Berlin is not beautiful like Paris, rich like London, or charming like Amsterdam. Prewar buildings in the German capital are pockmarked by bullet holes, while postwar architecture testifies to the city's division due to the Cold War -- American, British and French sectors were restored or rebuilt, the Soviet area, by far the largest, remains filled with vestiges of a severe Stalinist civil experiment.
The Wall was pulled down almost 17 years ago, but Berlin's ascension remains very much a work in progress. Which can be a good thing -- the city has an extraordinarily low cost of living compared to other European capitals, and an abundance of cheap, raw and big spaces. These conditions, combined with generous government cultural grants and subsidies since reunification, have made contemporary Berlin into something of an artists' paradise.
While increasing international participation has lent a sameness to many biennales (and more so to art fairs), visiting the Berlin Biennale last week I was pleasantly surprised by how intimately the exhibition fits the spirit of its host city.