edition 21 magazine of the Goethe-Institut in AustraliA
FESTIVAL EDITION
SEPTEMBER 2010
e b o t e c a the pl . t r a r o f
Berlin – city of art and culture. Berlin offers classical and contemporary art lovers everything they could possibly want, including the UNESCO World Heritage Site complex of Museum Island, countless galleries and constantly changing exhibitions. The WelcomeCard makes your journey of discovery even easier: It gives you fulltime access to Berlin’s public transport system and an up-to-50 percent discount at 140 highlights throughout the city. To find out more, visit www.visitberlin.de
be open, be free, be berlin. www.be.berlin.de
edition 21 magazine of the Goethe-Institut in AustraliA
Berlin Designs Somewhat Different — Contemporary Design Two German Architectures Stadt und Haus — New Architecture from Berlin Zeitgeist Becomes Form — German Fashion Photography
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Berlin Frames Hijacked 2 — Recent German and Australian Photography :06 Histrionics Hydra — Theatralik Scherben :07 Marc Schmitz :07 The Power of Language :09
Berlin Changes City of Change Goethe-Institut Open House/Guided Student Tours
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Berlin Screens German School Film Festival Ernst Lubitsch — The Love Parade Berlin on Film World Movies Nights
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Berlin Classics Atos Trio Berliner Philharmoniker Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra: Scharoun Ensemble Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra: 12 Cellists
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FESTIVAL EDITION
SEPTEMBER 2010
Berlin Nights Mouse on Mars Jazzanova Literature Like a Rock Concert: Bas Böttcher Russendisko: Wladimir Kaminer
Berlin Talks Young Capital Writers Imagining the New Berlin Hotspots: Culture, Climate and Architecture Germany, the Eurozone and the World Beyond
Berlin On Stage Electronic City A Woman in Berlin A Drink with Heiner Müller Jochen Roller: Basically I Don’t But Actually I Do
22: 24: 25: 25: 27: 29: 30: 33: 35: 36: 37: 38:
Berlin Waves 40: On ABC Radio National
50:
Berlin Dayz — Day-By-Day
My Berlin Experience Tell Us Your Own Story
Information correct at time of print (September 2010). For program updates check www.goethe.de/australia
acknowledgments publisher Goethe-Institut Australien www.goethe.de/australia Goethe-Institut Australien SYDNEY 90 Ocean Street, Woollahra NSW 2011 Ph 02 8356 8333 Fax 02 8356 8314 |Melbourne 448 St Kilda Road, Melbourne VIC 3004 Ph 03 9864 8999 Fax 03 9864 8988 editor Klaus Krischok, klaus.krischok@sydney.goethe.org coordinators Klaus Krischok, Claudia Kühn, Michaela Bücheler, Kathleen Waechter design and artwork Torkos Ploetz Design, Melbourne | berlin dayz logo Sander Dijkstra, Synsation proofreaders Rudi Foehner, Catherine Myson print Doran Printing Pty Ltd, Melbourne images The Goethe-Institut has taken every possible care to secure clear copyright permission for all images published here. Any enquiries to the editor front cover image courtesy Berlin Tourism and Marketing deadline for contributions 1 February 2011 circulation Current editions delivered in excess of 12,000 readers |Views expressed by the contributors are not necessarily endorsed by the Goethe-Institut. No responsibility is accepted by the publisher for the accuracy of third party content feedback please send your feedback to kultur@sydney.goethe.org or to the editor. disclaimer Information correct at time of print. For program updates please check www.goethe.de/australia
kultur SEPTEMBER 2010
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WILLKOMMEN Organised by • Goethe-Institut Australia Supported by • Foreign Office of the Federal Republic of Germany • Consulate General of the Federal Republic of Germany, Melbourne • be Berlin • City of Melbourne Official Airline • Lufthansa German Airlines Driven by • Audi • Yarra Trams Accommodated by • Medina — Adina Media Partners • ABC Radio National • Realtime • The World Movies Channel • Avantcard Major Program Partners • Arts House Melbourne • Australian Centre for the Moving Image • Australian Academy of Design • AGTV • Berlin Bar • Federation Square • Future Classic • Gallery of Australian Design • Ian Potter Museum of Art • ifa (Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen) • Malthouse Theatre • Melbourne Cinémathèque • Melbourne Recital Centre • Monash Gallery of Art • Musica Viva • Perth Concert Hall • RMIT Gallery • Sydney Opera House • Hoy Polloy Theatre • University of Melbourne • Wheeler Centre for Books, Writing and Ideas Further supported by • Becks • DB Schenker • Fresenius Medical Care • Schwarzkopf • Siemens
Herzlich Willkommen in Berlin — in Australia BERLIN DAYZ is your 2010 German-Australian Arts Festival — brought to you by the Goethe-Institut with the support of the German Foreign Office and our wonderful partners and sponsors in Australia. To many Australians, Berlin is a three dimensional history book of the 20th century. In contrast to this notion we now feature the enormous cultural and creative potential of the new German capital in the 21st century. And we combine it with the creativity of Australian artists and organisations! From high classic culture to pop and rock, from the stalls and balconies of concert halls to hazy bars — this festival offers many delights and opportunities to sample the best of what the Berlin and Australian arts scenes have to offer. While the festival focuses on venues in and around Melbourne, other Australian capitals will see a selection of what we can offer. Berlin to us is more than a city; it is a concept of multiculturalism, avant-garde art and creativity which expands well beyond its city limits into Germany, Europe and now also Australia! Viel Vergnügen — and enjoy the festival. On behalf of the entire team of the Goethe-Institut Australia, Klaus Krischok Director, Goethe-Institut Australia
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Message from the Consul-General of the Federal Republic of Germany
Message from the Lord Mayor of Melbourne
Together with the German Foreign Office and the Goethe-Institut Australia I am delighted to welcome you to BERLIN DAYZ. With this kaleidoscope of German and Australian cultural creativity and vitality we celebrate the 20th anniversary of German reunification. This is an appropriate occasion for showcasing the many facets of modern Germany and to highlight Berlin, a city with an extraordinary history. Today it has once again become one of the most dynamic and creative cosmopolitan cities with a vibrant and diverse art scene. This Festival will bring some of Berlin’s cultural highlights right into the centre of Australia’s cultural hub. During the next two months, BERLIN DAYZ will serve as a platform for showing the best of German and Australian culture and for exchanging ideas beyond geographical and language boundaries. We are delighted by the great interest of young and old in this event, which will greatly contribute to further enhancing the German-Australian partnership. I wish all visitors a wonderful experience! Enjoy this patchwork of great art and breathe a bit of Berliner Luft.
The City of Melbourne is proud to be a partner in the BERLIN DAYZ 2010 German-Australian Arts Festival. This festival presents the opportunity for a dialogue between two great cultural capitals, Melbourne and Berlin. BERLIN DAYZ highlights the strength of German culture, art and language and exposes many of our cultural institutions, including the Wheeler Centre and Arts House, to international cultural cooperation. With many festival events being held at some of our premiere cultural locations, BERLIN DAYZ gives Melburnians and our international visitors the added opportunity to make the most of what our great city has to offer, with our diverse retail, dining and entertainment options. So whether your tastes are more Sauerkraut than Joachim Löw, there is sure to be something for everyone at BERLIN DAYZ, or as we say in Melbourne, “Willkommen!”
Dr Anne-Marie Schleich Consul General of the Federal Republic of Germany, Melbourne
Robert Doyle Lord Mayor of Melbourne
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Message from the Governing Mayor of Berlin 2010 is an important anniversary year for Berlin: After the ‘peaceful revolution’ and the fall of the Wall, Berlin celebrated the reunification that came about after long years of division. In the meantime the German capital has undergone unparalleled change. A large number of new buildings have given new shape to Berlin’s skyline. But what has changed most profoundly since the end of division is the city’s atmosphere. A wind of change is sweeping through the city, the city is buzzing, and everything is in motion. Today’s Berlin is a cosmopolitan metropolis with a creative flair, rich cultural diversity and a strong international dimension. It has been the ‘place to be’ for creative and talented people from all over the world for quite some time now. They made great use of Berlin’s liberal atmosphere, developed new trends, and gave new momentum to their own artistic aspirations and the city as a whole. An Australian singer who succumbed to Berlin’s charm and decided to move to this city once said, “Berlin makes me a better musician, precisely because of all these contradictions, and because of everything I experience here”. Berlin is inspiring, and you feel it everywhere: in music, literature, film, dance, fashion, design, and architecture. BERLIN DAYZ in Australia offer interesting insights into the extraordinary creative work being done in our city — and they are trying to convey some of the original ‘Berlin feeling’ that makes this city in the heart of Europe so appealing. BERLIN DAYZ make Berlin tangible right here in Melbourne. My warmest thanks go to all the people who helped organise BERLIN DAYZ and I would like to wish them every success. I would be delighted if the cultural highlights from Berlin presented here were to have an ‘appetizer effect’, making you want to discover more of our city. On that note I would like to wish you a wonderful event, and I hope to see you in Berlin! Klaus Wowereit Governing Mayor of Berlin
Message from ABC Radio National ABC Radio National is Australia’s leading cultural broadcaster, bringing a wealth of skill and experience to communicating ideas and we’re thrilled to work with the GoetheInstitut to co-present some of the key public forums of the Berlin Dayz Festival, and to take those events to a national audience. With the support of the Goethe-Institut and other partners in this venture (including the Malthouse Theatre in Melbourne and Deutschlandfunk in Berlin) Radio National listeners in Australia, and around the world online, will be entertained and engaged by a diverse program of unique radio works that explore just what it is that makes Berlin one of the world’s great cities — including the premiere production of a new radio drama by one of Germany’s leading playwrights, recorded on the streets of ‘multikulti’ Berlin. Whether you’re interested in design and architecture, or new writing and performance, or politics and history, I’m sure you’ll find something to interest you in the Berlin Waves program, at events, online or on the radio. Kate Dundas Director, Radio Australian Broadcasting Corporation
berlin designs
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Somewhat Different — Contemporary Design and the Power of Convention Guests Volker Albus has curated this exhibition. He is an architect, designer and Professor of Product Design in Karlsruhe. Simone Hain is Professor of the History of Architecture in Graz, Austria and specialises in East German and Eastern European architectural history. Alan Saunders is a journalist and presenter of ABC’s Radio National, ByDesign.
