Das Kombinat e.V. is a transcultural Berlin-based association founded in October 2024 by 20 members with backgrounds spanning the arts, education, film, curation, and social work. Combining diverse perspectives and lived experiences, the Das Kombinat promotes art, education, and empowerment – guided by a vision of an anti-patriarchal, non-discriminatory, and socially just society.
Its projects cross borders and disciplines: the Romani Filmmakers Network, launched at the Berlinale in 2026 together with the Czech Romani platform TUKE.TV and British Romani production company Patrin Films, fights for increased equity and visibility of Romani filmmakers within the international film industry. Salon Ma ما, a series of three events curated by Modjgan Hashemian, weaves music, performance, and film into a collective process of listening, presence, and artistic risk. The media education youth project PowerPeng! empowers young Roma and BIPoC to tell their own stories through film and photography. The creative workshop series MyPower! – I Tell the Story opens up artistic self-expression for young people, and the Our POV youth exchanges invite young Roma from Berlin and southern Spain to explore shared histories and cultures across Europe.
Since November 2025, Das Kombinat also manages the Grüner Salon at the Volksbühne Berlin. Under the curation of Monica Marotta, the venue has become a transcultural safer space for people and art with three interdisciplinary programme strands: sound salon combins global music, experimental and new music with tradition and parties, moving salon is the performative pillar with staged readings, performances, dance and theatre plays, and united salon provides a space for Berlin communities and a platform for encounters, exchange and transnational networking. Committed to ecological, economic, and social sustainability, the Grüner Salon is a living laboratory for democratic dialogue in Berlin.
Meet the people
Monica Marotta
Monica Marotta, a born Neapolitan based in Berlin, began her career as a literary translator, surtitler and cultural manager in theatre, following a Master’s degree in Literature and Linguistics specialising in English and German. From 2013 to 2021, she played a key role in establishing and developing Studio Я at Berlin’s Maxim Gorki Theatre.
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As co-director alongside writers and dramaturgs such as Sasha Marianna Salzmann, Necati Öziri and Tobias Herzberg, she was able to create a unique interface between state theatre and the independent scene, between project management and curation, with a particular focus on marginalised and discriminated-against voices. Beside her ongoing work as a freelance theatre translator and surtitler, she completed the “Sustainable Culture Transformation Manager” training course and worked at the Grüner Salon in 2024 for the first time, where she curated and produced the programme including Berlin’s first international Roma theatre festival COMMON TONGUE. She is an active member of Drama Panorama and has been on the association’s board since 2025. Since November 2025, she has been curating the Grüner Salon at the Volksbühne for Das Kombinat.
Veronika Patočková
Veronika Patočková is a cultural producer and project developer based in Berlin. As co-founder and financial secretary of RomaTrial (2012–2024), her strategic expertise and conceptual skills have played a decisive role in the association’s growth into a medium-sized organisation in 2024. Furthermore, she developed and led numerous projects in the cultural and educational sectors.
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She was the scientific co-leader of the education programme against antigypsyism “WIR SIND HIER!” (2020–2024), head of production of the International Festival of Romani Film AKE DIKHEA? (2017–2024) and manager of the 1st and 2nd Roma Biennales (2018 and 2020–2021). Between 2022 and 2024, she served as executive manager of the Grüner Salon for the first time, taking over this role again in November 2025. In 2024, she co-founded the association Das Kombinat e.V. where she currently serves as executive manager. Since March 2026, she furthermore works as project coordinator at the film training initiative CIRCLE.
