Berlin, Germany - With 55,000 people at sold-out concerts and well-attended exhibitions, the Copa Da Cultura festival turned out to be a great highlight in its activities before restoration work started at the House of World Cultures. In July, work began on renovating the House of World Cultures.
 
 "Over the next twelve months, our building will be better equipped to hold future events," said press officer Yven Augustin. "Scheduled work includes basic refurbishment, providing the technical preconditions for first-rate international exhibitions, installing new gallery rooms and creating a foyer that can serve as a forum for a wide range of encounters. The Federal Commissioner for Culture and the Media is supporting the restoration work to the tune of € 8.8 m."

Until it reopens in August 2007, the House of World Cultures will be a building site. Even so, it will be holding a series of events and guided tours for anyone who wishes to participate in the renewal process. In a series entitled My Building Site, the House of World Cultures is inviting people to visit the building site and attend festivals, concerts, readings, performances, exhibitions, debates and talks. These events will be examining themes such as future developments in international cultural relations, exchanges, and different ways in which artists are raising questions about art. With these activities, the HKW wishes to publicize key points and reflections on its new program conception, which will be elaborated and concretized in co-operation with international scientists and artists over the coming months.

Guided tours of the building site, as on the Day of the Public Monument on 10 September 2006, will offer a glance into the core of this internationally famous Berlin landmark. During the restoration phase, the HKW website will present activities that focus on the history and architecture of the House of World Cultures.

The structural and conceptual renewal of the House of World Cultures is taking place in the run-up to the 50th anniversary of the official opening of the Congress Hall in September 1957, which was initially constructed as a symbolic gift from the United States. For this reason, the first events at the House of World Cultures after its reopening will focus on the global changes that have occurred during the past five decades and on developments in the American metropolises.

The House of World Cultures (Haus der Kulturen der Welt in German) is located at John-Foster-Dulles-Allee 10, 10557 Berlin. Tel. +49 30 397 87 153.