© Ingo Maurer, Wo bist Du, Edison, …? (Where Are You, Edison, …?), Germany 1997, Serial product
Presented by RMIT Gallery Melbourne in cooperation with ifa (Institute for Foreign Cultural Relations) and the Goethe-Institut Australia.
01 Oct – 13 Nov Mon – Fri 11.00am – 5.00pm Sat 12.00 noon – 5.00pm Free Admission RMIT Gallery 344 Swanston Street Melbourne Tel: 03 9925 1717 www.rmit.edu.au/rmitgallery
Accompanying Events To book, please call: RMIT Gallery 03 9925 1717
Planning means Dividing Lecture with Simone Hain, RMIT Urban Architecture Laboratory Program Tue 05 Oct 9.30am RMIT University
This exhibition illustrates the great diversity of designs diverging from the conventional: the work of over 100 key German and European designers, many of them based in Berlin. The exhibition discusses the objects in terms of function, material, construction and content references. The bookshelf, the Persian rug, the easy chair: these generic terms alone trigger associations relating to the structural, decorative and configurative aspects of the objects. This is why designers deliberately subvert their general, conventional understanding to reveal their absurdity. The designs do not only provoke astonishment, but challenge the user to reflect on general expectations and codes of behaviour, as well as the context of firmly established notions and traditions. It is these ‘breaks with the power of convention’ that document the far-reaching changes which we currently witness in all areas of our daily lives and which manifest themselves in key phenomena such as mobility, migration, changing nutritional habits and many more. The exhibition at RMIT will be complemented by Melbourne designers’ MATERIALBYPRODUCT and Rowan Dinning, Screen Gown — subverting conventions of fashion, art, architecture and interiors as we know them. Form, Function or Fetish? Unpacking Contemporary Design. Public Forum Hosted by Alan Saunders, ABC Radio National ByDesign. Guests include Volker Albus; Malte Wagenfeld, industrial designer and RMIT University academic; Susan Dimasi, fashion designer; and Simone LeAmon, designer and contemporary artist. Tue 05 Oct 6.00pm – 7.30pm Storey Hall Auditorium Broadcast on ABC Radio National: Wed 13 Oct 3.00pm Sat 16 Oct 9.00am Developing the New Berlin Floor Talk with Simone Hain Wed 06 Oct 12.00 noon – 1.00pm RMIT Gallery
Contemporary Design and the Power of Convention Curator Floor Talk with Volker Albus Thu 07 Oct 12.00 noon – 1.00pm RMIT Gallery Exhibition Opening Reception and Launch of Berlin Dayz Program Thu 07 Oct 6.00pm – 8.00pm RMIT Gallery Victorian Seniors Festival Morning Tea Guided tour and German themed morning tea for seniors Fri 08 Oct 11.30am – 12.30pm RMIT Gallery
kultur SEPTEMBER 2010
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berlin DESIGNS
Two German Architectures
Gallery of Australian Design, Canberra 44 Parkes Place Parkes Southern Foreshore of Lake Burley Griffin Tel: 02 6273 1313 www.gad.org.au
More than 60 years after the establishment of the Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic, and 20 years after German reunification, this is the first attempt to survey the architectural achievements of the two German states. The exhibition approaches its subject with more questions than answers, tracing the diverging and converging aspects of the two apparently separate architectural discourses. It cites the cultural, political and economic context of the developments and examines the processes that have been made under different auspices in view of the history of the discipline itself. The exhibition does not claim to codify a binding ‘truth’, but is to be understood as an attempt to provide a new basis for comparative studies. It includes so far unknown material from West and East German archives. In the centre of consideration are the respective disciplinary debates about how to design homes and memorials, or how to give architectural form to the relationship between tradition and innovation.
Accompanying Events
Guest
Planning means Dividing Lecture by Simone Hain Tue 28 Sep 12.30pm – 2.30pm Faculty of Arts and Design University of Canberra
Simone Hain is the co-curator of this exhibition. She is Professor of the History of Architecture in Graz, Austria and specialises in East German and Eastern European architectural history.
Opening and Launch of Berlin Dayz Program Thu 30 Sep 6.00pm – 7.30pm Gallery of Australian Design Floor Talk with Simone Hain Thu 30 Sep 7.30pm Gallery of Australian Design
Berlin ist mehr ein Weltteil als eine Stadt. Jean Paul, Author
Presented by the Gallery of Australian Design, Canberra, in cooperation with ifa (Institute for Foreign Cultural Relations), Föderation der Deutschen Architektursammlungen (Federation of German Architectural Archives) and the Goethe-Institut Australia.
© Architect/Photography: Richard J. Dietrich, Metastadt, 1965
01 – 23 Oct Wed – Fri 10.00am – 4.00pm Sat 10.00am – 4.00pm Free Admission
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Stadt und Haus — New Architecture from Berlin 08 – 26 Oct Mon – Thu 9.00am – 5.00pm Fri 9.00am – 2.00pm Sat 9.00am – 1.00pm Free Admission Goethe-Institut 448 St Kilda Road Melbourne Tel: 03 9864 8999 www.goethe.de/australia
Berlin is one of those cities whose appearance has constantly changed over the centuries. For almost three decades after WWII the city was characterised by a demolition euphoria in which many historical buildings and medieval street networks were virtually wiped out. Half a generation after reunification, Berlin is still in a state of change in regards to its economy, social life, culture, and urban architecture. Only in the early 1990s did it gradually become possible to once again experience the centre of Berlin in its historical strata and standards of urban space, as well as in its variety of utilisation, but at the same time as a place of contemporary architecture. Berlin today is in a state of ‘critical reconstruction’. Philipp Meuser, the curator of this exhibition, states: “When one looks back upon the past years of Berlin’s urban development, the individual buildings may seem disappointing at times. In another sense, however, Berlin has world-standard designs to offer.”
Accompanying Event
Guests
New Architecture from Berlin Panel discussion on the architectural scene in Berlin of the past and present. Fri 08 Oct 6.00pm – 8.00pm Goethe-Institut, Melbourne RSVP essential, please email: arts1@melbourne.goethe.org
Claudia Perren is a Berlin and Sydney based architect, curator and critic. Simone Hain is the co-curator of the exhibition Two German Architectures. She is Professor of the History of Architecture in Graz, Austria, and specialises in East German and Eastern European architectural history. Adrian Iredale is Adjunct Professor at Curtin School of Architecture, Perth, and Director of Iredale Pedersen Hook Architects. Kate Shaw, ARC Research Fellow, Architecture Building and Planning, University of Melbourne.
© Philipp Meuser, Potsdamer Platz, Berlin, 2006
This exhibition is presented by the Goethe-Institut Australia in cooperation with Philipp Meuser Architekten, Berlin.
Zu den Zierden Deutschlands gehören seine Städte. Unter ihnen ist Berlin weder die älteste noch die schönste. Unerreicht aber ist seine Lebendigkeit. Richard von Weizsäcker, Politician
kultur SEPTEMBER 2010
my berlin
Claudia Perren
Berlin-grau
Claudia Perren is a Berlin and Sydney based architect, curator and critic. She will take an active part in various events during BERLIN DAYZ.
Berlins Farbe ist grau: Grauer Himmel, graue Häuser, graue Strassen, graue Mauer. Vor der Maueröffung 1989 bestand das Grau aus schwarz und weiss. Ich bin in den 70er und 80er Jahren in Berlin aufgewachsen. Da war alles politisch: schwarz oder weiß, egal ob man ins Theater oder Einkaufen ging oder eine Ausstellung besuchte. Kreative Köpfe versuchten sich in Grauzonen zu bewegen. Grau war auch das Stadtbild. In unrenovierten Häusern waren noch die Einschusslöcher des zweiten Weltkrieges zu sehen. Wer in Berlin lebte, lebte in einer besonderen Stadt, einer geteilten Stadt, mit Sackgassen, die an einer Mauer endeten: 3,60 hoch. Doch eines Tages hatten die Berliner genug. Sie kletterten drauf und drüber, brachen Stücke heraus, auch ich habe noch eins. Nach der Maueröffnung, in den 90er Jahren, war die Stadt immer noch grau, aber sie bestand nun aus unendlich vielen Farben, und jeden Tag kamen neue hinzu. Berlin erfuhr einen unglaublichen Zustrom junger Leute aus aller Welt. Kreative Köpfe, die den Neuanfang Berlins mit gestalten wollten, die hier Freiheiten fanden, die sie Zuhause vermissten. Berlin wurde die Stadt der Künstler, auch der Überlebenskünstler. Berlin war noch nie eine reiche Stadt, aber immer eine kreative Metropole. Geld spielt keine Rolle. Nicht weil man es hat, sondern weil es kaum einer hat. Wichtig sind Standpunkte, Interesse, das Neue, das Andere, Austausch und Offenheit. Das hat mein Denken und meine Arbeitweise stark geprägt. Ich bin Architektin, Kuratorin und Kritikerin. Und obwohl ich 2004 Berlin-grau gegen Sydney-blau getauscht habe, kehre ich immer wieder in mein Berlin zurück, für Projekte, Freunde und Familie. PS: Meine Tochter wurde 2001 in Berlin geboren, mein Sohn 2007 in Sydney. Sie kennen kein schwarz oder weiß, nur grau und blau.
www.berlin.de
Left: ©Claudia Perren / Right: © Berlin Tourism Marketing GmbH
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berlin designs
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Zeitgeist Becomes Form — German Fashion Photography 1945–1995 18 Oct – 12 Nov Mon – Fri 9.00am – 5.00pm Free Admission Australian Academy of Design 220 Ingles Street Port Melbourne Tel: 03 9676 9000 www.designacademy.edu.au
Accompanying events At Australian Academy of Design Comrade Couture Film screening Fri 22 Oct 1.00pm – 2.30pm
German Fashion Photography 1945–1995, curated by FC Gundlach, is more than just a simple history of fashion and how it was photographed. This exhibition offers an overview, comprising a myriad of facets, which covers 50 years of our lives and times. The pictorial language of the photographers, the model, her or his pose as well as the clothing, the background, and the technical quality of the photography take the viewer far beyond the respective ‘ins’, fads and trends of fashion. They provide information of extraordinary interest about the so-called Zeitgeist, about changes in society, codes of morality, and the feelings and longings of people at a certain point in time. The increasing internationalisation of fashion photos, beginning in the 1960s, is documented, along with the renunciation of a photographic ideal, which was most predominant in the illustration of details of the creations of a given couturier. The question of whether — in our “village of world media” (Umberto Eco) — a German dialect can be heard, is to be answered in this exhibition. Presented by the Australian Academy of Design in cooperation with ifa (Institute for Foreign Cultural Relations) and the Goethe-Institut Australia.
