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Levi Strauss & Co. Europe Avenue Arnaud Fraiteur 15-23 1050 Brussels, Belgium
Now Is Our Time.
People who work for progress all over the world are standing up and fighting for something, rather than against something. From New York to New Delhi, Amsterdam to Auckland, Beijing to Buenos Aires, San Francisco to São Paulo, Bombay to Berlin, there are pioneers among us who provoke us, make us think, and fill us with awe. Pioneers are people who aren’t afraid to start the conversation, get dirty, and speak out in defense of what’s right. They have a sense of responsibility, and they are willing to step up and create the world they want to live in. In this publication, Berlin edition, we look at pioneers who are at work in Berlin right now. This city has experienced a great deal of change in recent decades. To recover and reinvent itself, Berlin has relied on creative rebels and the social groups who strive to give the city a renewed sense of purpose. Whether it’s helping young people at risk, creating provocative imagery in the form of street art, or generating smiles with a microphone, these pioneers are relentless, visionary, and inspiring. We salute their hard work and the work of all those who toil for the better. The Levi’s® brand believes in the pioneer spirit and that there is a part in all of us that will not rest, will not turn away, and will not cease until we have left the world better than we found it.
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BERLIN’S BIG BROTHER FAD I SA AD
Fadi Saad is on a personal mission to bridge the worlds of Berlin and help youth at risk avoid lives of violence and drugs. “Berliners can live in the same city yet be in completely different worlds,” says Saad. “My own past motivates me to help other young people.” Saad grew up as one of Berlin’s lost children. Without a proper role model, he got involved with a gang. However, despite overwhelming obstacles and pressures, Saad changed the course of his life. He now works in the Moabit-East Community Organization and also serves as a youth advisor in area schools. “I’ve been working with children, adolescents, and families in deprived areas since 2002.” Saad decided to be the role model he never had. He now works to improve integration and understanding between different cultural centers within the city. He believes he can find ways for communities with Arab backgrounds to feel comfortable in a Central European culture. Saad does his
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Fadi is wearing 501 ® special-edition “120 Years of 501 ®” jeans and a Levi’s® Engineered Jeans® t-shirt
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best to take time to listen and give kids good advice, which for many of them is more than they’ve ever been given. He laments the fact that he can’t reach every at-risk youth, but it doesn’t stop him from trying. He makes a difference in the lives of the children he meets, and they, in turn, make a difference in his. “My goal is to be a mirror for these kids,” Saad says. “I show them the consequences of their actions so they don’t end up going the wrong way. Each young person that doesn’t end up in jail is a success.” Saad has written a book about his theories and educational practices. Titled Der große Bruder von Neukölln (The Big Brother from Neukölln), the book expounds on themes of equal opportunity and inclusiveness. It’s put Saad at the center of the issue and added his voice to advocating for young people who would normally exist at the fringe. The book has been praised for enriching the integration debate in Germany.
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Part of Saad’s method, of course, is being open to suggestions and collaborating. “If you ask for their opinion and give them the feeling that you’re listening and that you care, they will feel responsible. And responsibility results in role model behavior.” For Saad, good results stem from mediating between the many communities of Berlin and immigrants. By taking on the role of mediator, he tries to bring these cultures closer together. “People who can do this best are those of us who are active in both worlds.” Saad expresses the fact that this responsibility can, at times, be heavy and challenging, but it also fills him with great pride. “My job will be complete when they are able to deal with their future by themselves.”
