About the Kunstraum Kreuzberg/Bethanien – Gallery and Programme
Kunstraum Kreuzberg/Bethanien is an exhibition space for contemporary art with a focus on current social and cultural issues. Central to the projects here are the meaningful contextualisation of themes and consideration for diversity, internationality, and local relevance.
At 450 sqm. and with over 200 running metres wall surface, the space is well suited to mid-size exhibitions. Around six exhibition projects take place in a year, some of which are realised as a collaborative effort with other institutions, curators or artist groups. Additional programs such as tours, films, discussions, and artist talks function as reinforcement to the exhibitions. Given our own limited budget, we rely heavily on third-party funding and partnerships for our projects. Kunstraum Kreuzberg/Bethanien is an organisation of the Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg District Council.
Kunstraum Kreuzberg/Bethanien owns a collection of round 450 artworks, which includes art from Hans Baluschek, Erich Büttner and other artist, who lived in Kreuzberg like Hanefi Yeter, Akbar Behkalam, Luise Grimm or Christa Eichler.
Built in 1847 by the order of Frederick William IV, Bethanien is a former
hospital designed by Theodor Stein and continued to serve as one until 1970.
The fight for Bethanien's survival began immediately thereafter; plans to
demolish and replace the building with social housing were countered through
occupation, citizens' intiatives and conservationists. Since then, the building
has offered space for cultural and artistic institutions. Aside from Kunstraum
Kreuzberg/Bethanien, there are the BBK Berlin printing studio, artist studios,
project spaces for exhibitions and theater and dance, the Friedrichshain
Kreuzberg district music school...
More Informations (unfortunately only in german): www.kunstquartier-bethanien.de
Stéphane Bauer has been the director of Kunstraum
Kreuzberg/Bethanien since 2002 and is responsible for its program and organisation.
He read sociology and worked for the Federal Association of Student Cultural
Work (Bundesverband Studentischer Kulturarbeit) in Bonn. He later received
an assistantship at the Berlin University of the Arts (Hochschule der Künste)
and since 1990, he has been the managing director of the Kunstamt Kreuzberg
(District Department of Culture). Stéphane Bauer has been curating
exhibitions in Berlin at the Kunstraum Kreuzberg and the Neue Gesellschaft
für Bildende Künste since 1997.
You can read a curatorial statement and the biography of Stéphane Bauer at www.goethe.de
Programme 2011
Until 13th February 2011
ID – Contemporary Art Indonesia
ID -- Contemporary Art Indonesia is a project by Nya Luong and J.C. Lanca
in cooperation with Kunstraum Kreuzberg/Bethanien and is funded by Hauptstadtkulturfonds.
The exhibition in Berlin features an extensive residency program, and continues
an cross-cultural dialogue between Indonesia and Germany that began in 2007.
It presents a thematic consolidation of the initial phase of the project
"HomeSweetHome" [30.10.-24.11.2007] that brought nine German artists
to Yogyakarta. Berlin, October 2010: ID - Contemporary Art Indonesia concerns
the versatile letter-pair 'ID', presenting eleven artistic positions, and
with the exhibition itself being in constant transformation up until the
closing event. ID is the abbreviation for Indonesia as well as 'identity'.
Photographs, drawings, installations and videos from international artists
look at the topics of national, virtual, individual and collective identities.
The question of national identity forms an important discourse bridging
the conflictive area of the topoi of the self. "We don't only wish
to present contemporary art from south east Asia's archipelago to a German
audience, to encourage interest or tolerance for the other." J.C. Lanca,
the co-founder and coordinator of the project, emphasises. "We are
more interested in reflecting upon the frontiers that exist between the
self and the other and trying to dissolve this through a process of reciprocal
exchange." Instead of being just empty words, the artistic approaches
attribute meaning to the topic of cross-culturalism.
The majority of works were created and produced with the exhibition in Kunstraum
Kreuzberg/Bethanien in mind. The artistic manager, Nya Luong is monitoring
the conceptual process and realisation of the pieces.
There will be an accompanying program including symposiums, themed tours
and a film program curated by Philip Widmann in the cinema FSK, Kreuzberg
and an exhibition catalogue will be published.