Opening Reception Tue 26 Oct 6.00pm – 8.00pm
© Wolfgang Tillmans, Susanne und Lutz for i.-D., London 1992
Fashion Accessories Show and Finissage Fri 12 Nov 6.00pm – 8.00pm
Mode ist der kürzeste Reflektor des Zeitgeistes, und der ist ein verdammt launischer Geselle. Karl Lagerfeld, Designer
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berlin FRAMES
Hijacked 2 — Recent German and Australian Photography
Monash Gallery of Art 860 Ferntree Gully Road Wheelers Hill Tel: 03 8544 0500 www.mga.org.au
Accompanying events Booking recommended: mga@monash.vic.gov.au Tel: 03 8544 0500
Floor Talk by Anne Lass Wed 27 Oct 6.30pm – 7.30pm Monash Gallery of Art
Building on the considerable success of the inaugural exhibition Hijacked — Australia and America, this show is an expansive photographic anthology that compels us to consider two socially divergent and disparate photographic nations: Germany and Australia are juxtaposed to stimulate conversation, suggest connection and invite deconstruction. Hijacked 2 showcases the diverse talents and perspectives of 32 contemporary German and Australian photographers. With a focus on the depiction and representation of the young, the boundary-riding, and fringe-dwelling, Hijacked 2 is layered with imagery both evocative and confronting, dreamlike and rousing. Curated by Mark McPherson in cooperation with Ute Noll (Stuttgart) and Markus Schaden (Cologne), Hijacked 2 aims to deliver a new perspective to Australian and German photography, which is not academically restrained, institutionally influenced or embedded in heavy-handed curatorial work. The works speak for themselves and are an emotional reflection of each culture. The selection of artists and imagery is not a definitive guide to Australian and German contemporary photography; it is a snapshot, a momentary survey and directed by the mindset and energy of young and emerging photographers.
Guests
HiJacked on the Big Screen Fri 29 Oct 7.30pm Federation Square
Anne Lass is a Berlin based photographer. Born in northern Germany in 1978, Anne studied at Folkwang Hochschule in the 1990s before moving to the capital. She is one of the main German contributors to Hijacked 2.
Field Trip with Anne Lass Sat 30 Oct 11.30am – 2.00pm Monash Gallery of Art
Mark McPherson is a publisher and curator based in Perth.
Opening Reception Sat 30 Oct 3.00pm Monash Gallery of Art
Presented by Monash Gallery of Art in cooperation with the Goethe-Institut Australia and the Australian Centre for Photography.
Fotografie ist sicher das geworden, was man ein Leitmedium in Kunst und Design nennen kann. Insofern lässt sich die Aussage wagen, dass die Fotografie perfekt im kulturellen Leben Deutschlands angekommen ist. R Sachsse, Design Historian
© Anne Lass, Untitled, Las Vegas 2004
30 Oct 2010 – 16 Jan 2011 Tue – Fri 10.00am – 5.00pm Sat – Sun 12.00 noon – 5.00pm Free Admission
berlin FRAMEs
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Histrionics Hydra — Theatralik Scherben 13 Sep – 07 Nov Fracture Gallery at Federation Square Atrium
© RMIT Gallery and Danius Kesminas
Fri 17 Sep 6.00pm – 9.00pm Opening night and a live performance by The Histrionics Free Admission
Danius Kesminas is the lyricist and co-lead singer of the ‘concept-art (heritage)-rock cover-band’ The Histrionics. His mechanised life-sized tableaux of band members commemorates the 10th anniversary of these legendary monsters of pedagogical art-rock. The installation features a new music video of The Histrionics performing their version of German cult band Ton Steine Scherben’s 1972 renegade anthem Rauch Haus. This song is about the occupation of the former Bethanien-Krankenhaus in Kreuzberg from the perspective of the squatting anarchists. The title derives from the name the squatters gave the former hospital after the radical activist Georg von Rauch, who was shot by police in 1971. Edited by film maker/ artist Antoine Prum and produced by writer/curator Boris Kremer, both based in Berlin, the video shows The Histrionics performing before historical footage of riots and protests around the eponymous Rauch Haus. The notorious revolutionary song features the refrain “Das ist unser Haus”, which became a slogan of defiance and resistance to gentrification. Curated and presented by RMIT Gallery. Live performances throughout. Please contact RMIT Gallery for more details 03 9925 1717.
Marc Schmitz 08 Nov – 17 Dec Mon – Fri 9.00am – 5.00pm Late nights and weekends for shows Perth Concert Hall 5 St George’s Terrace Perth
Space here is less a perspective opening as a window than a relation of the canvas to the viewer’s body. The power of the paintings in this series of artwork relies on the process of their creation. Marc Schmitz describes this process as an act similar to alchemy. The artist is playing with the energy of time and mixing the colours as a transformer in the artistic process. In his work Marc Schmitz reflects upon the power of time and space in the process of creation. There is no narration, mimesis or recollection. Associative and interpretative possibilities abound. The paintings confront one with the limits of what can be verbalised; force one to capitulate, as it were, before the language-transcending phenomenon of the picture. Without end or intention, Marc Schmitz appears as one of the few seminal witnesses of a time which is ridden with the issues of ‘globalisation’, ‘internationalisation’ and their conduit, ‘cultural hegemony’. Marc Schmitz (b.1963) is a German artist who lives and works in Berlin. Enquiries: Ainslie Gatt 0431 967 069 E: art@ainsliegatt.com.au www.ainsliegatt.com.au Presented by Ainslie Gatt in cooperation with Perth Concert Hall and the support of DB Schenker, Air Liquide and Marrie Wood Park.
kultur SEPTEMBER 2010
my berlin
Heidi Specker
I was visiting Berlin at the end of 1992 to celebrate Christmas and New Year’s Eve with friends living there. I fell in love with the city from the first moment, in love with the music and the street culture, the people and their honest edginess — just everything. Because of that, I didn’t care about anything anymore and just stood there amazed: Hey presto! It wasn’t planned, it just happened. After that week I never wanted to go back to where I was from or live anywhere else. I felt at home in Berlin and I had searched for this feeling for a long, long time. For 18 years now, I have been living and working in Berlin. The city still gives me a kind of joy-ride: it fits me like a glove and has forced my tempo. Over these years I found good friends and a great home base for my work. There is no other open platform in Germany, as open minded and international as Berlin. It’s just unique. The city changed from an divided grey German island way out East to a colorful international center for art, music and fashion. I still hate the strong and long grey and cold winters in Berlin. But the summer in Berlin and the blue sky is fantastic! Don’t want to miss Berlin Clubs and Bars, Berlin Biennale, Berlinale, Nationalgalerie, Tiergarten, 17. Juni, Akademie der Künste and the lovely, cheeky character of the Berliners.
Heidi Specker is a photographer based in Berlin. Her latest exhibition Help me I am blind was shown at RMIT Gallery Melbourne in July/August 2010.
© Heidi Specker
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www.heidispecker.de
berlin FRAMEs
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The Power of Language — Die Macht der Sprache — in Images 01 – 26 Nov Mon – Thu 8.30am – 11.00pm Fri 8.30am – 6.00pm Sat – Sun 11.00am – 5.00pm Free Admission
Olaf Kramzik, Der Unsichtbare Dritte © Goethe-Institut
Baillieu Library The University of Melbourne Percy Baxter Learning Centre and Atrium, circular stairwell Tel: 03 8344 6823/03 8344 9582 www.library.unimelb.edu.au
No other medium possesses as much power as the human language. From the most delicate flower to the most glorious empire, it can create anything in our imagination, and paint our entire world (and other worlds beyond it), in the most vibrant colours. And yet no other medium is so complex and confusing. The flipside to this wealth of diversity is the fact that more than 6000 different languages and uncounted dialects are babbling away in the global confusion of this modern Babel. Surely any attempt to communicate the power of language internationally must be doomed to failure? The idea was as obvious as it is unusual: as the popular saying goes, a picture is worth a thousand words. But at the same time, the language of images is a universally comprehensible code, accessible worldwide. On this basis the Goethe-Institut launched an international photographic competition calling on both professional and amateur photographers to capture the power of language in an image. Whether eye-catching, abstract, intimate, ironic or reflective — the selected works display very personal interpretations of human understanding from the most diverse regions of our world.
Accompanying events
Guest
Opening and Performance by Bas Böttcher Fri 05 Nov 5.30pm – 7.00pm
Bas Böttcher (b.1974) is a Berlin based writer and spoken word artist. He regularly appears at Slam Poetry Festivals around the world — with the power of his own language. Bas started out with his own band Zentrifugal in the late 1990s; as a solo artist who visualises words and makes words perform, he has travelled the globe as an ambassador for the German language.
Guided Tours The Goethe-Institut is offering school classes free guided tours of the exhibition with accompanying activities. Tours by appointment from 15 to 26 Nov. Classroom materials to assist in preparing students prior to visiting the exhibition will be emailed on request. Please contact: education1@melbourne.goethe.org
This exhibition is presented by the Goethe-Institut Australia in cooperation with Baillieu Library.
Die wahre Heimat ist eigentlich die Sprache. Wilhelm von Humboldt, Scientist and Intellectual
kultur SEPTEMBER 2010
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berlin changes
City of Change Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf : Steglitz-Zehlendorf : Reinickendorf : Pankow : Treptow-Köpenick : Tempelhof-Schöneberg : Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg : Spandau : Marzahn-Hellersdorf : Lichtenberg : Neukölln : Mitte
Goethe-Institut 448 St Kilda Road Melbourne Tel: 03 9864 8999 www.goethe.de/australia
This exhibition describes the history and development of Berlin as a divided and reunited city. More than 20 years since the fall of the Wall translates into more than 20 years of change for Berlin: two decades in the spirit of renewal — historical, political and urban. Berlin is a city constantly reinventing itself, stimulating every day. Covering science, business, culture and sport, the exhibition modules give an insight into the history and present of this diverse and unique metropolis.
Accompanying Events
Guest
Ran an de Buletten! Learn Berlinerisch Open Day at the Goethe-Institut Wed 03 Nov 3.00pm – 6.00pm Everyone is invited to an afternoon full of information, learning and entertainment! Learn some ‘Deutsch’ and/or even ‘Berlinerisch’ to help you get around when you next travel to Berlin. Watch films and sample some typical Berliner food.
