Sven Johne. Das sowjetische Hauptquartier

About

As part of Berlin Art Week 2023, Fluentum presents Das sowjetische Hauptquartier, a solo exhibition by artist and filmmaker Sven Johne. The core of the exhibition is the titular film, produced by Fluentum and premiering there in September. The presentation is complemented by an installation of earlier video works by Johne—some of which are part of the Fluentum Collection—which continue the thematic strands in Das sowjetische Hauptquartier.

In Sven Johne’s works, personal narratives are draped over the monolithic cornerstones of official history, ultimately retelling it through individual perspectives and moments of emotional upheaval. Johne appropriates documentary aesthetics, but subverts its claims to truth by infusing it with fictional elements. The result is a realism beyond authenticity and mimesis, one that amounts to more than the sum of its parts.

Johne’s new film Das sowjetische Hauptquartier (2023) is set on the now-abandoned premises of the former Haus der Offiziere (House of Officers) in Wünsdorf, Brandenburg. The palatial estate, built in the early-twentieth century in a neo-baroque style, served as the headquarters and cultural center for the Soviet troops stationed in East Germany until 1994. In Johne’s new work, the headquarters becomes the setting for a meeting between Becker (Marc Zwinz), a real estate agent doomed to succeed, and Katharina Baronn (Luise Helm), who purports to be a prospective buyer and inspects the property while lost in thought. As the narrative progresses, the film’s focus shifts and Baronn’s inner monologue takes over. When she was eight years old, Baronn witnessed the departure of the Soviet troops from the headquarters. Since then, a nostalgic “child’s USSR” (in the words of Johne) has haunted her memories as an idealized alternative to actually existing capitalism. Das sowjetische Hauptquartier is about early formations and impressions, the potency of ideologies, and the farewell to childhood.

The film’s presentation in Berlin’s former US headquarters—where Fluentum is housed—overlays temporalities and ideologies. Through its examination of the twists and turns of post-reunification history, Das sowjetische Hauptquartier spurs a dialog about the links between failure and remembering.