Find out how you can help Saad help the children of Berlin at www.fadisaad.de
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THE EYE OF THE EAST SIDE S ven M arquardt
Into the night, world travelers head for a gigantic former power plant that pulses with techno music. It’s a beacon, a high-intensity music venue called Berghain in Friedrichshain, Berlin. But before they pass through the gates into the early hours of the morning and a mass assemblage of dancers, they must face Sven Marquardt, one of the planet’s most famous bouncers. Marquardt has seen a lot. His memories and ties to the past are lurid. He grew up in the former Communist bloc of Berlin, where he became an acclaimed photographer. But with the unification of Berlin, Marquardt became curious and uncertain about his future. The transition for him would be difficult. “When the wall came down in 1989, I was already 27, and in this new day for a unified Berlin, I felt a bit self-conscious at being from the east. Something changed for me. I briefly lost my passion for photography and started to search for other jobs. I was undisciplined, I partied a lot—-this was the time when I started to work as a doorman. This was my way to dive into a new life in a new time. I don’t regret a moment of this time.” Marquardt is a connector. He is a bridge from the former division to the new Berlin. His photography now connects as well. His recent book, Zukünftig Vergangen (In the Future Past), chronicles his photographs from 1984 through 2009. Within the imagery there is a gap during
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Sven is wearing the Levi’s® Vintage Clothing Trucker denim shirt
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the ’90s, reflecting Marquardt’s time of uncertainty. Perhaps the unification of Berlin took time for him to grasp and understand. And yet his work melds these two time periods, before and after. The early pictures are from the ’80s. “It was in 1982, I believe, when I got invited to have breakfast in an artist’s household, the home of Robert and Jenny Paris, friends of mine. Their parents are artists, and their mother, Helga Paris, is the photographer that ended up mentoring me. They had this amazing, big, and beautiful apartment. I started taking pictures of the people there, giving them instructions like where to stand to get the best light. I took some of my favorite pictures I have ever taken here. Helga Paris saw my pictures and she asked to see more—-it was a great honor for me.”
happened with music as well. Techno music, along with other musical innovations, flooded across the former border. Berghain is a capital for this experimentation, and it’s fitting that Marquardt minds the door. “As doorman, I still have a lot of fun. I don’t party too hard anymore . . . but with my job, I’m still part of the scene.”
Together with Helga Paris, Marquardt was a member of the GDR Artists’ Association. “We were young, innocent punks, a new generation of photographers, and she was fully supportive and definitely paved my way.”
On a good night, the atmosphere at Berghain is enjoyable to Marquardt where, despite now being a published author and photographer, he continues to work the door. He’s old enough to remember clearly what life was like, learning photography in the former East Berlin. That gives his work a feel not many others have, taking photography to a place only he can call his own. Oddly, Marquardt is someone who feels most alive in a graveyard. Judging by his looks alone, you may not want to run into this man in a dark alley. But the truth is, he’s a nice person with a unique perspective on Berlin’s past, and future. The unifier. “Now, seeing what the city has become—-two halves becoming whole—-I feel a great sense of pride at having grown up in East Berlin.”
Marquardt’s later pictures have been described as portraits of humans from the night world. Here we see an explosion of expression with body piercings, tattoos, and subjects with exaggerated physiques. In a way, this outpouring of creativity and freedom may echo the collapse of the Berlin Wall and its effect on creative culture in Berlin. We see this in what
To see more about Sven Marquardt’s work as photographer, visit these web sites: marquardtfotografie.com ostgut.de/booking/artist/25
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HOLDING A MIRROR TO THE CITY vari o us & g o uld
Deserted factory buildings, naked walls, and secluded areas are Berlin’s pearls. These are also the favorite spots of Berlin-based artists Various & Gould, a creative duo that began in 2005 with a shared love of Berlin’s open, free spaces and do-it-yourself attitude. The city walls on which they paste bespoke silk-screen collages are carefully chosen. The collages are infused with hidden messages and seamlessly incorporated into Berlin’s colorful nooks. Their art begs for interpretation, offers insight, and provokes thought about current events and social issues. For Various, a name the artist took because of a love for various artistic styles, her work began with an eye-opening experience while walking outside in Berlin. “I saw a pasting by Swoon on the Oberbaum Bridge. The piece really stuck with me. That was a key moment where I thought immediately--my eyes are open in a way they weren’t before. After that, I noticed the city in a different way.” This awakening, married with the duo’s love for craft and expression, gave rise to a number of projects involving wheat-pastes and actions. “We have a love of paper, an enthusiasm for accidental beauty in everyday life as well as collaborations with artist friends, and above all, working in the public space. Our mutual interests are at the core of our teamwork.” One of Various & Gould’s projects is the Identikit series. Here they address clichés associated with
