Afghanistan | Wartist

Harun Farocki: Serious Games I-IV (Videoart at Midnight, Berlin)

On Friday 25 January 2013 at 2400h, the project Videoart at Midnight presents the four video installations Serious Games I-IV (2010) by the German documentary filmmaker and media artist Harun Farocki. Since some four years, the collector Ivo Wessel and the gallery owner Olaf Stüber present video art once a month at the cinema Kino Babylon in Berlin-Mitte. The four works by Farocki address training methods by the U.S. military and computer-based support of soldiers affected by post-traumatic stress disorder. Passing between war games, war simulations and real war seems to become increasingly fluent.

Steve McCurry: In the Flow of Time (Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg)

From 19 January until 16 June 2013, Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg shows the exhibition “In the Flow of Time – Photographs from Asia 1980-2011” with pictures by Steve McCurry. Thus, the colourful work by the US photographer (* 1950) will be presented in Germany for the very first time. The exhibition consists of 115 images by the Magnum photographer from countries such as Afghanistan, India, Cambodia, Kuwait, China or Nepal: “I see it was the vibrant colour of Asia that taught me to see and write in light”. While quite many of his photos appear to be arranged, he refuses this method and solely takes photos of moments happening, on which the exhibition’s title is referring to.

Ahmadi Oil Fields, Kuwait, 1991

Camels and oil fire, Kuwait, 1991

Sandwiched between blackened sand and sky, camels search for untainted shrubs and water in the burning oil fields of southern Kuwait. Their desperate foraging reflects the environmental plight of a region ravaged by the gulf war. Canby, Thomas Y. (August 1991)

"The first Gulf War taught us a new lesson in unconventional conflict. Saddam Hussain's army filled the skies of southern Kuwait with black poignant smoke from the burning oil lines. It was a powerful, debilitating symbol. And there was another. McCurry, who was covering the war, saw camels running in terror from the fires. Both images -whether of the fires or of the animals- were powerful representations of the chaos of that time. Central to McCurry's reputation as a journalist is his discipline to wait, and to search, and then to recognize the most telling image. The juxtaposition of the fire and smoke and camels running amok creates an icon of that war." - Phaidon 55

National Geographic, Vol. 180, No. 2, pgs. 2-3, August 1991, The Persian Gulf: After the Storm

Phaidon, 55, Iconic Images, final book_iconic, final print_milan, iconic photographs

As his army retreated from Kuwait, Saddam Hussein ordered the ignition of the oil fields that scatter the country. The effect was an ecological disaster of unimaginable scale. These camels are running from the fires. It is a futile effort: soon they will covered in oil that rails down from the sky.

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Iconic_Book
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Markus Georg Reintgen: “War – Fathers and Sons” (Anti-War Museum Berlin)

© Markus Georg Reintgen: Deutscher Panzer (C-Print, 81 x 54 cm, 2009)

Photo artist Markus Georg Reintgen is addressing war and violence in his work (see also the Wartist article about his series “Remember September”). The exhibition “Krieg – Väter und Söhne” (War – Fathers and Sons) at Anti-War Museum in Berlin (20 October 2012 to 6 January 2013) will show (digitally altered) photos on this subject. Continue reading

“AKA Peace” Live Auction at Phillips de Pury & Company, London

After having been on show at ICA London (26-30 September 2012), the 24 works of “AKA Peace” will be auctioned on 4 October 2012 at 1930h at Phillips de Pury & Company in London versteigert. An illustrious group of contemporary artists (e.g. Mat Collishaw, Gavin Turk, Jake & Dinos Chapman, Sarah Lucas, Damien Hirst, Antony Gormley and Bran Symondson, initiated by the latter) dealt with the highly symbolic assault rifle AK-47 for the charity organisation Peace One Day.

Damien Hirst: Spin AK-47 for Peace One Day, 2012 (64 × 87.5 × 26.5 cm)

Till Ansgar Baumhauer: “Collateral Creativity” at okk, Berlin

Till Ansgar Baumhauer presents his exhibition “Collateral Creativity” at okk/Raum 29 in Berlin from 29 September until 7 October 2012. The exhibition is about connecting the Thirty Years’ War in Germany (1618-1848) with the experience of contemporary Afghanistan that is looking onto a history of more than thirty years in war. Continue reading

“The Prose of Events” Opened at ARD-Hauptstadtstudio, Berlin

Sorry, this entry is only available in German.

Wartist presents: “Jens Kloppmann – The Prose of Events” at ARD-Hauptstadtstudio

We are pleased to announce another exhibition at ARD-Hauptstadtstudio, Berlin: “Die Prosa der Ereignisse” (The Prose ov Events), to be opened on 7 February 2012. Several cycles and other individual works by Jens Kloppmann will form a cross-section of his work. Both the materials and techniques used are manifold and reach from video installations and retouched photos to plaster casts and fretworks, to name a few. Ulrich Deppendorf, Head of ARD-Hauptstadtstudio, will open the exhibition that is curated by Martin Bayer . This exhibition, too, will be kindly supported by Deutsche Atlantische Gesellschaft e.V. and SONY Deutschland.

Luftkampf, 160x80cm (©2003 Jens Kloppmann)

“War” – Photographs by James Nachtwey at the Military-Historical Museum, Dresden

From 12 February until the end of May 2012, the Militärhistorische Museum (MHM, Military-Historical Museum of the Bundeswehr¹) in Dresden will show the exhibition “Krieg” (war) with photographs by James Nachtwey. He is one of the most important contemporary photojournalists; not the least, he is famous for his touching pictures from zones of war and conflict. Nachtwey will receive the Dresden Peace Award; in this course, he will open the MHM’s first special exhibition after its recent reopening. Krieg will include some 60 of his works, including his impressive 11m-long frieze that had only been on show in two exhibitions in the USA and France.

German Armed Forces ↩

“Es geht eine dunkle Wolke herein”: Soldier’s Songs from Five Centuries

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.

Markus Georg Reintgen: “Remember September”

Ten years have now passed since the attacks of 9/11 on the USA that profoundly changed the world. Artists try to cope with these traumatic events, including disabled artists such as Markus Georg Reintgen (* 1963 in Nastätten, Germany) in his series “Remember September”.

©Markus Georg Reintgen: Jet (Lambdaprint/Aludibond, 180 x 65 cm, 2003)