The inaugural installment of the Berlin Biennale, which opened on September 28, took place under a lucky star: One day earlier, Helmut Kohl was voted out of office. Under the new governing coalition of the Social Democrats (SPD) and the Greens, many of Berlin’s cultural producers came together and, after sixteen years of Christian Democratic governments, transformed Germany’s lumbering vision of itself. There was much talk about a future “Republic of Berlin,” complete with a national minister of culture; the SPD candidate for the job, Michael Naumann (who has since been confirmed), could be seen