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Various is wearing Levi’s® Curve ID jeans, and Gould can be seen in the Levi’s® Tab Twills jeans
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immigration, a sensitive topic and not only in Europe. Various & Gould made portraits of famous German, French, and American people who are in some way linked to the subject of immigration. Then, in a style reminiscent of a children’s face puzzle, the images are cut into interchangeable strips, with endless variations. There is also a series of words on strips so the faces can be swapped out with iconic labels such as cities, names, religions, and clichés. “The result is patchwork identities that confront you with your stereotypes,” says Various. “It’s also about communication,” explains Gould. “Working in the streets is a way of making yourself feel like a part of the society and the city, and, at the same time, it tells the other citizens that they are worth being an audience and being given a gift by a stranger. When people understand that they and their city are being appreciated and are the recipient of so much effort, it can give these people an understanding of what it means to be living in a society.” Adds Various, “The things that move us flow into the art, and the art flows onto the streets.” As their art infiltrates society, society finds its way into their art. Immigration and emigration, the disappearance of old professions, the ever-evolving sexual identity of modern Berlin--these are all things Various & Gould confront in a playful, vibrant way. There isn’t really one single message in their work, but there are a lot of issues and questions incorporated. “The 9
themes are not always obvious at first sight,” says Various. “Imagine it being music. Maybe you like the melody at first, and then after a lot of times listening to it you catch the lyrics.” Art was never just a hobby for them; it’s a belief, a passion. It’s work. This thinking also manifests itself in the project called Rabotniki, which is Russian for “workers.” In a series of wheatpaste postings, Various & Gould show how technology has become a part of the worker by creating imagery that combines humans with machines. The postings are a cheer for the worker and an homage to the changing realities of human interaction in manufacturing and manual labor. Pointing out these changes in Berlin and the world at large is at the heart of Various & Gould’s ideas. “Our work was always more of a profession,” says Gould, “and that profession is our goal. It was exciting initially when we started working on the road, but it has transformed over time from being about pure fun, toward professionalism. We try to keep fun in our work, and it is fun, but it’s also a lot of work. There is always a belief and a passion behind it.”
See more work at www.grobgrafik.de/en or contact Various & Gould at info@grobgrafik.de
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COMING AT YOU LIVE FROM MAUERPARK JOE H ATCHIBA N
Don’t be surprised if you suddenly become the star of a live karaoke concert while strolling through Mauerpark on a Sunday. A microphone plugged into a full sound setup might be handed to you, and hundreds of adoring and demanding fans could be cheering you on. The idea for this spontaneous music event belongs to Gareth Lennon, better known as Joe Hatchiban. Hatchiban has been staging street karaoke for the past few years and is now permanently located in Mauerpark’s outdoor amphitheater on Sundays. Hatchiban’s karaoke sessions in the park have become a Berlin sensation, with upwards of 1,500 people from all walks of life joining in on the fun. “Early in 2009, I started stopping people and asking them to sing karaoke on the streets of Berlin,” says Hatchiban. “A little later, I hit on the idea of going to the amphitheater in Mauerpark with my gear on a Sunday.” This was an experiment to see the effects karaoke would have on the crowds that came to the park for the flea market. “Of course I was also curious to see if people might stick around, watch, and hopefully take part too.”
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Joe is wearing Levi’s® 514™ Slim blue jeans
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The experiment took off, and now it’s a Sunday standard. For Hatchiban the concerts are a rewarding experience that unites Berlin in live performance. “There’s a very strong feeling I get immediately afterwards. There’s a satisfaction with having been closely involved with hundreds of interesting, decent, funny people for an afternoon.” The group concerts are an appropriate event for Mauerpark. The park was created after the Berlin Wall was dismantled in 1989. Mauerpark (literally, “Wall Park”) borders the Prenzlauer Berg district of former East Berlin and the Gesundbrunnen district of former West Berlin. The park is located in a zone that was known as the “Death Strip”—-an empty area between the wall structures, dividing the eastern wall from the western wall. In other words, Mauerpark is at the very focal point of division and reunification. This makes the park both a commemoration of a reunified Berlin and a new stage for citizens to meet and sing together as Berliners.