Artists: Sally Moira Busse, Setu Legi, Yudi Noor, Sara Nuytemans & Arya
Pandjalu, Rebecca Raue, Nadin Reschke, Prilla Tania, Rizki Resa Utama, Jorinde
Voigt, Otty Widasari & Andang Kelana: Forum Lenteng [collective], Anang
Saptoto: Ruang MES 56 [collective]
26 February until 25 April 2011
Opening: Friday 25th February 2011, from 7 pm
Beyond RE Production. Mothering. Dimensions of social reproduction
during neo-liberalism.
An exhibition project by Felicita Rauschling in cooperation with Kunstraum
Kreuzberg/Bethanien, funded by Hauptstadtkulturfonds.
Motherhood and the image of solicitousness has become an junction for many
neo-liberal political discussions that interconnect with contemporary upheavals
within the organisation of biopolitics and social reproduction. The exhibition
is to be part of a feminist discussion process that on the one hand takes
a look at the dilemmas facing mothers in employment as well as tackling
the topic of a modern form of female vocational migration, namely paid care
work.
Artists: Ditte Bjerg und Filippa Berglund, Lizza May David und Claudia Liebelt,
Margi Geerlinks, Lisa Glauer, Sybille Hofter, Natalia Iguiniz, Elzbieta
Jablonska, Verena Jaekel, voyage 15840, Lenka Klodova, Kate Kretz, Christine
Lohr, Migrants Rights Centre Dublin: Migrants Domestic Workers speak through
Art, Tracey Moffatt, Janina Möbius, Dulce Pinzón, Heike Ruschmeyer,
Mary Sibande, Moira Zoitl
7 May until 19 June 2011
Opening: Friday 6th May from 7 pm
URBAN NOISE
An exhibition at Kunstraum Kreuzberg/Bethanien, curated by Maik Schlüter
Urban Noise: Architecture and social happenings, the everyday and representatives,
contemporary and historical, functional and decorative, official and unofficial.
Things that can be easily expressed and separated by terms are, in reality,
entangled, out of focus, alterable and, depending on the perspecitve, visible
or invisible. Noise does not just describe clattering, din or sounds, but
also almost implausible frequencies that can subliminally influence moods
and points of view. It's not just about conspiracy or manipulation - facts
about social life are central issues that become separate, unclear, and
acquire more levels of meaning than are initially noticed, with pieces of
the puzzle sometimes fitting together but the pictures disintegrating thereafter.
All works in the exhibition intersect with urban space, take on reflective
qualities, invent or copy images: Photography as installation, single images
as sequences, documentation as fictions or collages as intervention within
real spaces. One sound is overlaid with another as visual frequencies become
distorted, dissolving the specificity of the terms.
Events on 14 May and 28 May as part of the "Long night of Books"
and as part of "Bethanien Summer Fest".
Artists: Diana Artus, Jakob Kolding, Eiko Grimberg, Stephanie Kiwitt, Christine
Schulze, Tomek Mzyk und Korpys/Löffler
2 July until 28 August 2011
Opening: Friday 1st July from 7 pm
NOMADIC SETTLERS – SETTLED NOMADS |
A project by SAVVY Contemporary Berlin cooperation with Kunstraum Kreuzberg/Bethanien.
Curator: Bonaventure Soh Bejeng Ndikung, Co-curators: Simone Kraft, Pauline
Doutreluingne
The group exhibition NOMADIC SETTLERS – SETTLED NOMADS belongs to
a triptych of exhibitions dealing with an extensive topic, namely the manifold
facets of people in their own environment. Parts 1 and 2 took place in Autumn
2008 and 2009: THIS WORLD IS NOT MY HOME and CONSCIENCES AND FRONTIERS.
with NOMADIC SETTLERS – SETTLED NOMADS finishing up the series as
part 3.
