ISSUE 3 – WINTER 2025/26: Hania Rani

Hania Rani was born in 1990 in Warsaw. She studied at the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music and is today considered one of the most important pianists, singers, and composers in the neoclassical genre. In her new album Non Fiction – Piano Concerto in Four Movements, Hania Rani combines the electronic explorations of her album Ghosts with her classical training, merging both levels into an elegant and experimental composition. Her aim is to create a soundscape of acoustic contrasts to explore how we respond to the horrors of wars, such as those in Ukraine and Palestine, and how we observe and hear them through the lens of digital technologies. Together with a 45-piece orchestra, Hania Rani has created a powerful and profound work, recorded at the iconic Abbey Road Studios, famous for hosting artists like the Beatles, Pink Floyd, and Queen.

We land at London Stansted Airport at half past seven in the morning. After a journey of an hour and a half, including two train changes and three coffees, we arrive at the Pony Studios, hidden behind a parking lot. This is where Hania Rani has her studio. The space is small but tidy; reference materials line the walls, a beige leather armchair occupies one corner, and a W. Hoffmann piano stands nearby. A large wooden table on trestles dominates the center of the room, neatly covered with books, papers, and what appear to be full scores. We take a seat at the table, where an open DAW session still glows on the screen, and begin discussing her new work.

This issue spans over 256 pages, documenting our journey, starting in Rome, where Nico Vascellari tells us about the relationship between nature, humans, and machines, as well as the backstory of our cover 1/8: his VIT performance, in which he forcefully put himself to sleep and was then carried by a helicopter over the mountains. Shortly after, we speak with Alicja Kwade at the Villa Massimo in Rome about her art.

Our Italian journey did not end there. In Milan, we meet with Formafantasma, and the Italian designer tells us about holistic design and the histories and stories embedded into objects. Via Zoom, we catch up with Miles Greenberg about his new exhibition in Paris, titled Gods of Solaris. Meanwhile, we are on our way to London to speak with Hania Rani about her new piece, Non-Fiction – Piano Concerto in Four Movements.

Back in Berlin, we speak with Ewan Waddell and Liubov Dyvak, who have just returned from a screening in Ukraine of their new movie, The Longer You Bleed, which explores society’s desensitization to the regular circulation of war imagery online. With C/O Berlin’s program directors, Boaz Levin and Sophia Greiff, we discuss how they exhibit photography in the age of social media and Instagram, explore new exhibition formats, and address cuts to cultural funding by the Berlin Senate and their consequences. This is directly followed by an interview with Berlin’s Kultursenator, Sarah Wedl-Wilson, in which we discuss her vision for Berlin and the implications for the city’s independent arts scene.

In addition, we interviewed six artists who are or were Berlin-based: Viola Del Monte, Giulio Sammarro, Justin Fiedler, Su Yu Hsin, Danielle Brathwaite-Shirley, and Hanne Lippard. We traveled to Munich to speak with Sorry Press, investigating their origins and story, followed by a brief visit to OBS’ studio in Augsburg, catching a glimpse into their world.

Last but not least, we conclude our journey by speaking with editors-in-chief about the question: What does it mean to make a magazine today? Conversations with Götz Offergeld (Numéro Berlin), Elke Buhr (MONOPOL), Sascha Ehlert (Das Wetter), Anton Rahlwes, Nina Sieverding (The Thing), and Sascha Chaimowicz (ZEITmagazin) provide insight. Finally, Christoph Amend reveals how and why he is trying to retell the beauty of Die ZEIT.

Purchase (€20)

• Purchase Issue 3 individually as a pre-order.
• Your order will ship in the second week of December.