Ersan Mondtag wins Berlin culture prize

Ersan Mondtag has been awarded a prestigious BZ Kulturpreis. The awards have been made annually since 1992 by Berlin newspaper BZ to honour the excellence and cultural diversity of the city. Mondtag is recognised for his work with Berliner Ensemble, Deutsche Oper and Maxim Gorki Theater, as well as his installation for the German Pavilion of the Venice Biennale in 2024.

Previous winners including musicians such as Daniel Barenboim, Anne-Sophie Mutter and Thomas Quasthoff, and from other disciplines, Helmut Newton, Billy Wilder, Vivienne Westwood and Jeff Koons. 

The award of a statue of a bear, designed by Ernst Leonhardt, was made during a ceremony on 8 April at Berlin's Theater am Potsdamer Platz.