Berlin's Coolest Creatives Have a New Way to Actually Connect
You don’t need to set foot in Berlin to know its reputation. Since its dividing Wall crumbled decades ago, the German capital city has rebuilt itself as a bastion of creative freedom — a “poor but sexy” playground of hedonistic excess and pulsing techno.
Much of that holds up, but ask anyone who’s actually ingrained in the city, and they’ll tell you: Berlin isn’t that Berlin anymore. It’s growing up. There are wisps of the punk spirit still to be found, but Berlin is entering a far more interesting era. One in which sparks of inspiration might actually become tangible events, projects, or connections.
But getting to that follow-through isn’t easy, especially for the many talented FLINTA* (women, lesbian, intersex, non-binary, trans, and agender) creatives in Berlin. So creative producer Angelique Houben and entrepreneur and model Stefanie Giesinger have proposed a solution.
The two have launched Ex to X, a network created to connect FLINTA* people across disciplines, from DJs and photographers to florists and coffee roasters. The name represents a shift from past to present — or, rather, presence — but also can be seen as a meeting point. X marks the spot where all manner of cool people are congregating in Berlin’s sprawling metropolis.
“Ex to X came from asking a simple question: What kind of space did we wish had existed when we were starting out?” Giesinger says. “[We wanted] a place where creative people don’t have to figure everything out alone. A place where introductions become collaborations and where generosity is valued more than competition.”
After months of planning, Ex to X soft-launched earlier this week with a quiet artist dinner before preparing for its main event: The First Gathering, a multidisciplinary, all-day activation that encapsulates exactly where Berlin is at culturally — morning coffee and matcha connections in the day, DJ sets and alcohol-free wine in the night.
Ahead of Ex to X’s public launch, we caught up with Houben and Giesinger to talk about this fresh initiative reshaping Berlin’s cultural landscape, one connection at a time.
Ex to X is largely inspired by your own path into the creative industry. What do you do, and how did your experience then shape the idea behind the project?
Stefanie Giesinger: I started modeling when I was 13 and had my breakthrough when I was 17. Looking back, I entered an industry that was incredibly inspiring, but also very hierarchical. For a long time, I thought that being talented and working hard would be enough. But over the years, I realized that access is just as important as talent. Access to people, conversations, opportunities and collaborations. I’ve been lucky enough to sit at tables that completely changed the course of my career. Those experiences made me realize how much potential exists that simply never gets the chance to be seen.
When will you know Ex to X has worked? Will it be recurring events, a successful digital platform, or something else?
Angelique Houben: That’s really tough to say because “worked” sounds like there is an end to it. The most important thing for me is to keep growing and keep learning. We want to take this mindset into Ex to X too, translating it into adapting to what’s needed right now, shaped by constantly changing needs in our environment.
We want to do recurring gatherings, which is our way of bringing people together. We want to enable connection, physically and digitally. And we want people to leave with new ideas, feel more confident asking for help, and know how to bring these ideas to life with the right support from the people around them.
SG: Success for us won’t be measured by how many events we host, or numbers generally. It will be measured by what happens afterward, by the “actionable consequences.” [Things like] people starting conversations because they met through Ex to X, or someone finding their creative partner, learning something new, launching an idea they’ve been sitting on for years. If Ex to X becomes something that people genuinely want to contribute to rather than simply attend, then we’ll know we’re building something meaningful.
What kind of work goes into ensuring someone actually leaves a gathering with real opportunity, not just a nice night out?
SG: Community isn’t the only goal; it’s more about building a long-term infrastructure. A beautiful evening is wonderful, but it isn’t enough. We’re intentionally bringing together people from different disciplines and at different stages of their careers. Artists, photographers, designers, founders, editors, brands, institutions and creatives who all have something different to offer. A lot of opportunities don’t happen because someone is the most talented person in the room. They happen because the right conversation takes place at the right time. Our role is to create the conditions for those conversations to happen naturally.
If someone leaves with a new collaborator, a mentor, a client, a friend or simply the confidence to reach out to someone they admire, then we’ve done what we came to do.
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