“You killed me first” at KW Institute
We can look forward to another week of exciting movie screenings and great openings: KW celebrates cinematic perversity and New York’s Rock’n’Roll-times with their exhibition about the Cinema of Transgression, Werner Herzog introduces individuals who have been sentenced to death, Bertien van Manen documents the habits of Russian peasantry and Alicja Kwade spins around in circles. See all details after the jump…
Monday, Feb 13
Some serious business to start with: The 62. Berlinale offers several talks, which are connected to previous screenings. These talks are dedicated to rather delicate issues, because “some topics simply demand more attention and a broader platform than the time allotted to them usually allows”, as Festival Director Dieter Kosslick comments. The death penalty is one of these issues and it will be discussed after the screening of Werner Herzog‘s four-part series Death Row, which shows interviews with individuals who have been sentenced to death. It starts at 15h at the Haus der Berliner Festspiele (Schaperstr. 24).
The Berlinale only takes place once a year, so why not see some more movies? In the framework of the category Berlinale goes Kiez, a couple of arthouse cinemas around Berlin are involved in the official program and become cool venues far away from all the glamour at Potsdamer Platz. The Passage cinema in Neukölln (Karl-Marx-Straße 131) for instance screens Paziraie Sadeh (Modest Reception, directed by Mani Haghighi, 18.30h) and Forum Dictado (Childish Games, directed by Antonio Chavarrías, 21.30h). Unfortunately it is not possible to book the tickets in advance, so you need to be there earlier.
Wednesday, Feb 15´
We heart Berlin and we heart the art of city. Die Kunst der Stadt serves as the title and topic for an artists talk, which is held at Berlinische Galerie (Alte Jakobstraße 124-128, Cafe Dix, 19h). The artist and publicist Thomas Eller talks with the architect Friedrich von Borries and the photographer Olaf Unverzart about Berlin’s architectural future.
Friday, Feb 17
Galerie Buchholz (Fasanenstr. 30) features the exhibition Invented Acoustical Tools 1966–2012 by American avantgarde artist Tony Conrad. His works mirror the artists exploration of inventing an instrument that could be played by two people “in which the performers are connected physically by amplified wires stretched by their bodies”. The opening reception takes place from 19-21h.
Galerie Johann König (Dessauer Strasse 6-7) and their young protegee Alicja Kwade spin around In Circles, presenting the newest sculptures by the rising conceptual artist. The private view takes place from 18h until 21h.
The popular Dutch photographer Bertien van Manen travelled through the most deserted placed in and around Russia: She visited Siberia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan – and she documented the people who she stayed with. Let’s sit down before we go refers to a Russian tradition of taking it easy and holding still in the moment before leaving. Van Manen’s stunning photographs are shown at Robert Morat Galerie (Kleine Hamburger Straße 2). The opening starts at 19h.
Saturday, Feb 18
One day before the Berlinale ends, KW Institute of Art (Auguststraße 69) produces an absolute masterpiece video-exhibition, presenting the important protagonists of the avantgardistic 1980s movement Cinema of Transgression. The movement which was born in New York’s Lower East Side dealt with everything that used to be censored or tabooed, such as sex, AIDS, excess, criminality, prosperity and drugs. Aiming for shock and provocation, the associated artists, such as Richard Kern, Casandra Stark or David Wojnarowicz, have influenced the following generations of filmmakers. The opening of YOU KILLED ME FIRST takes place from 19-22h.
AGGTELEK takes a very poetic piss on “never ending conceptual work…” with the exhibition “The Speaker” at Exile Galerie in Kreuzberg. Click here to see the trailer. If you acquired a taste for the psychedelic trash, visit the opening which takes place from 19-22h at Skalitzer Strasse 104.
Anna-Lena Werner is a graduate art theorist, writer and freelance curator. On her blog artfridge.de, she collects interviews with emerging artists and other creative people, talent discoveries and exhibition reviews from Berlin, Cologne and London. For the next weeks, Anna-Lena will write The Weekly Art Guide on iheartberlin.
Alicja Kwade “In Circles” at Galerie Johann König
Bertien van Manen,”Let’s sit down before we go”
Death Row, 2012 © Werner Herzog Film GmbH
Death Row, 2012 © Werner Herzog Film GmbH
Tony Conrad ”Invented Acoustical Tools” Instruments 1966 – 2012
AGGTELEK “TheSpeaker” at Exile Galerie