The exhibition features young international artists based and working in
Germany and additionally some selected artists from surrounding European
countries will contribute their view from 'the outside'. All of them have
been asked to look into the paradoxes found in people's characters that
on the one hand foster a desire for 'foreign' things and on the other harbour
a desire for homeland. The artists have developed individual perspectives
and new pieces, formulating their own points of view and personal commentary
upon the topic defined within the exhibition concept. The aim is not to
find answers but rather to pose questions, uncover and emphasize problems
and encourage contemplation. The artists' diverse international backgrounds
facilitate cultural exchange, further allowing the exhibition visitors to
experience not only differing individual perspectives but also to come into
contact with the diversity of artistic media implemented, such as photography,
drawing and painting, installation, sculpture, video and performance. An
exhibition catalogue will be produced. Further information can be found
at www.settlednomads.wordpress.com.
Artists: Yasmin Alt (Germany), Lars Bjerre (Denmark), Marcio Carvalho (Portugal),
Rudy Cremonini (Italy), Dalila Dalléas (France/Algeria), Yingmei
Duan (China), Roberto Duarte (Chile), Antje Engelmann (Germany), Surya Gied
(Germany/South Korea), Michael á Grømma (Denmark), Satch Hoyt
(UK), Lan Hungh (Taiwan), Paul Huf (Germany/Mexico), Bruno Jamaica (Portugal),
Magda Korsinsky (Germany), Christina Kyriazidi (Greece), Cyrill Lachauer
(Germany), Christoph Ndabananiye (Ruanda), Inês d'Orey (Portugal),
Soavina Ramaroson (Madagascar), Joris Vanpoucke (Belgium), Michael Zheng
(USA/China)
10 September until 23 Oktober 2011
Opening: Friday 9th September, from 7 pm
Chicks on Speed – Cultural Workship Now!. Exhibition
– Concert – Workshops – Talks with Chicks on Speed and
friends
A project by Kunstraum Kreuzberg/Bethanien and Chicks on Speed, curated
by Stéphane Bauer and funded by Hauptstadtkulturfonds.
Chicks on Speed are an artist collective that was initiated in 1997, and
stem from the Academy of Fine Arts, Munich, founded by Melissa Logan, Alex
Murray-Leslie and Kiki Moorse. Even though the group constantly resists
genres and first and foremost produces shows, performances and multiples,
there exists a diverse visual output that has never before been presented
within a larger framework in Germany.
The exhibition project at Kunstraum Kreuzberg/Bethanien has collected the
differing artistic strategies of Chicks on Speed as part of a large show
that combines art, fashion, music, technology and performances, accentuating
the importance of this group's interdisciplinary, experimental and subversive
approaches in art since the end of the 1990s up until now.
The aim is to present Chicks of Speed's lively and various production methods
and also to reflect upon the importance of this post-feminist group concerning
strategies, empowerment and self-assertion of female artists.
The project is made up of 2 main parts:
A central exhibition that presents artworks and videos highlighting Chicks
on Speed's diverse approaches to art, fashion, music and performance.
An accompanying program with 20 artists in Kunstraum Kreuzberg/Bethanien
who have collaborated with Chicks on Speed and whose work incorporates categories
central to Chicks on Speed's production methods, including D.I.Y., "bricollage"
or feminist approaches.
An accompanying program featuring concerts and parties, workshops and discussions.
5th November until 15th January 2012
Opening: Friday 4th November, from 7 pm
„Let the Rhythm Hit 'Em“
An exhibition project at Kunstraum Kreuzberg/Bethanien, curated by Matthias
Mayer with invited artists.
Can people be made conscious of art without music? Does music not give us
the assurance to allow us to find a piece of art acceptable or to even urge
its creation? Are we, prior to the emergence of art, already fulfilled by
music, or does music drive us to begin processes of production? Vice-versa:
Do we not always have some kind of image in mind when listening to all kinds
of music, an emotion that forges us to further design images, objects or
concepts?
This group show includes installation and participatory works, videos and
performance, presenting a particular meeting point of music and art. Paired
with live performances a kind of track-course will emerge, illustrating
the current transboundary nature of contemporary art production.
