books and magazines on environmental and human rights topics.

Closely connected with East Berlin´s band scene, the Church in 1987 served as a concert venue for an unofficial show by West Berlin band Element of Crime. Infamously a group of East-German neo-nazis attacked the concert audience during the show.

Before this incident, the GDR´s leadership denied the presence of right-wing groups.

As a symbol for a free spirit and resistance against oppression, the Zions Church will host the performance of three acts WISE is delighted to invite:

Electronic Pop Diva EMIKA, Germany´s new indie wunderkind SHELTER BOY and Vietnamese-German-Canadian JOPLYN, a young, fast-rising star on Berlin´s club scene.

Initiative Musik kindly supports the performances of these acts, which will be streamed in China and the WISE Metaverse.