Greetings from Berlin pt. 1
While Germany wakes up this Monday to a new government, Berlin’s art scene – presumably – wakes up to a big hangover after a crazily busy art week in the city. When last Thursday mayor Klaus Wowereit participated in a panel discussion entitled ‘Does Berlin need a Kunsthalle?’ at Hamburger Bahnhof Museum (coinciding with myriad art events in Berlin, including the art fair, ‘art berlin contemporary’, and tonnes of gallery openings), he confirmed his intention to build one. But whether he’ll still be concerned with this question in the near future is the big question after yesterday’s general election in Germany. His party, the Social Democrats, lost by a landslide, and in Berlin – where Wowereit still had a comparatively strong standing – it didn’t fare much better.
Of course there are bigger questions now, with a coalition of Merkel’s conservatives and the liberal party now in power. But in any case Wowereit’s coalition partner in the Berlin senate, the leftist Die Linke, was significantly strengthened, and they don’t favour a Kunsthalle at all, playing it off against other budgetary commitments. On top of that, given the sorry state of the SPD, it might well happen that Wowereit will turn to bigger tasks at the head of the party.
Given that the plan for a Kunsthalle still seems written in the stars more than anywhere else, there seemed to be one agreement though between most of the panellists – including artists Monica Bonvicini, Olafur Eliasson and art critic Niklas Maak of the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung – that a new building, rather than using an existing structure, is the way forward, favouring a more adventurous take on contemporary architecture (and the Humboldthafen, a spot just across from Hamburger Bahnhof, right next to the central train station). The question is whether Maak’s argument against pompous landmark gestures à la the Guggenheim Bilbao, favouring instead structures actually suiting the needs of art (which was also confirmed by Bonvicini and Eliasson), really registered with Wowereit, who hasn’t shown much interest to date in listening to artists or art critics. After the change in the political landscape, this might now happen, in order to boost credibility – or the project will get axed all together.
Meanwhile the Temporäre Kunsthalle – a white cube box built by Viennese architect Adolf Krischanitz – attempts a relaunch after months of struggle. The structure – temporarily established last year in the spot where the Hohenzollern palace is planned to be rebuilt in coming years, and financed almost entirely by one patron, Dieter Rosenkranz – had been used for a string of respectable solo presentations by artists such as Simon Starling or Candice Breitz; but what the programme lacked was a real sense of direction. Maybe that was because it didn’t have a proper director who actually would have some surprising ideas and create a sense of coherence. Instead it had a board of too many advising curators. Now it seems to do better without that board, though still without a proper director; in any case, the concept of asking artists to curate shows could prove more rewarding, starting with a nicely odd show entitled ‘Scorpio’s Garden’ by Danish artist Kirstine Roepstorff that makes good spatial use of sculptural works by Julian Göthe or Isa Genzken (to be followed by a show curated by Karin Sander). The outside skin of the building also has been used in a simple, but effective way by Bettina Pousttchi who turned it into a black-and-white, ghostly distorted Echo of the Palace of the Republic demolished not so long ago, right next to the spot.
(pt. 2 soon, followed by a slightly delayed write-up of recent art events in Stockholm)
While Germany wakes up this Monday to a new government, Berlin’s art scene – presumably – wakes up to a big hangover after a crazily busy art week in the city. When last Thursday mayor Klaus Wowereit participated in a panel discussion entitled ‘Does Berlin need a Kunsthalle?’ at Hamburger Bahnhof Museum (coinciding with myriad art events in Berlin, including the art fair, ‘art berlin contemporary’, and tonnes of gallery openings), he confirmed his intention to build one. But whether he’ll still be concerned with this question in the near future is the big question after yesterday’s general election in Germany. His party, the Social Democrats, lost by a landslide, and in Berlin – where Wowereit still had a comparatively strong standing – it didn’t fare much better.
Of course there are bigger questions now, with a coalition of Merkel’s conservatives and the liberal party now in power. But in any case Wowereit’s coalition partner in the Berlin senate, the leftist Die Linke, was significantly strengthened, and they don’t favour a Kunsthalle at all, playing it off against other budgetary commitments. On top of that, given the sorry state of the SPD, it might well happen that Wowereit will turn to bigger tasks at the head of the party.
Given that the plan for a Kunsthalle still seems written in the stars more than anywhere else, there seemed to be one agreement though between most of the panellists – including artists Monica Bonvicini, Olafur Eliasson and art critic Niklas Maak of the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung – that a new building, rather than using an existing structure, is the way forward, favouring a more adventurous take on contemporary architecture (and the Humboldthafen, a spot just across from Hamburger Bahnhof, right next to the central train station). The question is whether Maak’s argument against pompous landmark gestures à la the Guggenheim Bilbao, favouring instead structures actually suiting the needs of art (which was also confirmed by Bonvicini and Eliasson), really registered with Wowereit, who hasn’t shown much interest to date in listening to artists or art critics. After the change in the political landscape, this might now happen, in order to boost credibility – or the project will get axed all together.
Meanwhile the Temporäre Kunsthalle – a white cube box built by Viennese architect Adolf Krischanitz – attempts a relaunch after months of struggle. The structure – temporarily established last year in the spot where the Hohenzollern palace is planned to be rebuilt in coming years, and financed almost entirely by one patron, Dieter Rosenkranz – had been used for a string of respectable solo presentations by artists such as Simon Starling or Candice Breitz; but what the programme lacked was a real sense of direction. Maybe that was because it didn’t have a proper director who actually would have some surprising ideas and create a sense of coherence. Instead it had a board of too many advising curators. Now it seems to do better without that board, though still without a proper director; in any case, the concept of asking artists to curate shows could prove more rewarding, starting with a nicely odd show entitled ‘Scorpio’s Garden’ by Danish artist Kirstine Roepstorff that makes good spatial use of sculptural works by Julian Göthe or Isa Genzken (to be followed by a show curated by Karin Sander). The outside skin of the building also has been used in a simple, but effective way by Bettina Pousttchi who turned it into a black-and-white, ghostly distorted Echo of the Palace of the Republic demolished not so long ago, right next to the spot.
(pt. 2 soon, followed by a slightly delayed write-up of recent art events in Stockholm)
