On 28 May 2013, the exhibition „Landscapes & Memory“ by Hamburg-based photographer Jo Röttger will open at Bayerisches Armeemuseum (Bavarian Army Museum) in Ingolstadt. In 27 large-format photos with their picture language that reminds of romanticism, Röttger approaches landscapes and identity while addressing desire and alienation as well as the ongoing war in Afghanistan. A bilingual catalogue will be published on the occasion of the exhibition, curated by Martin Bayer (Wartist).
Throughout history, songs have addressed war and accompanied the soldiers. Many “soldier’s songs” found their way into everyday life. On 7 December 2011 at 1930h, a recital with soldier’s songs from five centuries will take place at Erich Maria Remarque-Friedenszentrum (E.M. Remarque Peace Centre) in Osnabrück as part of the supporting programme to the exhibition “Grensgevallen – Grenzfälle” (border cases). Günter Gall (vocals, guitar, dulcimer, lyrics) and Konstantin Vassiliev (guitar, reed organ, compositions) present their new programme “Es geht eine dunkle Wolk herein”(a dark cloud is approaching) with German and Dutch soldier’s songs.
Soon, THE art event of 2011 is about to begin: on 4 June, the 54th Biennale di Venezia, curated by Bice Curiger with this time’s title “ILLUMInazioni” will be opened. Again this year, critics will point out how very outdated national pavillons are in the time of globalisation. And again this year, the many national pavillons will demonstrate the different ways of (re)presenting art.
On 5 December 2010, Deutsche Oper Berlin(German Opera, Berlin, one of the three operas in Berlin) premiers Hector Berlioz’sopera Les Troyens(The Trojans). It was as recently as 1969 that this double opera (created 1856-1858) was shown in its full length of some five hours for the first time. The impressive work addresses the horrors of war: Troy perishes, the survivors fight in Carthage against an attacker, and this continued to be a never-ending story even after Aeneas and Carthage’s queen Dido have fallen in love with each other: decisions and fate tear them apart again; at the end, death remains.
10 Years ago, on 24 March 1999, Operation Allied Force had been started, commonly known as the Kosovo War. The satirical version of a Beach Boys song from the USA was used in 2002 by some Norwegian peacekeepers to make a music video, leading to diplomatic disturbance some years later. The result is still amusing – not the least because of the timeless and transferable text.
