Alois Nebel – Graphic Novel by Jaroslav Rudiš and Jaromir 99 (AID Berlin + Czech Centre Berlin)

On 12 January 2013, the exhibition “Alois Nebel – Graphic Novel by Jaroslav Rudiš and Jaromir 99” will open on two parallel locations: Akademie für Illustration und Design Berlin (AID Berlin) and Tschechisches Zentrum Berlin (Czech Centre Berlin). Jaroslav Rudiš and Jaromír “Jaromir 99” Švejdík show the origination process of their successful three-volume graphic novel about the life of train director Alois Nebel (2003-2005), that has been made into a film in 2011 by Tomáš Luňák (and was awarded the European Film Award 2012 as best animated feature film. “Alois Nebel” addresses the issue of the forced displacement of Sudeten-Germans from Czechoslovakia after the end of the Second World War.

Jaromir 99 (* 1963) lives in Prague as comic artist, painter and musician. Jaroslav Rudiš (* 1972) works as author, screenwriter and playwright; he writes in Czech and German and lives in the Czech Republic and Germany. Continue reading “Alois Nebel – Graphic Novel by Jaroslav Rudiš and Jaromir 99 (AID Berlin + Czech Centre Berlin)”

Erik Schiemann: The Day is Coming (Sprechsaal, Berlin)

From 11 January to 10 March, Sprechsaal in Berlin presents photos by Erik Schiemann. The artist, born in 1963, is dedicating himself to the people, the traces and atmospheres in locations such as Auschwitz, Ravensbrück, Buchenwald and Belzec. His pictures show former inmates and young people, damaged lives and wounded landscapes. A selection of some 30 pictures from a series of 60 black and white photos will be shown: portraits, thoughts and landscapes from the past seven years, supplemented with parts of Schiemann’s work “c’était son monde” from 1995.

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Wartist presents: “Peaceful Places” by Henning Kappenberg at ARD-Hauptstadtstudio, Berlin

We are pleased to announce our next exhibition at the both centrally located and well-visited ARD-Hauptstadtstudio in Berlin. The single show “Peaceful Places” of Berlin-based artist Henning Kappenberg circles around landscapes and maps: what do we see in landscapes, and what do we think we see? Maps, on the other hand, do always represent a political system. Curated by Martin Bayer, the exhibition will be opened on 17 January 2013.

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Margaret Bourke-White: Photographs 1930-1945 (Martin-Gropius-Bau, Berlin)

From 18 January until 14 April 2013, Martin-Gropius-Bau Berlin presents the exhibition “Photographs 1930-1945” with numerous works by American Margaret Bourke-White (1904-1971). In a male-dominated world, she successfully fought for her position: she shot the title of the very first Life magazine of November 1936 and continued to work for this and other magazines. Not the least her pictures from World War II became famous throughout the world. Continue reading “Margaret Bourke-White: Photographs 1930-1945 (Martin-Gropius-Bau, Berlin)”

C/O Berlin moves to Amerikahaus to Berlin-Charlottenburg

For two long years, the future location – and thus the future – of the renowned photography gallery C/O Berlin was insecure. On 12 December 2012, a contract was signed that grants C/O Berlin from 1 September 2013 a new home in the former Amerika-Haus in Berlin-Charlottenburg, only a few yards away from Berlin Zoo station and the Museum of Photography. Congratulations and lots of success at the new location!

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Upper-Class Barbarians: Masquerades of Systemic Violence (ratskeller, Berlin)

From 8 November 2012 until 18 January 2013, ratskeller – Galerie für zeitgenössische Kunst (town hall cellar – gallery for contemporary art) in the basement of the town hall of Berlin-Lichtenberg presents the group show Barbaren der Oberschicht – Maskeraden systemischer Gewalt (Upper-Class Barbarians – Masquerades of Systemic Violence). An interesting contribution are Florian Göttke’s book and video installation “toppled”, addressing the countless statues of Saddam Husseins in Iraq: after Hussein was toppled, his statues shared the same fate. From symbols of his power, they became icons of his downfall, quite fitting to the dictator who at the end was pulled from a hole in the ground as dirty fugitive with a matted beard.

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Nina Paley: This Land is Mine

The US cartoonist, animator and cultural activist Nina Paley (* 1968) produced the animation short film “This Land Is Mine” as part of her project “Seder-Masochism” about the Exodus. This mean little film can also be seen as a more than fitting comment to the most recent fighting in Israel and the  Gaza Strip. More information about the people shown in the film can be found on Nina Paley’s blog, or, to quote the artist: “Because you can’t tell the players without a pogrom!”

 

This Land Is Mine from Nina Paley on Vimeo.

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Newzealand: Haka for Fallen Comrades

Not just on the occasion of today’s Volkstrauertag (people’s mourning day in Germany, introduced after the First World War) it is fascinating to look beyond one’s own nose: how are the dead remembered elsewhere? An impressive example is shown in the following film from New Zealand, where soldiers perform a traditional haka.

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Tony Vaccaro: Retrospective – 70 Years of Photography (Willy-Brandt-Haus Berlin)

From 22 November 2012 until 27 January 2013, Freundeskreis Willy-Brandt-Haus Berlin presents a retrospective with 100 photos spanning seven decades by the US photographer Tony Vaccaro. Not the least in Germany, Vaccaro – who will turn 90 years on 20 December this year – is known best for his pictures from the Second World War and post-war Germany: since the Normandy landings in 1944, he fought in the European theatre of war. Until 1949, he worked for Weekend, a supplement to the magazine Stars and Stripes. After his return to the USA, he was photographer for magazines such as Life, Look and Flair.

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On Borders (Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin)

From 9 November until 30 December 2012, Berlin-based Haus der Kulturen der Welt (House of World Cultures) presents the photo exhibition “On Borders” as their second cooperation with the photo acency “Ostkreuz”. The agency’s 18 photographer addressed various issues of the exhibition’s subject: borders can be territorial, but they also divide social spheres or can divide inner and outer boundaries. Borders can be visible and invisible, cross-social or individual. Continue reading “On Borders (Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin)”