Why go now: Strike a pose in Berlin with Yoko Ono, Helmut Newton

Each week, we spotlight one destination in Czechia (and beyond) where something special is happening right now. Discover why it’s worth going this week, from major exhibitions to seasonal events, and what to see, eat, and know while you’re there.

Germany’s art world is in full swing, with headline-making shows and daring experiments drawing crowds across the country (a sold-out nudist exhibit in Stuttgart is even testing the very limits of "public art.") And you don’t need to miss out just because it’s happening across the border.

From Prague, Berlin is just a four-hour train ride away; close enough for a cultural getaway. And the German capital is hosting some must-see exhibitions: the boundary-pushing work of Yoko Ono, a special collection from the works of Helmut Newton, and an expansive installation by Czech rising star Klára Hosnedlová.

Gropius Bau is hosting Yoko Ono: Music of the Mind, closing at the end of this month. This sweeping retrospective spans seven decades of Ono’s career, weaving together art, music, activism, and audience participation. More than 200 works are on display, including her iconic instruction pieces, scores, installations, films, music, and photography.

Curated by Tate Modern and Gropius Bau, the exhibition unfolds in loose chronological order, tracing Ono’s evolution from her early conceptual works to her boldest political gestures. While versions of the show have appeared in London and Düsseldorf, the Berlin edition is uniquely powerful, staged within Gropius Bau’s soaring atrium and historic galleries—worth a visit in their own right. The exhibit runs until Aug. 31.

A new double exhibition at Berlin’s Museum für Fotografie opening Sept. 5 invites you into a captivating visual dialogue around the work of photographer Helmut Newton. In the first three rooms, over 60 diptychs pair his photographs with evocative “partner images” from the FOTOGRAFIS collection, spanning portraits, surreal nudes, landscapes, and still lifes.

Beyond that, Newton’s Riviera unfolds in the rear galleries: a series of evocative shots Newton captured along the Côte d’Azur, from Monte Carlo and Saint-Tropez to capricious coastal landscapes, many of which are being shown in Berlin for the very first time. The exhibit will run until Feb. 15, 2026.

Until Oct. 26, Berlin’s Hamburger Bahnhof, the city’s former train station turned contemporary art hub, presents 'embrace', the largest solo exhibition to date by Czech artist Klára Hosnedlová.

Spanning more than 2,500 square meters, the show immerses visitors in a multi-sensory world. Monumental flax and hemp textiles tower nine meters high. Sand-coated wall reliefs and embroidered details shift between the delicate and the raw. Underfoot, muddy puddles and earthy scents conjure a primal landscape, while recycled speakers from Berlin’s legendary clubs play a haunting soundtrack that layers Moravian women’s choirs with bells, woodwinds, and even Czech rap.

Also at Gropius Bau, the unfiltered exhibit by LA-born artist Vaginal Davis, Fabelhaftes Produkt, is full of sculptural landscapes, videos, and installations that coax and confront.

Museum cafés are reliable, but better yet, head to nearby Kreuzberg for street food at Markthalle Neun or to Tiergarten’s Café am Neuen See for beer and pretzels by the lake.

It's recommended to reserve timed entry online for Gropius Bau, as weekends tend to sell out. Hamburger Bahnhof tickets are more flexible but still worth booking ahead.

Berlin is about four hours from Prague by direct train, with regular departures from the main station (Praha hl.n.) to Berlin Hauptbahnhof.