Kick Off Weekend Kunst im Stadtraum am Hansaplatz

About

On the 14th and 15th September is the kick-off weekend for the Kunst im Stadtraum am Hansaplatz – featuring works by Ulf Aminde and Christoph Grund, Esra Ersen and Boris Borowski, Folke Köbberling, Jan Köchermann, Kristina Leko and David Smithson, as well as talks and a sheep demonstration with a rally.

Artistic director: Elke Falat

Hansaplatz project addresses this question through the work of selected artists and in so doing, touches on the ambivalent role of art in cities as a space for creative expression and city marketing. Against this background we ask: What is the current situation of art in urban space? What are contemporary forms of urban art? What potential do they have? And what are structures, forms and communication methods work best for contemporary art in public space?

The Art, Culture and History Department of Bezirksamt Mitte, Berlin developed and realized the project on the recommendation of the Advisory Committee for Art of the Senate Department for Culture and Europe and in cooperation with the Senate Department for Culture and Europe, at the Hansaplatz in Berlin Mitte. It is financed by citywide funding.

The Hansaviertel was built in the 1950s as the “City of Tomorrow”. For this project artists were invited to examine how well the concepts that inspired the design of the Hansaviertel have survived the test of time.

The five artworks selected in a competition procedure use very diverse formats –

from a film opera which will be performed live one time only, to participative processes, sculptural interventions and performances.

Kristina Leko & David Smithson have been making their work Bringt ein paar Stühle mit…at Hansaplatz since the beginning of the year. They are discussing communal living with residents and passers-by in order to create a manifesto that will be read out on 14.09.2019.

They will be joined on the kick-off weekend by the other winning projects. The works are temporary and most of them will leave the Hansaplatz again at the end of October.

Folke Köbberling’s work Nachbarn auf Zeit will introduce sheep to the Hansaplatz for the first time. Five different herds will graze there for a whole month, cared for by residents. Sheep are a symbol of freedom in many countries around the world, and represent self-sufficiency, prosperity, conflict resolution, and a pension plan.

The film opera deutsche wohnen (was singen die diven) …, by Ulf Aminde in collaboration with Christoph Grund deals with the displacement of people between modernism and investment, Stalinallee and Hansaviertel, homelessness and the question of how we want to live. Together with residents of the Hansaviertel and Karl-Marx-Allee, the artists create a polyphony of voices from different houses and districts.

The installation Horu by Jan Köchermann will transform the Hansaplatz into an Alpine panorama in two phases. The process begins with a souvenir shop; a mountain peak, a cave, a lake and a moon follow in the new year.

For the work Zahiri und Batini, Esra Ersen worked together with Boris Borowski to develop four archetypical objects which are placed in different sites around the Hansaplatz. They then invited four scholars to talk about their research on historical, social and technological upheavals and epochal changes.

Program Kick-Off Weekend:

Saturday 14.09.2019

11:00 Uhr        Kick-Off „Kunst im Stadtraum am Hansaplatz“

Kick-off with Gerry Woop, Staatssekretär für Europa / State Secretary for

Europe, Sabine Weißler, Bezirksstadträtin für Kultur / District Counsellor for Culture in Berlin-Mitte and the artistic director of the project Kunst im Stadtraum am Hansaplatz Elke Falat, Meeting Point: Wasserbecken Hansaplatz

12:00 Uhr        Creation of banners and slogans for the sheep demonstration, Meeting Point: Hansabibliothek
(Nachbarn auf Zeit by Folke Köbberling)

12:30 Uhr        How the Hansaviertel came to the mountain. An introduction to »Horu« with Jan Köchermann. Meeting point: (4) Kiosk (Horu by Jan Köchermann)

13:30 Uhr        Guided Tour with Esra Ersen und Boris Borowski to the objects: Makam Boat, Makam House, Makam Pulpit, Makam Tower. (Zahiri und Batini by Esra Ersen und Boris Borowski)

14:30 Uhr        Makam Tower: Angels of History., Lecture by Stefan Weidner, Islamic Studies scholar (Zahiri und Batini by Esra Ersen and Boris Borowski)

17:00 Uhr        Why are sheep at the Hansaplatz? An introduction with Folke Köbberling

18:00 Uhr        Reading of the Manifesto about the good life at the Hansaplatz. Meeting point: In front of the Niemeyer-Haus (Bringt ein paar Stühle mit ... by Kristina Leko & David Smithson)

20:30 Uhr        Premiere oft he film opera deutsche wohnen (was singen die diven) mit Liveset, (deutsche wohnen (was singen die diven) by Ulf Aminde in collaboration with Christoph Grund), Einkaufspassage Hansaplatz

Sonntag 15.09.2019

14:00 Uhr        Sheep Demonstration with 200 sheep from Haus der Kulturen der Welt (HKW) to Hansaviertel
(Nachbarn auf Zeit by Folke Köbberling)

15:30 Uhr        demonstration rally with Shepherd Knut Kucznik
(Nachbarn auf Zeit by Folke Köbberling)

18:00 Uhr        Makam House: A perspective from the Neolithic Period. Lecture by Dr. Hans Georg Gebel, archaeologist (Zahiri und Batini by Esra Ersen in collaboration with Boris Borowski) Meeting point: Makam House