Artists: Oni Ayhun, David Blandy, Matthew Burbidge/ Sonja Ostermann, Diego
Castro,
Sophie Clements, Die Tödliche Doris, Jérôme Chazeix, Jan
Christensen/ Anders Fjøsne/ Marcel Dickhage, Frederik Foert, Ingo
Gerken/ Matthias Meyer, Hellmut Hattler, Max Hattler, Eno Henze, annette
hollyood, Hervé Humbert, Patrick Jambon, Uwe Jonas, Khan, Franziska
Lantz, Julia Lazarus, Arto Lindsay, Matthias Mayer, Noriko Okaku, Kirsten
Palz/ Jens Christian Madsen, Daniel Permanetter, Katrin Plavcak, Reto Pulfer,
Egill Sæbjörnsson, Scanner, Veronika Schumacher, Michael Witte,
Ina Wudtke amongst others.
Continuous projects and cooperation projects over the year:
Offensive Kulturelle Bildung
Kunstraum Kreuzberg/Bethanien will in 2011 continue with both school partnership
schemes with the Fichtelgebirge Grundschule and the Kurt-Löwenstein-Hauptschule
(new: Röntgen-Schule) and develop, implement and present activities
within cultural education both in Kunstraum and the schools. Both partnerships
will be accompanied and funded by the PWC-fund special project and the Offensive
Kulturelle Bildung/Kulturprojekte in Berlin. In particular, the so-called
'Partnership Room' (Raum der Patenschaften), a specially reserved room within
Kunstraum's exhibition space in Bethanien, will be used again for exhibitions
and projects of the partner schools and activities revolving around cultural
education.
Raum der Patenschaften and Projekt Kulturelle Bildung Present:
16th February 2011 from 6:30 pm
Bohemians
A cultural education project by Berliner Gazette, in cooperation with the
Kurt-Löwenstein-Hauptschule (new: Röntgen school), OSZ-Handel
and Kunstraum Kreuzberg/Bethanien
On the 16th February at 6:30pm, Berliner pupils and students will exhibit
photos, videos and sounds they have produced as part of the BOHEMIANS seminar
project with artists that took place during the previous weeks. Their topic
is self-portrayal in everyday circumstances: From job interview to Facebook.
The seminar was conceived by the Berliner Gazette and was realised between
the 1.9.2010 and 19.1.2011 at three different educational institutions in
Berlin: OSZ Handel 1 (Kreuzberg), Röntgenschule (Neukölln) and
SRH Hauptschule (Charlottenburg). The pupils and students dealt with the
topic of self-portrayal both in theory and in practice. The questions they
explored included the following: How does my Facebook profile image from
the one on my CV? What is an authentic self-portrait? Do we become actors
in order to ensure success both privately and in our vocational lives? Two
editors of the Internet newspaper 'Berliner Gazette', (www.berlinergazette.de),
Sarah Curth and Krystian Woznicki, have been running the seminar. Guest
lecturers were: Dirk Dresselhaus (musician), Marcel Eichner (programmer),
Antje Majewski (artist) and Joerg Offer (video director). During the seminar
texts, photos, sounds and videos were produced.
Kunstquartier Bethanien:
Saturday, 28th May 2011, 2 pm until...
Summer Festival in Bethanien
On Saturday the 28th of May 2011, from 2 pm until late into the night, the
new Kunstquartier Bethanien - a fusion of all the cultural and artistic
institutes and facilities within the main Bethanien building - will put
on a large 'Festival' in order to draw attention to the different activities
and diverse new (and old) attractions within the building and also to strengthen
new co-operations between the institutions. The festival is intended to
impact upon the socio-cultural context of the immediate neighbourhood and,
at the same time, prove to the entire city that Bethanien is full of new
energy. The negative headlines in the previous years and the resulting uncertainty
of both the public and users of the facilities will be opposed by a self-assured
and exciting image of this new start.