Wladimir Kaminer is a Russia born, Berlin based writer and journalist whose satirical comments of Berlin have found international acclaim.
“Ich bin kein Berliner” Opening and Reading by Wladimir Kaminer Wed 03 Nov 6.30pm – 8.00pm Wladimir Kaminer will read — in German — from his sharp-tongued stories. What does it mean to be a Russian Berliner? What does he think of his Turkish neighbours? What might be going on between Prenzlberg and Kreuzberg? RSVP essential, please email: arts1@melbourne.goethe.org
This exhibition is presented by the Goethe-Institut Australia in cooperation with be Berlin.
Guided Tours The Goethe-Institut is offering school classes free guided tours of the exhibition with accompanying activities. Classroom materials to assist in preparing students prior to visiting the exhibition will be emailed on request. Please contact: education1@melbourne.goethe.org
Und so war die Einheit, zumindest in unserer kleinen Familie wieder hergestellt… Ein gesamtdeutsches Baby war unterwegs. Und gesamtdeutsche Verträge wurden unterzeichnet. In Moskau rechnete man aus, dass zwei plus vier eins ergibt und trank mit Krim Sekt gesamtdeutsche Bruderschaft. Alex in Goodbye Lenin!
Courtesy of beBerlin
03 – 30 Nov Mon – Thu 9.00am – 5.00pm Fri 9.00am – 2.00pm Sat 9.00am – 1.00pm Free Admission
berlin screens
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German School Film Festival ‘Alles im Grünen Bereich’ Wed 27 Oct
2.00pm – 6.00pm
Free Admission School groups need to register through education1@melbourne.goethe.org Australian Centre for the Moving Image Federation Square Melbourne Tel: 03 8663 2211 www.acmi.net.au
Each year the Goethe-Institut calls upon students of German at schools across Australia to submit their short films in this prestigious competition. The topic for 2010, ‘Alles im Grünen Bereich’, marks the UN Year of Biodiversity and endeavours to find out how students create their own green and sustainable ideas. Watch out for surprising and innovative suggestions for a green classroom, recycling or home insulation. Or will the students have a different take on the topic? The Victorian finals on 27 October will be a public event — everyone is welcome!
Guest Berlin based word artist Bas Böttcher will perform a short gig.
© craftvision, 2008
Presented by the Goethe-Institut Australia in cooperation with the Association of German Teachers of Victoria.
kultur SEPTEMBER 2010
12:
berlin SCREENS
Ernst Lubitsch — The Love Parade Ernst Lubitsch (1892–1947) is one of the defining and most enduring figures of pre-WWII cinema. Starting as an actor in Max Reinhardt’s Deutsches Theatre, he quickly became one of German cinema’s key figures, moving dexterously between comedies of manners, exotic Tickets: Mini membership fantasias, and epic historical romances and adventures such as Madame DuBarry. Renowned — four consecutive weeks: as a director of elegant and sophisticated erotic comedies, his wonderfully balanced work $23/$18 (concession) is a marvel of intricate production design and expressive ‘mise-en-scène’. Leaving for Annual membership: America in 1923, Lubitsch quickly established himself as a stylish director of bittersweet, $105/$90 (concession) almost continental comic romances and Ruritanian fantasies of a vanishing Europe. The truly Bookings: ACMI Ticket Office musical quality of his cinema allowed him to move smoothly into the sound era. A multi Mini memberships only talented artist, Lubitsch was also a successful and expressive comic actor in the 1910s and available online at www.acmi.net.au/cinematheque.aspx became Production Manager at Paramount Studios in the mid-1930s, an appointment that recognised his extraordinary influence and mercurial ‘touch’. Australian Centre for the Moving Image Federation Square Melbourne Wed 27 Oct Tel: 03 8663 2583 7.00pm SCHUHPALAST PINKUS Ernst Lubitsch (1916) 60 mins Before Mordecai Richler’s Duddy Kravitz and Budd Schulberg’s Sammy Glick there was Sally Pinkus (played by Lubitsch himself), a venal and entrepreneurial young German-Jewish boy who takes a job as a shoe store clerk after being expelled from school. Soon fired for trying to court the owner’s daughter, Pinkus lands another job in a more upmarket shoe salon, only to be fired again, before charming a rich benefactress to fund his ultimate fetishistic dream: Pinkus’ Shoe Palace. This key early work is also notable for being an early collaboration with regular writer Hans Kräly. 8.10pm ONE HOUR WITH YOU Ernst Lubitsch (1932) 80 mins This musical remake of the justly famous THE MARRIAGE CIRCLE, the film that fully introduced Lubitsch to American cinema in 1924, was made at the peak of the director’s career and features a characteristically playful and risqué story of a happily married couple whose relationship is upset by the arrival a flirtatious other woman. Started by George Cukor and completed by Lubitsch, this is one of the director’s drollest and most airy explorations of the nature of romance, starring the incomparable Maurice Chevalier and Jeanette MacDonald. With Roland Young and Charlie Ruggles.
Courtesy of Photoplay Productions, 1997
27 Oct – 10 Nov Melbourne Cinémathèque every Wednesday from 7.00pm
berlin SCREENs
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9.40pm CARMEN Ernst Lubitsch (1918) 80 mins Loosely based on Bizet’s opera and the story by Merimée, Lubitsch’s second film with the libidinous Pola Negri, released as GYPSY BLOOD in America, is a lavish vehicle for the great silent star that is often regarded as the director’s “first important film” (Georges Sadoul). Released at the time of Germany’s final defeat in WWI, this a formative work that points towards the director’s preoccupation with sexuality and historical subject matter in such important films as MADAME DUBARRY and ANNA BOLEYN. Scripted by Hans Kräly. Wed 03 Nov 7.00pm THE STUDENT PRINCE IN OLD HEIDELBERG Ernst Lubitsch (1928) 105 mins The Crown Prince (Ramon Novarro) leaves his cloistered life at court to attend Heidelberg University and falls in love with a young barmaid (Norma Shearer). Lubitsch’s extraordinarily ‘musical’ silent adaptation of Sigmund Romberg’s operetta is one the director’s great American films and a peak of late silent cinema. An important precursor to Lubitsch’s subsequent Ruritanian musicals, this bittersweet tale of star-crossed lovers is a wonderfully boisterous, energetic, cinematic and emotionally poignant work that embodies the director’s famed ‘touch’. 8.55pm MADAME DUBARRY Ernst Lubitsch (1919) 119 mins One of the milestones of silent cinema, Lubitsch’s epic — though often quite dark and explicit — historical pageant was one of the key films to introduce the sensibilities of European cinema to post-WWI American audiences. The romanticised private life of the mistress (the indelible Pola Negri) of Louis XV (Emil Jannings) is given a lush but probing treatment in this early Lubitsch spectacular. This is perhaps the most successful melding of an historical subject with the director’s characteristic light ‘touch’. Features brilliantly expressive sets by Max Reinhardt. Wed 10 Nov 7.00pm BROKEN LULLABY Ernst Lubitsch (1932) 76 mins Wracked with guilt after killing his own friend on the battlefield of WWI, a French musician travels to Germany to find the dead man’s family. Taken in by the family — headed by Lionel Barrymore — he feels unable to reveal his secret. One of Lubitsch’s very few dramatic talkies, this rarely screened anti-war statement is “a nakedly sincere ode to the power of sympathy” (Time Out). Retitled THE MAN I KILLED, this intermittently sentimental and compassionate ode to brotherhood is one of Lubitsch’s most curious and atypical works. With Zasu Pitts. 8.30pm KOHLHIESELS TÖCHTER Ernst Lubitsch (1920) 58 mins Amongst the most commercially successful films of Lubitsch’s German period, this is a comic adaptation of Shakespeare’s ‘The Taming of the Shrew’ transposed to 19th century Bavaria. The film follows two sisters; Gretel is pretty and agreeable; Liesel is plain and obstinate (Henny Porten plays both). Tradition dictates that the younger sister cannot marry before the older and something must be done before both sisters are condemned to spinsterhood! Theodor Sparkuhl’s innovative camera techniques add extra punch to this underrated Lubitsch film. 9.40pm ERNST LUBITSCH IN BERLIN Robert Fischer (2006) 110 mins This comprehensive feature documentary covering Lubitsch’s formative years in Berlin features copious clips of his early acting career and from across the full range of his work in escapist social comedy (Das fidele Gefängnis), risqué sexual farce (I Don’t Want to be a Man), fantasy (Die Puppe), and large-scale historical epics (Madame DuBarry, Anna Boleyn). Includes informative interviews with Lubitsch’s only daughter, directors such as Tom Tykwer and Wolfgang Becker, and key critics, archivists and historians (Jan-Christopher Horak, Enno Patalas). A great insight into the director’s emerging style in this period. Presented by the Melbourne Cinémathèque in cooperation with the Goethe-Institut Australia.
kultur SEPTEMBER 2010
14:
berlin SCREENS
Berlin on Film 04 – 08 Nov Tickets: $14/$11 (concession) Bookings: 03 8663 2583 Australian Centre for the Moving Image Federation Square Melbourne Tel: 03 8663 2200 www.acmi.net.au
Less hectic and glamorous than New York or Paris, Berlin moves to a unique tempo that infuses its architecture, culture and citizens. With its remarkable and catastrophic history, the city of Berlin has played many roles in the 20th century, emerging as one of the world’s most fascinating and enduring cities. Thu 04 Nov 8.00pm RHYTHM IS IT! Thomas Grube, Enrique Sánchez Lansch (2004) 100 mins Music and contemporary dance intertwine in this ambitious project by Conductor Sir Simon Rattle, the Berliner Philharmoniker, choreographer Royston Maldoom and 250 young Berliners from disparate ages and backgrounds. Their performance of Stravinsky’s RITE OF SPRING is a joyous and inspired tale of triumph over adversity.
Der Wind der Veränderung blies bis in die Ruinen unserer Republik. Der Sommer kam und Berlin war der schönste Platz auf Erden. Wir hatten das Gefühl im Mittelpunkt der Welt zu stehen. Dort wo sich endlich was bewegte. Und wir bewegten uns mit. Alex in Goodbye Lenin!
Sat 06 Nov 7.00pm IN BERLIN Michael Ballhaus, Ciro Cappellari (2009) 97 mins “Maybe you can’t get rich in Berlin, but the city does give everyone the opportunity to find their niche”. A heartfelt declaration of love to a city and its people, IN BERLIN traces the changes that have taken place in the twenty years since the demolition of the Berlin Wall. Featuring a vast array of Berliners including actor Angela Winkler, Alex Hacke of Einstürzende Neubauten, architects, fashion designers, performers and immigrant store owners, long term Scorsese cinematographer Michael Ballhaus and co-director, Ciro Cappellari have crafted a visually stunning and engaging portrait of one of the world’s most lively and creative hubs.
