Book Launch "Berlin Interviews"

About

Berlin Interviews

Birgit Rieger and Claudia Wahjudi

im Gespräch mit / in conversation with Ryszard Wasko, Ann Noël, Monica Bonvicini, Else Gabriel, Nina Fischer, Maroan El Sani, Mathilde ter Heijne, Karin Sander, Omer Fast, Loredana Nemes, Ming Wong, Aykan Safoğlu, Hanne Lippard, Emeka Ogboh, Dachil Sado, Fernando Bryce,

mit einem Grußwort von / with a greeting by Clara Herrmann, Akademie der Künste 

21 x 13.5 cm, 107 Abbildungen / images

Deutsch / German, 350 Seiten / pages

Argobooks, EUR 19.80

ISBN: 978-3-942700-92-4

The journalists Birgit Rieger and Claudia Wahjudi carried out discussions with sixteen artists who have moved to Berlin from different countries at different times. From the British Fluxus pioneer, Ann Noël, who came forty years ago, to the young performance artist, Dachil Sado, who fled from Iraq, from the sculptor Monica Bonvicini from Venice, who became familiar with coal stoves in West Berlin, to the sound artist Emeka Ogboh from Lagos, who brews a special Berlin beer. In the book, they tell of challenges, expectations, coincidences and chances in a city that has changed more rapidly than any other in the 30 years since the fall of the wall. 

Nowhere are the openings as full as in Berlin. Nowhere else is there so little left over for artists. This dichotomy characterises the art city Berlin. Yet, artists from around the world decide to live and work here. Moreover, many remain, although they had never planned to. Is it artistic, personal or political reasons that keep them here? Are the free spaces of the former walled city still tempting, or are factors like freedom of expression more important in the meantime? What kind of art is created in a city that often does not itself know what it stands for?