Block 57 in Focus

About

BLOCK 57 is a typical Kreuzberg block between Oranienstraße, Luckauer Straße, Sebastianstraße, Dresdener Straße and Oranienplatz. It serves as a model for the eventful history of a neighborhood in which living and working are close together. The neighborhood is still characterized by the alternative period of the 1980s, in which work, grassroots organization and political identity accompanied each other and experimental ways of life were explored.
In addition to the evidence of “clear-cut renovation”, residential restoration and cautious urban renewal, the history of labor migration contributes to the appearance of the district: This year marks the 60th anniversary of the German-Turkish labor recruitment agreement.

In a series of short films, filmmakers portray people from the neighborhood. The protagonists are at home in Block 57, they work or live here, and are part of the neighborhood’s history. The video portraits have been created in the last 2 years and convey the special „Kreuzberg mixture“ which currently is threatened by gentrification. The filming took place in apartments, shops and on the street.
The starting point of each film project is the professional activity of the protagonist. This in turn leads to a reflection on education and work, personal history and the social processes that shaped each life’s path.
The short films are curated by Sigrun Drapatz and can be seen in store display windows around the block.

In the exhibition at SCOTTY, we are also showing a selection of historical documents and films compiled by Florian Wüst, among them „Kreuzberg gehört uns“ (Sigrid Fronius, Klaus Bartels, Cristina Perincioli, 1972), „Putte muss bleiben“ (Gerd Conradt, 1974), „Das Zögern ist vorbei“ (MedienOperative Berlin, 1981) and „Die Türhüter“ (Sema Poyraz, 1988).
The exhibits visualize the struggle for social infrastructures, political participation, and cultural self-determination in Kreuzberg as well as other districts of West Berlin. They also establish a reference to the political film work and the video-activist movements of the 1970/80s which intended to create a critical counter-public. The archived materials are a testament to the continuity of displacement and resistance and contextualize the newly created short films.

The series of films is part of Block 57, an open archive on living and working in Kreuzberg, curated since 2019 by Sigrun Drapatz and Tanja Lenuweit. It is planned to further expand the series. www.scotty-berlin.de/block57

We extend our invitition to join us for a screening of the film series on November 26, 2021. We are guests in the large hall of the Alevi community at Waldemarstr. 20.
Unfortunately, current hygiene regulations only allow 100 visitors in the parish hall. We therefore need to request advanced registration. Please register on or before Wednesday November 17 at:  s.drapatz@colabora-ev.de or 0178/3396542.

The film series has been supported by the Berliner Senatsverwaltung für Kultur und Europa, Aktion Mensch and CoLabora.