© Sascha von Oettingen, Schwarz-Weiß Kollektion
Fri 05 Nov 7.00pm COMRADE COUTURE Marco Wilms (2009) 84 mins ‘A tiger in a cage is much wilder than a tiger that is free to roam’. Former model turned director Marco Wilms presents an exciting portrait of youth revolt and subversive creativity in the former East Berlin. Inspired by new wave and punk fashions from the West, East Berliners took to crafting their own fashions — turning their textual limitations to advantage and parading avant-garde creations from plastic, bed sheets and disused medical supplies. Drawing on personal memories, interviews and extensive archival research, Wilms offers a unique view of this heady artistic outpouring under ever watchful Stasi eyes.
berlin SCREENs
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9.00pm BERLIN BABYLON Hubertus Siegert (1996–2001) 88 mins “One of the most spectacular architectural documentaries, a story of humankind’s all consuming pride and ambition”. Scored by Einstürzende Neubauten and featuring internationally acclaimed architects, Rem Koolhaas, Renzo Piano and I.M. Pei, BERLIN BABYLON offers a rare glimpse into an international city under construction. In a post-wall era, Berlin found itself as a metropolis in great need of physical change to fully realise the new notion of reunification and shake the destruction the 20th century had wreaked on it. With its astonishing aerial photography and subtle vérité style, the film has a dreamlike quality that allows the viewer to float above and wander through of one of the world’s great cities as it transitions into the future. Sun 07 Nov 3.30pm COMRADE COUTURE Marco Wilms (2009) 84 mins See Fri 05 Nov 5.30pm BERLIN VORTEX Marco Wilms (2002/2003) 83 mins “The most beautiful time in life is if the old power is gone and the new is not yet there…” The reunification of Germany in 1989 prompted a wave of euphoria for youth in the former Eastern block. With the Wall down and capitalism still at bay, young Berliners occupied empty residences and began preparing for their futures, bringing change through art and social programs. Featuring celebrated choreographers Sasha Waltz and Jochen Sandig, Christian Lorenz of RAMMSTEIN fame, social workers and still struggling artists, Wilm’s discovery of what became of five citizens and their utopian dreams for the new Berlin is as fascinating and diverse as the city itself. Followed by a 20 minute Q&A session with Director Marco Wilms. SPECIAL OUTDOOR SCREENING — free event 7.00pm BERLIN, SYMPHONY OF A GREAT CITY Walther Ruttmann (1927) 65 mins The bustling streets of 1920s Berlin are writ-large in this entrancing ‘city symphony’. Like other famous ‘city films’ such as MAN WITH THE MOVIE CAMERA, Ruttmann’s portrait of Berlin is a dynamic mix of man and machine, social norms and daily life, an captivating vision of Berlin between the wars. Mon 08 Nov 7.00pm BERLIN BABYLON Hubertus Siegert (1996–2001) 88 mins “One of the most spectacular architectural documentaries, a story of humankind’s all consuming pride and ambition”. Scored by Einstürzende Neubauten and featuring internationally acclaimed architects, Rem Koolhaas, Renzo Piano and I.M. Pei, BERLIN BABYLON offers a rare glimpse into an international city under construction. In a post-wall era, Berlin found itself as a metropolis in great need of physical change to fully realise the new notion of reunification and shake the destruction the 20th century had wreaked on it. With its astonishing aerial photography and subtle verite style, the film has a dreamlike quality that allows the viewer to float above and wander through of one of the world’s great cities as it transitions into the future.
GuestS
Generalprobe © Boomtownmedia, Thomas Grube
Marco Wilms is a Berlin based former fashion model and successful documentary film maker. His film Comrade Couture/Ein Traum in Erdbeerfolie screened successfully at the 2009 Berlinale and internationally. Carsten Beyer is a Berlin based film critic and journalist, who works for Deutschlandradio and RBB amongst others. Presented by ACMI in cooperation with the Goethe-Institut Australia and Federation Square. Curated by Kristy Matheson.
kultur SEPTEMBER 2010
my berlin
Marco Wilms
Ich wurde in Ostberlin geboren, der Hauptstadt der DDR. Heute nennt man diesen Ort Berlin Mitte. Vor 20 Jahren lebte ich kurz als „Republikflüchtling“ in Westberlin. Als die Mauer fiel, fuhr ich durch die Geisterbahnhöfe der U-Bahn nach Hause zurück. Im Sommer der Utopien 1990, als die alte Macht gegangen und die neue noch nicht angekommen war, besetzte ich mit Freunden ein 100 Jahre altes Haus in Berlin Mitte und pflanzte dort einen Baum. Ich lebe dort immer noch, sitze im Sommer mit meiner Familie unterm Baum, und fahre in die Welt hinaus, um meine Filme zu machen. Und jedes Jahr kommt die Welt etwas mehr zu uns. Berlin zieht immer noch wie ein Magnet junge Menschen aus aller Welt an, die Ihren Weg suchen. Es gibt immer noch Freiräume, vor allem Freiräume für unkonventionelle Ideen, in einer Welt in der sich alles rechnen muss. Das Leben ist preiswerter als anderswo. Denn auf dem Schlachtplatz Berlin liegt bis heute der Fluch des 2. Weltkrieges und des Kalten Krieges. Berlin ist immer noch keine normale europäische Hauptstadt, kein deutsches Wirtschaftsherz geworden. Die riesige Fläche der Stadt ist immer noch ein Ort zwischen den Zeiten. Auch wenn die Stadt sich ständig verwandelt und in Bewegung ist. Die Welt schaut schon lange auf Berlin, aber die Deutschen selbst verharren noch in Nachkriegs Kleinstaaterei, fühlen das alte und neue Herz ihrer Nation nicht. Dafür ist das freie Berlin die Hauptstadt der globalen Träumer geworden. Und das ist auch gut so. Jeder der nach Berlin kommt, um sich dort selbst zu finden, findet auch etwas, und wird damit zum Teil der Stadt — ein Berliner. Meine Lieblingsorte sind die Freiflächen, der Wildwuchs der Natur inmitten der Stadt, die Brachen zwischen den alten großzügigen Häusern, die der Krieg verschonte — wo alles, was man sich vorstellen mag, eines Tages auch entstehen wird.
Marco Wilms is a documentary film maker based in Berlin. His films Comrade Couture and Berlin Vortex will be shown as part of BERLIN DAYZ.
Kunsthaus Tacheles 1990 © Marco Wilms
16:
berlin screens
:17
World Movies Nights November Five Tuesdays 8.30pm Nationwide @ The World Movies Channel Public screenings at the Goethe-Instituts in Melbourne and Sydney Bookings required Sydney: info@sydney.goethe.org Melbourne: arts1@melbourne.goethe.org
Tue 02 Nov 8.30pm 13 SEMESTERS Frieder Wittich (2009) 102 mins Over the course of 13 semesters, Momo experiences all the highs and lows of student life. At first he is studious and goes to all his lectures, hangs out with like-minded fellow students, and spends two semesters abroad in Australia. But when he returns, he realises that he has chosen the wrong major and calling it off now seems to be too late. Tue 09 Nov 8.30pm TORNADO Andreas Linke (2006) 110 mins The climate changes — even in Berlin! Meteorologist Jan has spent some time in the US and upon his return is faced with surprising twists and resistance from climate sceptics. Tue 16 Nov 8.30pm PINK Rudolf Thome (2008) 82 mins Hannah Herzsprung stars as a successful Berlin ‘punk poet’ in Rudolf Thome’s romantic comedy. When she decides she can’t continue to love all three men around her, a fierce competition breaks out. Love, after all, is not a rational feeling! Tue 23 Nov 8.30pm THE ARCHITECT Ina Weisse (2008) 92 mins The world of successful Berlin architect Georg Winter is challenged when his family has to return to their alpine origin in the middle of winter. Mishaps, misunderstandings and hidden truth lead to an implosion of values and ideals in this award winning drama by Inga Weisse. Tue 30 Nov 8.30pm RABBIT WITHOUT EARS Til Schweiger (2007) 115 mins Til Schweiger’s hit comedy follows the steps of a ruthless Berlin journalist who finds himself questioned by Anna, the idealistic kindergarten sweetheart. Starring Jürgen Vogel, Nora Tschirner and Germany’s No 1 heartthrob.
© Pan TV/World Movies, Pink
Presented by The World Movies Channel in cooperation with the Goethe-Institut Australia.
kultur SEPTEMBER 2010
18:
berlin CLASSICS
Atos Trio
Tickets: www.musicaviva.com.au
It is important that we breathe together, that we phrase together, that we sound like an ensemble and not three soloists playing together. Annette von Hehn, Violin
Watching the Berlin based Atos Trio in conversation is like watching them play music. There is a physical ease between them, an unfussy closeness, coupled with an endearing capacity to spark off each other’s humour. And there is respect. Small wonder that this ensemble, formed in 2003, has garnered swathes of rave reviews and competition awards. In 2007 it won a record four prizes at the 5th Melbourne International Chamber Music Competition, in addition to the Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson International Trio Award, the United States’ foremost distinction for piano trios. Although all born in Germany, the Trio’s members bring very diverse backgrounds to the group. “We have all kinds of different influences from different countries and different teachers, and from each of them we take something… that gives us a lot of colours and ideas,” says von Hehn. The Trio’s performances evince unbounded joy in playing together and internal relationships rich with musical potential. “We always sit down and think about it — is it really good?… Can we put even more emotions and more work and more love into the music?” says Heinemeyer. “You put all this into the music and this sparkle springs to the public.” Presented by Musica Viva in association with the Goethe-Institut Australia.