We will be picking up on the tradition of the Kunstamt Kreuzberg's (1996-1999)
'Summer festivals in Bethanien' concept and link this with the tradition
of the music school's summer festival. Several stages (on the rondel in
front of the building, in the inner yard at the open air cinema and in the
café/restaurant '3Schwestern') will host bands from the music school,
local district newcomers and other 'dynamo' acts. The artists' studios will
be open and will also serve as event venues. The print workshop will offer
special tours and workshops and the Fontane pharmacy (the only place that
is preserved in its original state from the time of the hospital and as
Theodor Fontane had created it in order to educate pharmaceutical assistants
between 1848 and 1849) will be host to lectures and special tours dealing
with the history of the building and its surroundings. The theatre platform
(former studio2, ground floor and 3rd floor) will host public rehearsals
and shows and the theatre and media centre will host events. The exhibitions
at Kunstraum Kreuzberg/Bethanien and in the project room 1 will be open
well into the night and also used as a venue for smaller events. The Patenschaft
Raum for cultural education will show a school project. The open-air cinema
will show a silent movie with live accompaniment. In front of the house,
the south wing and in the courtyard, socio-political projects and projects
with kids and young people will be on show for the entire day. There will
be a special programme for kids and young people (face-painting, theatre,
music, puppet shows, magicians etc.) Finally, there will be a long party
night at '3Schwestern' featuring several DJs...
The aim of the festival is to (re)position the building and its attractions
as a socio-cultural centre in the this part of the city and thus make people
aware of the citywide importance of Bethanien as a place of advancement
in cultural and artistic production and presentations.
Long-time discussions surrounding squatting, relocation of the Künstlerhaus
Bethanien GmbH and new concept planning have led to great irritation and
uncertainty that have damaged the image of the house. The Kunstquartier
Bethanien wants to present its new image to the outside world!
This is only possible if this 'festival' does not become a conventional
or 'normal' event but implements artistic qualities and particularities
the institution provides in the areas of education, facilitation, curatorial
practice, documentation etc. and make these tangible. The festival also
intends to explore new forms of cooperation that can be continued in the
future.
Stéphane Bauer (Kunstraum Kreuzberg/Bethanien), Ulrike Philippi (Music
School Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg), Louis Schneider (Freiluftkino Kreuzberg)
and Michael Böhl („3Schwestern“) are responsible for the
coordination of the festival.
Kunstquartier Bethanien – Studio 1:
12th November until 11th December 2011
Opening: Friday 11th November, from 7 pm
Reconsidering Rroma - Aspects of Rroma and Sinti-Life in Contemporary
Art
An exhibition project from Lith Bahlmann in collaboration with Matthias
Reichelt funded by Hauptstadtkulturfonds, with the amicable support of Kunstraum
Kreuzberg/Bethanien
The exhibition Reconsidering Rroma - Aspects of Rroma and Sinti-Life in
Contemporary Art intends to present a selection of actual positions within
contemporary art from internationally renowned, as well as lesser shown
Roma and non-Roma artists, who examine and reformulate self and outside
images of Sinti and Roma in their work.
The Sinti and Roma people have, over the centuries, mainly been objectified
and described by non-Roma. Besides the actual self-reflection and self-disclosure
by a younger generation of Roma intellectuals and Roma artists, there are
also more and more artistic works emerging from non-Roma artists who are
dealing with this 'projected' image of Roma and Sinti. They tackle the issue
of the view of 'the other' and question the mechanisms of current formats
and construction of representation and identity, reflecting upon images
and clichés that we come across as non-Roma and Roma ironically deconstructing
these. The exhibition opening will present multiple viewpoints, allowing
as large a space for reflection as possible, and the juxtaposition of autostereotypes
and heterostereotypes should lead to a fruitful and perceptive dialogue.
A critical discussion concerning the genocide of Sinti and Roma will form
a further focal point within the project and its accompanying program.
The intention of the project is to counteract old and new antiziganism,
from historical responsibility and, in the face of social challenges, to
bring the growing migration movement into the light, as the effect of synergies
between repressed and acute racism present a social danger that should not
be underestimated.
We want to enlist to the post-colonial discourse with Reconsidering Rroma
that represent notions of pluralism, the transcultural and artistic politics
of difference, critically scrutinizing the way in which the European economy
and artistic disciplines of non-European peoples and cultures – colonised
or not – have been constituted as 'the other'.
The intention of this project is to deconstruct the myth of 'the other'
in an exemplary fashion, (in other words Roma as the other), whose culture
is not foreign because of geographic distance but rather that the proximity
feels foreign to us.
An exhibition catalogue and accompanying project website are planned.