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Every Sunday, Hatchiban sets goals for his karaoke concerts. “I have a checklist: Somebody under the age of three must receive a standing ovation for singing a nursery rhyme a cappella. Eighty people have to do the Macarena. My voice has to go hoarse from singing along. And there has to be at least one marriage proposal.” Today the Mauerpark area is one of the most popular places for young people to live. It’s known for its lively street performances and vibrant nightlife. Hatchiban has formed an emotional attachment to the park and his concerts. “The best is when I get goose bumps all of a sudden,” he says. “And then I look around and see that a bunch of others have gotten them too.”
Find out more about Hatchiban and his karaoke at www.bearpitkaraoke.com Mauerpark Gleimstraße 55 10347 Berlin
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the uniform of progress L evi S trauss & C o .
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S T R A I G H T
TA P E R
At Levi Strauss & Co., we have been making blue jeans and apparel since 1873. We take the process of designing, assembling, and manufacturing our garments seriously. In many ways, the passion of those who wear our jeans is manifested in our attention to detail and the pursuit of quality and craftsmanship. Whether it’s the original 501® jeans or newer cuts such as the 508™ or the 510™, the tradition of making sturdy jeans for those who strive for better is at the heart 12
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of what we do as a company. This has led to the Levi’s® Water‹Less™ products that we have begun to introduce across our product range: we have used a process that reduces the amount of water used in the finishing of our jeans and already has saved millions of liters across the globe. And so we forge ahead with you. We will continue to make the uniform of progress as long as you continue to demand progress both from us and from the world around you. 13
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MITTE’S inside man J O H A N N H A E H L I N G VO N L A NZ E NAU E R
In 1996, as a 19 year old punk, Johann Haehling von Lanzenauer moved to Berlin. He arrived from BadenBaden, a picturesque little city in the Black Forest, and jumped straight into the dirty Berlin underground. Working as a DJ, creative consultant and journalist von Haehling quickly made friends in the Berlin street art and graffiti world. Soon he became one of the premier voices in Berlin’s booming urban art scene. In 2001, he founded Circleculture Gallery— together with former MTV personality Dirk Staudinger. Highly influential urban artists like Shepard Fairy, Marco “Pho” Grassi, JR, XOOOOX, Jaybo Monk and Barry McGee have all shown work there.
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Johann is wearing Levi’s® Red, first edition
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“The only rule for the artists showing at the gallery was: No rules! The artists should act free, radical, and outside the classical white cube gallery culture” von Haehling asserts. One immediately gets the impression that for Johann, art is a profession to be taken extremely seriously. Johann feels that just like any other business, professionals should be working every day. He has little love for amateurs and dabblers. People wanting to show their work in the Circleculture gallery, had better be prolific, unique, progressive, and able to prove that they aren’t 15
just a flash in the pan. By being earnest about his profession, and holding the artists to the same standard, he continues to elevate Berlin’s popular art. Von Haehling is panning for gold, in a river he feels is overfull with pyrite. Who will be Berlin’s next art superstar? Keep your eyes on the Circleculture Gallery to find out.
The Circleculture gallery can be found at: Gipsstrasse 11 10119 Berlin-Mitte, Germany Tuesday – Saturday 12pm – 6pm www.circleculture-gallery.com
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written in stone VHILS
Urban art can often feel ephemeral. Mostly, it can quickly be repainted and forgotten. Not so with the work of Vhils (born Alexandre Farto), a prolific artist from Portugal. Though he is versed in collage and portraiture, the works that have set him apart are his “carvings.” With hammers, chisels, and power tools he literally rips away plaster, brick, and paint from a wall, creating a relief image in photo-realistic detail. His art is vandalism in the purest sense: he has to destroy to create. The pieces are powerful, striking, and belie belief. His pieces must be seen, and touched, to truly grasp the intensity of an image scraped, scratched, and ripped into being. The energy he puts into each creation permanently transforms the surrounding environment.
nature of everything nowadays with graffiti, trains, the sharp contrast created between the decadent revolutionary murals and the ideals they upheld and the glamorous appeal of advertising. These are two opposing systems of beliefs which, in a way, end up fighting over the visual space that composes the city.”