Sergej Rachmaninov Piano Trio No. 1 in G Minor ‘Trio élégiaque’ (1892) Robert Schumann Piano Trio No. 2 in F Major, Op 80 Paul Stanhope Piano Trio Dolcissimo Uscignolo (2007) Felix Mendelssohn Piano Trio No. 2 in C Minor, Op 66
Tue 02 Nov 7.30pm Thu 04 Nov 8.00pm Tue 16 Nov 7.00pm Sat 20 Nov 7.30pm Mon 22 Nov 7.00pm
Paul Stanhope Piano Trio Dolcissimo Uscignolo (2007) Johannes Brahms Piano Trio No. 3 in C Minor, Op 101 Franz Schubert Piano Trio No. 1 in B Flat Major, D 898
Sat 06 Nov 8.00pm Melbourne, Elisabeth Murdoch Hall, Melbourne Recital Centre Wed 10 Nov 7.00pm Brisbane, Conservatorium Theatre, South Bank, QPAC Concert Hall Thu 11 Nov 7.00pm Canberra, Llewellyn Hall, ANU School of Music Sat 13 Nov 1.30pm Sydney, City Recital Hall, Angel Place
Perth Concert Hall Adelaide Town Hall Melbourne, Elisabeth Murdoch Hall, Melbourne Recital Centre Newcastle, Harold Lobb Concert Hall, Newcastle Conservatorium of Music Sydney, City Recital Hall, Angel Place
© Keith Saunders, Atos Trio
Thomas Hoppe, Piano Annette von Hehn, Violin Stefan Heinemeyer, Cello
berlin CLASSICs
:19
Berliner Philharmoniker After the last sounds of the orchestra drifted away, the silence in the hall… seemed to last for half a minute. The ovation went on and on. The New York Times
Be part of the first ever Australian tour by the Berliner Philharmoniker under the baton of Chief Conductor and Artistic Director, Sir Simon Rattle. The Berliner Philharmoniker are without a doubt one of the greatest orchestras in the world, and have been led by legendary conductors: Hans von Bülow, Wilhelm Furtwängler, Herbert von Karajan, Claudio Abbado and, since 2002, Sir Simon Rattle. Humanity is at the heart of the Orchestra’s ethos. In the words of Maestro Sir Simon Rattle, “Music is no mere luxury, but instead a fundamental need. Music must be a vital and essential element in the life of each individual.”
Courtesy of Sydney Opera House
Joseph Haydn Symphony 99, E Flat Major Alban Berg 3 Pieces for Orchestra, Op 6 (version 1929) Johannes Brahms Symphony No. 2, D Major, Op 73
Sat 13 Nov
2.00pm
Perth Concert Hall Tickets: Standard Concession
A Reserve $300 $270
B Reserve $270 $250
C Reserve $250 $230
Bookings: BOCS Ticketing on (08) 9484 1133 BOCS outlets: www.bocsticketing.com.au
Sergej Rachmaninov Symphonic Dances Gustav Mahler, Symphony No. 1 in D Major
Sun 14 Nov
Joseph Haydn Symphony 99, E Flat Major Alban Berg 3 Pieces for Orchestra, Op 6 (version 1929) Johannes Brahms Symphony No. 2, D Major, Op 73
Tue 16 Nov
8.00pm
Sydney Opera House, Concert Hall
Fri 19 Nov
8.00pm
Ticket Prices: Buy tickets to two performances and receive 15% off the ticket price of the second concert†
Bookings: www.sydneyopearhouse.com/bpo or Sydney Opera House Box Office 02 9250 7777
8.00pm
*Prices include booking fees. Transaction fees may apply. Presented by Perth Theatre Trust and Perth Concert Hall.
Sergej Rachmaninov Symphonic Dances Gustav Mahler Symphony No. 1 in D Major
Wed 17 Nov
8.00pm
Sat 20 Nov
8.00pm
Transaction fee of $5–$8.50 applies to all bookings. †Full terms and conditions at sydneysymphony.com/bpo Presented by Sydney Opera House.
kultur SEPTEMBER 2010
20:
berlin CLASSICS
Mon 15 Nov 7.30pm Melbourne Recital Centre Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Quintet for Horn and Strings in E Flat, K 407 Brett Dean Epitaphs Ludwig van Beethoven Septet in E Flat, Op 20 Tickets: Premium $115/$105 (concession) A reserve $95/$85 (concession) B reserve $85/$75 (concession) C reserve $60/$50 (concession) Bookings: www.melbournerecital.com.au Box Office 03 9699 3333
The Scharoun Ensemble of Berlin, founded in 1983 by eight musicians of the Berliner Philharmoniker, has achieved high esteem in the international music capitals and at festivals. Their association with the legacy of Hans Scharoun, the visionary architect of the Berlin Philharmonie, is an expression of its artistic commitment to the treasures of the past and the challenges of the present and future. With Beethoven’s SEPTET, Schubert’s OCTET, and chamber works of Mozart and Brahms the focus of Scharoun Ensemble’s classical and romantic repertoire, they have augmented the classic octet formation to include 20th century classical Modernist works. For their exclusive Australian concert they are joined by Australia’s Brett Dean to include the premiere of his new work EPITAPHS. This will be an exceptional evening and not to be missed! Australian exclusive! Presented by Melbourne Recital Centre in cooperation with the Goethe-Institut Australia.
Courtesy Sydney Opera House
Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra: Scharoun Ensemble
Sat 20 Nov 2.00pm Sydney Opera House Concert Hall Tickets: From $39* Bookings: www.sydneyoperahouse.com/bpo Sydney Opera House Box Office Tel: 02 9250 7777
Experience the sublime artistry and skill of the Berliner Philharmoniker cello section, the 12 Cellists, in this intimate and magical afternoon concert. They will perform Faure’s PAVANE, Piazzolla’s MILONGA DEL ANGEL, Morricone’s THE MAN WITH THE HARMONICA, and music especially written for them by the world’s leading composers. Presented by Sydney Opera House.
If there is such a thing as Nirvana, these musicians will make their way there! London Times
© Stephan Roehl, courtesy of Sydney Opera House
The 12 Cellists of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra
MY BERLIN
Lex Lindsay
Courtesy of Berlin Tourism Marketing GmbH
Lex Lindsay is the director of Sydney’s Mardi Gras Film Festival and received a language course scholarship from the Goethe- Institut in 2010.
:21
Berlin, my friend, I have not forgotten. When I told people I would be spending six weeks in Berlin, they all said ‘Oh you’ll love it, You are sooo Berlin’ and without a beat I would agree. Yes, yes I am. The first time I visited Berlin it was the 10th anniversary of the Wall coming down, I was 20 and greeted the city and its history with suitably adolescent awe and poetry. I loved the city. It challenged me to be both world-weary and free-spirited all at once. It challenged me to be someone else. I had never seen so many cranes in one place. They snaked across the skyline, towering above the city in a heaving metallic dance. I asked a local ‘what’s with all the cranes?’, “It’s where the Wall was” he said, as if such things were commonplace. I asked “what are they building?”, the answer “apartments of course” and my love for this damaged creature blossomed deeper, as I imagined the central nervous system of the city calculating which parts of its history it would preserve and which parts it would erase. I would look up, up to the cranes, and they were my first tangible connection to a bilocated world I couldn’t even fathom, a personae split in two. A personae now in reconstruction. And I sat in parks and cafes and I made myself up to be the kind of person that Berlin would be. I invented myself as sooo Berlin… Again, did I mention I was 20…? And I found a part of the city where the Wall was still standing and although chipped and fading I could read the scrawled-on words “my friend, I have not forgotten” and I placed my hands on the Wall and I wept. It’s now 11 years on, the cranes are gone and the apartment buildings have been bought and sold a number of times. I have made a couple more visits to the place and, like this city, parts of me have been rebuilt — a fractured cheekbone, shattered sinus (the result of my own run-in with conflicting politics) and I too have done my best to cover the scars. Berlin no longer challenges me to be someone else, it challenges me to just get on with being me. No, I am not sooo Berlin. Berlin is not the me I ever was, am now, or could have made myself up to be. But we do recognise each other, and I do think we could very much be friends. A friend who had once tried to be someone else, with memories you’d never imagine and a scar or two you might not see. Berlin, my friend, I too have not forgotten, but I like you even more without the cranes and I think those apartment buildings are just perfect.
kultur SEPTEMBER 2010
22:
berlin NIGHTS
Mouse on Mars
Sat 30 Oct 8.00pm Sydney Oxford Art Factory 38–46 Oxford Street, Darlinghurst Tel: 02 9332 3711 Tickets: $40 door/$35 presale www.moshtix.com.au 1300 GET TIX (438 849) via mobile www.moshtix.mobi, moshtix outlets consume.oztix.com.au Sun 31 Oct 7.30pm Melbourne The Corner Hotel 57 Swan Street, Richmond Tel: 03 9427 9198 Tickets: $40 door/$35 presale The Corner Box Office (Mon–Sat 12.00 noon – 8.00pm) Tel: 9427 9198 www.cornerhotel.com and consume.oztix.com.au Wed 03 Nov 8.00pm Perth Amplifier 393 Murray Street, Tel: 08 9321 7606 www.amplifiercapitol.com.au Tickets: $40 door/$35 presale from Bocs, Moshtix, 78’s, Mills, and consume.oztix.com.au
Mouse on Mars is one of the few electronic bands to stand the test of time. Constantly reinventing themselves, they have taken electronica to new heights with a unique blend of sound annihilation, fragmented melodies and an impassioned hatred of conformity. For over a decade, Andi Toma and Jan St Werner have sweated over burning consoles to create a new musical language, only to twist it again into thousands of myriad distortions. Mouse on Mars’ sound links them to the club-music scene, as do their many remixes and collaborations with members of the dance-music world. Yet their association with the formalised and utilitarian world of dance music is ironic, as the band’s raison d’etre is to place electronic flies in any aural ointment they choose to muck through. A series of 11 albums and numerous remixes has come off as primarily intent on dashing expectations, from the ambient-house ectoplasms of 1994’s VULVALAND and 1995’s slightly more structured IAORA TAHITI; to the flighty and funny electronics, spluttering horns and acousticguitar samples of 2000’s more ‘organic’ NIUN NIGGUNG; to the forest of sonic porcupine quills that is IDIOLOGY. RADICAL CONNECTOR (2004) further granulated the MoM aesthetic into nine vaguely pop-oriented songs, ever heavier on the beats and increasingly hinging the tunes on the vocals and drumming of longtime collaborator Dodo Nkishi. VARCHARZ (2006) entirely recorded at Mouse on Mars’ St Martin Ton Studios in Düsseldorf is their most live sounding and diverse studio album to date. VARCHARZ is spiked with catchy pop references, anarchic rock derangements and manga-style pathos. Presented by the Goethe-Institut Australia in cooperation with Consume/Valve.
