A Gallerist's Guide to Berlin
- 32 minutes ago
- 4 min read
Have you been to Berlin before, or is it still on your list? Either way, I think you'll enjoy this cool, insider's guide to this dynamic city!
Virtuoso article below from 4/7/2026 by Laura Zhang can be found HERE.
Restaurant, bar, and culture recs from one of the city’s coolest residents.
For Tehran-born, Berlin-raised art gallerist and curator Anahita Sadighi, moving between cultures has long been second nature. “This sense of in-betweenness has always shaped my reality,” she says. “Berlin is where I live and work, but Iran remains an inseparable part of me.”
Growing up in Berlin, she spent countless hours in her gallerist and artist father’s studio – sitting on handwoven Gabbeh carpets and absorbing his stories – before later studying art history herself. Sadighi opened her namesake gallery in Berlin’s Charlottenburg district in 2015 at just 26. Since then, she has showcased a breadth of works – from early archaeological to contemporary paintings, ceramics, textiles, and more – by Persian, East and South Asian, African, and Latin American artists, especially women of color. “When I curate, I’m less interested in geography or nationality and more in shared sensibilities,” she says. “I want to know how artists relate to memory, material, and transformation.”
Outside the gallery, Sadighi moves fluidly between roles as a lecturer, author, diversity and equality advocate, musician, producer (she’s behind Berlin’s popular The Loft parties), and Cartier brand ambassador. A seasoned traveler whose favorite destinations include Iran, Italy, and Patagonia, she lets art find her organically on the road – through studio visits, long conversations with artists, or immersing in unfamiliar places. Lately, she’s been thinking a lot about visiting Japan. Edo-period artists such as Utagawa Hiroshige and Katsushika Hokusai have been lasting influences on her. “Japan has fascinated me for a long time,” she says. “I’d love to live there for a while.”
Back in Berlin, the ideas gathered from her travels bear fruit. “Berlin allows experimentation and new formats of creative expression to emerge,” Sadighi says. “The city has shaped me through its openness and constant capacity for cultural reinvention.”
Anahita Sadighi’s Berlin
The Savignyplatz area in Charlottenburg – where I grew up and still live and work – has a time-capsule charm that’s increasingly rare in Berlin. There’s an eclectic mix of bars, bookshops, theaters, and galleries, including mine, which sits inside a late-nineteenth-century corner building, right at the heart of the lively Kiez (neighborhood). A ten-minute drive east, Das Stue is a beautiful hotel next to Tiergarten, the city’s largest park. It’s an ideal place to stay if you love starting the day with a leisurely walk in nature.
For meals in Charlottenburg, I head to Naardoun, an intimate, family-run Persian restaurant, or Diener Tattersall, a century-old Berlin institution frequented by artists in the 1950s – their portraits still cover the walls. I love taking friends to Verōnika (inside the Fotografiska Berlin museum) for its elegance and creative menu. A café and record shop by day, hi-fi listening bar by night, Pastiche is an effortlessly cool spot. Keep the evening going at Green Door Bar, my favorite place for cocktails.
In Kreuzberg, the Haus der Visionäre offers a window into Berlin’s famous club culture, hosting art exhibits, dance nights, and community gatherings. The Haus der Kulturen der Welt, cheekily nicknamed the “Pregnant Oyster” for its appearance, is a cultural forum that consistently makes room for non-Western perspectives and stimulating conversations.
You can’t leave Berlin without experiencing some music. The Berliner Philharmoniker remains my favorite concert hall, and a visit to Hard Wax – a legendary record store that helped shape Berlin’s electronic music scene – is a rite of passage. For late nights, dance at Sonnenraum or Heideglühen, which perfectly capture Berlin's kinetic creative pulse that isn’t found anywhere else in the world.
Anahita Sadighi’s Travel Essentials
Whether I’m at the beach, by the pool, or on a business trip, a book is always essential. I’m currently reading Shifting the Silence by Etel Adnan and Flesh by David Szalay.
Music has always been my language of connection, especially while traveling, so I must bring my Sennheiser HD 25 headphones and a USB stick of tracks I use for my DJ sets.
I take black cumin oil to support my immune system on the road. My friend Ayah first introduced me to it while we were in Jordan, and it’s stayed with me ever since.
The Poesis oracle card deck and guidebook set. The cards encourage inward reflection, while the poems (by my friend Megan King) add a sense of ease and playfulness.
I bring my Moleskine notebook to capture passing thoughts – or for someone else to leave me a note, which I love even more.
My Zojirushi thermos is always within reach and filled with tea or hot water.
Good walking shoes. My favorites are Birkenstock’s Arizona sandals. I grew up with them, and they’re incredibly comfortable.
I never travel without at least one pair of sunglasses, whether it’s a vintage find from Berlin’s Lunettes Selection or a psychedelic pair by Christian Dior with yellow lenses.
A Batik Keris sarong – an Indonesian classic that’s lightweight and endlessly useful.
I often travel with traditional incense blends from Tibet or Nepal. The scents are grounding and subtle, with natural citrus notes that help keep insects at bay.
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