Vhils’s most recent pieces depict the faces of four true Berlin pioneers whom we admire and have written about in this issue of Levi’s® Go Forth™ publication.
Vhils sees his work as semiarcheological. He is dissecting the layers and trying to understand what lies beneath. “I believe we are all composed of many different layers of social and historical fabric, which ultimately form us. The environment we live in is the product of this same process of layering, and I
“I am inspired by the complexities of the urban environment,” Vhils says. “The chaos, the ephemeral
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Vhils is wearing Levi’s® Monochrome jeans
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Vhils seeks to question the urban reality we live in and the system that supports it. “It’s a process of critical questioning. I find this interesting and important, without the pretense of actually providing any answers. Each series has its own unique message, but what I’m trying to achieve overall, as far as the process is concerned, is to focus on the act of destruction as a creative drive.”
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believe that by removing and exposing some of these layers—-by destroying them—-we might be able to reach something we lost along the way.” Vhils got into graffiti at the age of 10 and became interested in art at a later age. His canvas was the south side of Lisbon, Portugal. Today his work has appeared and been featured around the world. He cites his main influence as the graffiti scene in Lisbon but also adds another dimension that is topical and current. “Growing up where I did,” Vhils says, “the single most important influence on me was the presence of the old political murals from 1974. I didn’t look at these as being art, but they moved me. I remember the contrast these murals posed alongside the growing presence of advertisements.” Vhils’s collaboration with the Levi’s ® brand at the time of Bread & Butter 2011 in Berlin is meant to honor all those pioneers in Berlin and in cities around the world who work for positive change.
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Berlin stands as both a promise and a reminder. It is a city that has endured a violent division and an overwhelmingly emotional unification. It stands as an example of what can be done when ideas and creativity spread without borders, without barriers, and with the exuberance and free expression of those who embody the pioneer spirit. The collapse of the wall is perhaps the single most symbolic moment in a Europe united by the principles of freedom, democracy, and the pursuit of happiness for all who would come to find it. Each new challenge, each new obstacle, each new debate makes Europe more resolved to find new ideas and answers. It makes us stronger. It fuels our spirit and is ageless. There is no turning back. The unification of Berlin is the result of people who saw
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beyond politics, saw beyond the naysayers and the critics. Apathy is dead. The world can be what we all make of it. The time for personal responsibility has found us. Now is our time to realize that opportunity is directly in front of us. We must devote our energies to progressive change. We are humbled by those Europeans who dare to dream, dare to work, and dare to strive for better times. The world looks to Europe as an example, as a model of what can be. And the world looks to Berlin as its proof that there is a universal desire for equality and creativity in a free world forever moving forward.
Go Forth™.
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A Community-Based Screen Printing Workshop
alte MÜnZe.
aM KrÖGel 2
EckE NEuE JüdENstrAßE.
07/0718/08 Collaborations daily Workshops: With sven Marquardt: July 13-17
Fadi saad: July 2 0 - 2 4 Johann haehlinG von lanZenauer: July 27-31
Klub7: A u g u s t
sCreen printinG
basiCs
3-7
Joe hatChiban: August 10-14
Free
advanCed sCreen printinG
and open to the public:
W e d n e s d ay – F r i d ay
12:00-22:00 teXtile printinG s at u r d ay – s u n d ay 11:00-21:00 follow us on TwiTTer: @levisworkshopberlin
w w w. l e v i . c o m / p r i n t w o r k s h o p B e c o m e a fa n : w w w. fa c e b o o k . c o m / l e v i s