Das ist kein lauschiges Plätzchen. Das ist ne ziemliche Stadt. ‘Berlin im Licht’ von Kurt Weill
Courtesy of Mouse on Mars
Wed 27 Oct 7.30pm Brisbane The Zoo 711 Ann Street, Fortitude Valley Tel/Fax 07 3854 1381 Tickets: $35 door/$30 presale www.thezoo.com.au www.OzTix.com.au, 1300 762 545 consume.oztix.com.au Oztix outlets
MY BERLIN
Natascha Stellmach
My German parents first introduced me to Berlin in the 1970s but it wasn’t until 1992 that I discovered the city as an adult, and then it was for love that I stayed. Since 2003 I have been fortunate enough, moving between Melbourne and Berlin, living and working in both. As a visual artist this offers up an abundant existence. It’s not easy commuting between disparate parts of the world — the hassles of international travel and the transience aside — but the benefits outweigh the difficulties and Berlin offers up a richness, both personally and historically and this informs my contemporary artistic practice. The galleries that represent my solo and collaborative work, Wagner + Partner and Yasha Young are also based in Berlin. Berlin is a city in flux but there are some stable ‘loves’: I love the easy-going pace, despite having all the accoutrements of a major capital. I love the wild, abandoned spaces, some still right in the heart of town. I love when spring arrives and everyone reclaims the streets and parks and commutes on foot or bicycle. I love the ‘Strandbars’ that open up along the Spree for the summer amongst the willows and the weeds and adamantly assert their right to be there despite increased demand for gentrification from investors. I love the affordable organic food and the ‘Weinerei’ where wine is still served on an honour system. I love the cemeteries — there are so many — and these are peaceful, rambling places of reflection where the Dead remind us of the preciousness of life and the bullet holes remind us of history’s mistakes, something the Germans are very open in admitting and learning from. I love the array of museums and galleries and the Biennales, Berlinales and festivals. I love the melting pot of cultures and the diversity this brings. I love that my profession is highly valued and considered a ‘real job’ even if it is hard. I love the proximity to so many places in Europe, but especially, as an Australian I am very connected to wide-open spaces and often discover nature that shares the beauty and desolation of that in ‘Oz’. From my Berlin home I can travel 20 minutes by train to serene lake districts or only a few hours to walk on a magical snow covered beach and watch swans in the Baltic Sea. Sure it may be freezing, but then “who ever made music of a mild day?”1 And the winters are not as bleak as they are made out to be. 1
© Natascha Stellmach
:23
From Mary Oliver’s poem, A Dream of Trees, 1963.
www.bookofback.com
kultur SEPTEMBER 2010
24:
berlin NIGHTS
Alex Barck/ Jazzanova Fri 19 Nov
10.00pm
Roxanne Parlour 2 Coverlid Place Melbourne Tel: 03 9663 4600 Tickets: www.moshtix.com.au
Jazzanova return to Australia this November for Berlin Dayz, representing the six-piece collective on this club tour is the exceptional and eclectic DJ Alexander Barck. Respected as one of Berlin’s most recognisable music collectives, Jazzanova have been at the forefront of the global club music scene for the last ten years. Their ability to bring together different styles and work all possibilities is not only widely respected throughout the international music community, but also constantly drives them to be a step ahead. At the same time, their music is authentic, working just as well “at the Montreux Jazz festival as in the illegal basement club of your girlfriend’s cousin”, as Cornelius Tittel, arts and culture editor of the German newspaper Welt am Sonntag writes. “Our music can take people along on a trip”, says Alexander Barck. “When we succeed in fascinating people with this music, when we get people who, let’s say, don’t like Brazilian music — or at least think they don’t — to dance to a Brazil track, when they say: “I never heard this before, but now it’s my favorite music” — those are the important and beautiful moments in a production or a DJ Set.”
Denkt ans fünfte Gebot: Schlagt eure Zeit nicht tot! Erich Kästner, Author
Courtesy of Future Classic
Presented by Future Classic in cooperation with the Goethe-Institut Australia.
berlin NIGHTS
:25
Bas Böttcher — Literature Like a Rock Concert
Bas Boettcher © Bussemeier
Thu 28 Oct 8.00pm Free admission RSVP by 26 Oct: arts1@melbourne.goethe.org Berlin Bar 16 Corrs Lane, Melbourne Tel: 03 9639 3396/www.berlinbar.com.au
Bas delivers a whirlwind of words, sounds, twists and turns and surprising new meanings to our common understanding of language. His poems and pieces move freely between the classical and the streetwise. Supported by visuals and — for those not too familiar with the German language — hi-tech translation projections, this is the coolest introduction to the city’s language!
Fri 29 Oct 6.30pm Free admission RSVP by 27 Oct: info@sydney.goethe.org Goethe-Institut, Sydney 90 Ocean Street, Woollahra Tel: 02 8356 8333
© Doris Poklekowski, Wladimir Kaminer
Wladimir Kaminer — Russendisko Thu 04 Nov 9.00pm Tickets: $10 at the door Ticket reservations: arts1@melbourne.goethe.org Berlin Bar 16 Corrs Lane, Melbourne Tel: 03 9639 3396/www.berlinbar.com.au
The sounds of Moscow and St Petersburg mix with the coolest vibes from Berlin’s East and West, when Wladimir Kaminer brings his now legendary RUSSENDISKO to Melbourne’s Chinatown. What started in the late 1990s in Café Burger has now become a trademark for independent and fun seeking punters. Not to be missed — this is your one and only chance to be part of the legend!
kultur SEPTEMBER 2010
my berlin
Wladimir Kaminer
Ich bin kein Berliner Ich bin kein Berliner. Ich bin auch nicht «Deutschland». Die Social-Marketing-Kampagne des letzen Jahres «Du bist Deutschland» hat mich nur irritiert. Ich kenne mich hier nicht wirklich aus. Vor fünfzehn Jahren kam ich nach Ostberlin, aus Gründen, die mir bis heute rätselhaft geblieben sind. Wahrscheinlich war es bloße Neugier auf die Welt und ungebremste Reiselust, die mich damals nach Berlin trieben. Die Reise erwies sich als fatale Entscheidung. Einmal hier gelandet, kommt man kaum mehr weg. Berlin bindet. Alle Einheimischen, die ich im Laufe der Jahre kennengerlent habe, wollten immer als Erstes wissen, wieso ich damals ausgerechnet Berlin beziehungsweise Deutschland als Reiseziel gesucht hatte. Meine Ausweichantworten «Es hat sich so ergeben» oder «Ich bin in den falschen Zug gestiegen» konnten sie nicht zufriedenstellen. Wenn ich aber zur Abwechslung sagte, ich fände Deutschland gut und Berlin sei eine tolle Stadt, wollte mir das einfach keiner glauben. Die Eingeborenen zeigen sich in der Regel sehr kritisch ihrem Land und ihrer Stadt gegenüber. Erst vor kurzem traf ich in unserer Stammkneipe einen Journalisten aus Bochum, der genau wie ich vor fünfzehn Jahren nach Berlin ausgewandert war und mich nicht nach den Gründen meiner damaligen Abreise fragte. Von sich behauptete er sogar ungeniert, ihm wäre es schon immer klar gewesen, dass er hier in einem Paradies lebe. Alle Gäste die unserem Gespräch lauschten, hatten sofort Abstand von dem Mann genommen. Die Wirtin vermutete später, er wäre unter Drogen gestanden. Inzwischen weiß ich, was diese ständige Fragerei soll: Es ist eine Art Flirt. Das Land will gefallen, schämt sich aber, es öffentlich zuzugeben. Unsere Liebesbeziehung steckt deswegen permanent in einer Krise, die aber für beide Seiten fruchtbar ist. Schon an meinem ersten Tag in Berlin musste ich im Berliner Polizeipräsidium am Alexanderplatz mit ein paar anderen Russen zusammen Fragebögen ausfüllen, um humanitäres Asyl gewährt zu bekommen. Die Frage «Aus welchem Grund haben sie Deutschland gewählt, und was haben sie in Deutschland vor?» Stand ganz oben auf der Liste. Niemand von meinen Landsleuten hatte eine Idee, wie man diese Fragen vernünftig beantworten konnte. Sie waren alle mehr oder weniger zufällig in Deutschland gelandet, weil sie zum Beispiel eine nette deutsche Tante hatten oder einen deutschen Freund, der sie eingeladen hatte. Ein älterer, intelligent aussehender Mann, der Einzige aus unserer Asylantengruppe, der über gute Deutschkenntnisse verfügte, schrieb, er sei ein Bewunderer der deutschen Kultur und Sprache, woraufhin alle anderen diesen Satz von ihm übernahmen. From: ICH BIN KEIN BERLINER. by Wladimir Kaminer © 2007 by Goldmann (Random House), München.
www.russendisko.de
© Doris Poklekowski, Wladimir Kaminer
26:
berlin TALKs
:27
Young Capital Writers Thu 04 Nov 6.15pm – 7.15pm Free Admission Bookings recommended through: www.wheelercentre.com The Wheeler Centre for Books, Writing and Ideas 176 Little Lonsdale Street Melbourne
As a UNESCO City of Literature, Melbourne is extending its international literary relations: two writers, Bas Böttcher and Wladimir Kaminer, and one journalist, Carsten Beyer from Berlin portray the lives of young urban dwellers and those who have remained young-atheart. In this event they will meet with Sydney based writer Anna Funder for an entertaining evening of writing, reading and ideas.
Guests Wladimir Kaminer (b.1967) is a Berlin based German writer and journalist with a RussianJewish background. His witty and sharp stories and features (among them Russendisko, Militärmusik, Ich bin kein Berliner have become bestsellers beyond Berlin and Germany and have been translated into numerous languages. Wladimir also works as a DJ in his now legendary Russendisko. Bas Böttcher (b.1974) is a Berlin based writer and spoken word artist. He regularly appears at Slam Poetry Festivals around the world — with the power of his own language. Bas started out with his own band Zentrifugal in the late 1990s; as a solo artist who visualises words and makes words perform he has travelled the globe as an ambassador for the German language. Carsten Beyer is a Berlin based radio journalist who works predominantly for RBB and Deutschlandfunk. Anna Funder is an Australian writer whose book Stasiland has brought her international acclaim.
Courtesy of Goldmann Verlag
Presented by the Wheeler Centre for Books, Writing and Ideas in cooperation with the Goethe-Institut Australia.