Artists: Delaine Le Bas (*1965, GB), Norbert Szirmai (*1981, HU), János
Révész (*1984, HU), Mladen Stilinovic (*1947, KR) Karl Stojka
(1931- 2003) Tamara Grcic (*1964, D) Daniel Baker (*1961, GB), Nihad Nino
Pusija (*1965, BiH) László Moholy-Nagy (1885 - 1946 HU/ D/
USA) Dávid Szauder (HU), Ceija Stojka (AT), Sanja Ivekovic (KR)
Rooms 136 & 139 – 1st floor. Kunstquartier Bethanien:
March until December 2011
Tokyo Wondersite at Bethanien
Exhibitions, presentations and residency program of the institution 'Tokyo
Wondersite' as part of the cultural exchange year between Berlin and Tokyo.
Coordination: Mamoru Tsukada
Rooms 134– 1st floor. Kunstquartier Bethanien:
January until December 2011
Momentum
Exhibitions, presentations and film programme organised by the international
organisation 'Momentum'.
Coordination: Rachel Rits-Volloch
Momentum, initiated in 2010 in Sydney, is a global platform for time-based
art including video/film, performance, new media and sound art. The platform
combines a carefully selected group of artists, art galleries and experts
and wishes to create a global network of practictioners, decision-makers
and theoreticians who connect beyond global locations and are engaged with
time-based artistic praxes, live performances as well as media-based performances.
Momentum manifests in regular events that bring together cultural producers
in the framework of exhibitions where the frontiers between commercial,
non-commercial and academic spheres are consciously blurred in order to
rethink the established models of institutional practice. Between the events,
Momentum offers its members a community and mediates artistic residencies
and exhibitions.
Momentum opens its newly created exhibition rooms in Berlin with a presentation
of video pieces that have been generously provided by participants as part
of our founding event in Sydney. We present six leading international galleries,
six performances, five international curated programmes and provide a project
space for six local artists to make new work. Parallel to a total of 32
artists, we have invited 32 global leading experts in art to a series of
specially developed lectures and podium discussions that can be viewed alongside
the video pieces from momentum artists from Australia and Europe. Sydney
/ Berlin / Worldwide is Momentum / Berlin's inauguration exhibition.
Galleries that have participated in worldwide Momentum events are invited
to present time-based work that follow the general focus of Momentum on
film/video, performance, new media and sound. The following galleries currently
belong to the Momentum network: Anna Schwartz (Sydney, Melbourne), DNA (Berlin),
Roslyn Oxley9 (Sydney), Starkwhite (Auckland), TaiK (Berlin, Helsinki),
4A Zentrum für Zeitgenössische Asiatische Kunst (Sydney).
Project room 1:
January until July 2011
BISAR – Berlin International Skateboard Artists Residence
Exhibitions, presentations and residency programme from Oxylane
Art Foundation, curated by Chiara Santini Parducci and Adrian Nabi (curator
of Backjumps and the Street-Art exhibition at Kunstraum Kreuzberg/Bethanien)
BISAR's residence is organized with artists living and working during 6
monthes in a common space, open on a city sensitive to the forms of contemporary
expressions and to the public.
The vocation of this artistic approach is to favor the mutual influences,
the birth of particular synergies around the same subject of study: the
skateboard.
BISAR proposes a cycle of lectures on skateboarding that are open to all
every Thursday from April 7 to June 30 2011 at the Kunstraum Bethanien in
Berlin.
This cycle of encounters aims to explore the multiple facets of a common
passion through the intervention of specialists (sociologists, architects,
research workers, video creators, etc.) from different fields. It will present
new ways of looking at this shared activity, sport (?) and lifestyle and
hearing about different ways to approach it. The BISAR project will provide
a venue for bringing together experts and enthusiasts, artists in residents
and the audience through presentations, lectures, multimedia broadcasts,
exhibitions, etc.
For
more infos...
Artists: Brad Downey, Dave The Chimp, Matthias Leinke & Mischa Wermkauf,
Jacques Floret, Andrea Belfi
Coordination: Stéphane Bauer and Adrian Nabi
Status: 24.01.2011