Unverständlichkeit ist noch lange kein Beweis für tiefe Gedanken. Marcel Reich-Ranicki, Critic
kultur SEPTEMBER 2010
28:
my berlin
Bas Böttcher
Der Tanz
Wir fühlen uns unverwundbar wunderbar Und sind so wunderbar unverwundbar. Körperfunktionen und Technik intakt, Bässe in Bassboxen bouncen exakt, Pobacken, Bäuche und Busen halbnackt, Funkeln im flackernden Licht — Blickkontakt. Wir fühlen uns unverwundbar wunderbar Und sind so wunderbar unverwundbar. Dass das das krasseste Fest ist, ist Fakt. Publikum dicht aneinandergepackt, Tanzsilhouetten im Flutlicht abstrakt, feiert noch schön! Das war mein Text — letzter Akt: Wir fühlen uns unverwundbar wunderbar und sind so wunderbar unverwundbar. Wir fühlen uns unverwundbar wunderbar und sind so wunderbar unverwundbar. From: Die Poetry-Slam-Expedition: Bas Böttcher. Ein Text-, Hör- und Filmbuch. With Audio-CD and Video-DVD. Braunschweig: Schroedel, 2009. © Schroedel Verlag © Buessemeier, Portrait Bas Boettcher
Bas Böttcher is Berlin based word artist, who will visit Australia during BERLIN DAYZ.
Magisch, magnetisch, geschmeidig im Takt, Fleisch live in Schleifenbewegung unplugged, Tanzen in Trance ohne Pflanzenextrakt, rhythmisch geschmiedeter Nichtangriffspakt.
www.basboettcher.de
berlin TALKs
:29
Symposium: Imagining the New Berlin Fri 05 Nov Sat 06 Nov
9.00am – 5.30pm 9.00am – 2.00pm
Ian Potter Museum of Art The University of Melbourne Conference Room 800 Swanston Street Carlton
For the last century and more Berlin has been at the centre of discourses around urban modernity, embodying all that has been feared and desired about modernity — rootlessness and alienation but also progress and technological advancement. It also has a particularly chequered history of being the nation’s capital. It first became Germany’s capital in 1871, only to lose its functional capital city status for the entire second half of the twentieth century, at least in the West. Throughout the Cold War, Berlin was a divided city, and, hence, a symbol of the “divided heavens” (Christa Wolf), or ideologies, of the era. With German re-unification in 1989 and the reinstatement of Berlin as the national capital in 1999, the city has not only been unified, but also reconnected to its own past. Berlin is still the scene of an East-West exchange, but it is also the site of a new German-Jewish symbiosis as well as “Europe’s Capital of Cool” (The Times). This colloquium aims to explore the ways in which writers, filmmakers, artists, musicians, architects, planners, cultural critics and others have imagined the new Berlin of the last 20 years. It will explore the dominant metaphors, tropes, and images that are frequently invoked to negotiate the real and symbolic landscape of the city. The colloquium includes papers that explore the theme of the new city from various disciplinary perspectives, including literature, history, philosophy, urban planning and cultural studies.
© Wolfgang Scholvien, Haus der Kulturen, courtesy of Berlin Tourism Marketing GmbH
GUESTS Katharina Gerstenberger, Professor of German, University of Cincinnati. Speakers will include: Alison Lewis, University of Melbourne and Steffen Lehmann, University of Adelaide amongst others. To sign up for the symposium, please visit www.grs.unimelb.edu.au Presented by University of Melbourne, School of Languages and Linguistics in cooperation with the Goethe-Institut Australia and DAAD (German Academic Exchange Service).
Vor Gott sind eigentlich alle Menschen Berliner. Theodor Fontane, Author
kultur SEPTEMBER 2010
30:
berlin TALKS
Hotspots: Culture, Climate and Architecture in Berlin and Melbourne RMIT Capitol Theatre Swanston Street Melbourne (opposite Town Hall) Tickets: $15/$10 (concession) Bookings: RMIT Gallery 03 9925 1717
Berlin and Melbourne are regarded as the cultural capitals of their countries. Why? What is paving the way, what is the urban grounding for such cultural variety? Do Berlin and Melbourne follow similar urban strategies? What roles do architecture, climate, infrastructure and finance play? Is there a direct relationship between architecture and cultural development? And can architecture be considered as a base as well as a source of inspiration? Can a city, a suburb or a single building be a pioneer for cultural formation? To what end can architecture support culture? Where are the limits and into which areas can architecture expand in the future?
Speakers Suzanne Davies, Director and Chief Curator of RMIT Gallery Peter Mares, ABC Radio National, Big Ideas Jürgen Mayer H, Visiting Professor at Columbia University, New York, and Director of Jürgen Mayer H, Berlin Claudia Perren, Architect, Curator, and Lecturer for Design, Architectural Theory and History, Sydney and Berlin Ulf Meyer, Professor in Architecture at the University of Nebraska, architect, and author, who also works in Berlin Shelley Penn, Director of Shelley Penn Architects, and former Associate Victorian Government Architect in the Department of Premier and Cabinet, Melbourne John Wardle, Director of John Wardle Architects, Melbourne Richard Blythe, Professor in Architecture, Head of School, Architecture + Design at RMIT University, and Director of terroir Presented by RMIT Gallery Melbourne in cooperation with the Goethe-Institut Australia and the initiative ‘Future Proofing Property’. Broadcast on ABC Radio National Big Ideas, to be announced on ABC website.
Alte Nationagalerie © Claudia Perren
Panel Discussion Thu 11 Nov 6.00pm – 7.30pm
MY BERLIN
Hoa Pham Hoa Pham is a Melbourne based writer. She received a Goethe-Institut scholarship in 2009 as part of a writers’ exchange with Berlin’s Literaturwerkstatt.
:31
Peace Walk Berlin October 2009 Stepping on the bronze plaques of history Haunting concrete slabs of those who had gone before Stillness ebbs and flows Patient mindful pacing We come now in peace with a single yellow rose And chant for compassion and grief. This poem is in celebration of the Peace Walk conducted by monks and nuns for the European Institute of Buddhism in protest at the oppression of Vietnamese Buddhist monastics by the government in Bat Nha, Vietnam.
Holocaust Memorial Rectangular sentinels of the dead Play hide and seek in visions Gaps in memory with quick disappearances
Kreuzberg Plain black type on white Protests against immigration In a neighbourhood full of darker friendlier faces Lounging on tables with coffee and cigarettes
Courtesy of Berlin Tourism Marketing GmbH
Berlin — November 2009 Serrated edges of the soul Sitting with an old punk rocker at the Wunderbar Ash floating in the air Love grows in the centre A slow rose in the sun after snow Coffee and water to recover from another late night. Reprinted with kind permission of the author.
kultur SEPTEMBER 2010
my berlin
Ulrich Schreiber
I came to Berlin in February 1973, together with six students with whom I had shared a large house as a ‘Wohngemeinschaft’ Wuppertal. I studied philosophy, politics and, later, Russian. My studies at the Free University were the best times. In 1975 I also met my first wife, a Norwegian… Berlin — back then really just an island, the Wall was still standing — was new territory for me in all respects. As a halfway diligent student I delved into the political economics of Karl Marx and the political theory of Antonio Gramsci, but also the works of Bertolt Brecht, Peter Weiss, Pier Paolo Pasolini, Kafka, Bulgakov, Puschkin. The city’s political culture — and also its diverse scenes — were (and still are, if a little different now) unique — as were the bars. In the mid-70s the legendary ‘dschungel’ was still at Winterfeldplatz, where everybody went who was looking for new shores. For me the city’s libraries — especially those at the Free University and the Staatsbibliothek — were great places to study. And above all I was inspired by some professors, their assistants and the circle of students with whom I kept company. Their common denominator (aside from the fact that they were all in some way ‘left’); curiosity about everything they didn’t know. The city changed a great deal after the fall of the Wall, of course — and I can understand why some people say ‘not for the better’. I think, however, that reunification provided an opportunity to make Berlin more beautiful, more open to the world. The city has succeeded in making its hallmark, culture, its centre point. Many artists, practising in all art forms, have come here to live from all over Europe and other continents — and not just because of the affordable rents, compared to London, Paris and New York. Berlin conducts its function as an axis between east and west with great success — in this, too, lies its future. My favourite places are Savignyplatz, where I now live again, the gallery district in Mitte, the Tiergarten — and, in the evenings/nights, Florian and the Paris Bar…
Ulrich Schreiber is the director of Berlin’s literature festival. He recently visited Australia to find emerging writers for his 2011 festival here.
www.literaturfestival.com
Left: © Ulrich Schreiber / Right: © Berlin Tourism Marketing GmbH
32:
berlin talks
:33
Germany, the Eurozone and the World Beyond Wed 06 Oct 6.30pm Foyer ABC Studios Cnr Southbank Boulevard and Sturt Street Southbank Melbourne
Presented by ABC Radio National.
© Berlin Tourism Marketing GmbH
Free Admission Limited places — to register visit: www.abc.net.au/rn/saturdayextra (from 22 Sep)
Germany has traditionally been the European Union’s strongest economic player, its views and fortunes influence the European way. Now, as the Eurozone faces a storm of sovereign debt, what role will Germany play in keeping the EU buoyant? Join us for a special forum on the politics and economics of the nation pivotal to the success or failure of the European project. A public forum hosted by Geraldine Doogue. Broadcast on ABC Radio National’s SATURDAY EXTRA on Sat 09 Oct 7.30am.
kultur SEPTEMBER 2010
my berlin
Jeremy Fisher
Willkommen in Berlin! And I do feel very welcome. Not only are Berliners naturally friendly and gregarious but Berlin itself is so approachable and easy to move around. Berlin is a city of fine architecture, yet the architecture doesn’t overwhelm the people who live here. Even the spectacular, rebuilt Potsdamer Platz retains a human scale. In Berlin, you never feel as though you are trapped in a concrete jungle. While there are very few high-rise buildings, the city is still densely populated. Traffic tends to keep to the main boulevards so when you are on a noisy street you can easily wander from it into what passes for Berlin suburbia. Around the corner you can sit in a park and enjoy the green spaces with which the city abounds. Or maybe you’ll find a growers’ market set up in the neighbourhood square and buy some blackberries or raspberries fresh from the farm. These local streets always have at least one bar, a restaurant and a café. As well, you’ll often find a supermarket, chemist, dry-cleaner and the other services you need either on your way home or to work. But Berlin is also a collection of villages and the centres of these villages are bigger commerce and shopping centres. Wilmersdorf has a pleasant mall. Schöneberg has the fabulous KaDeWe and the shops that surround it. Mitte is a very hip and trendy area full of boutiques and designer shops. You can be checking the prices of Armani at 10 in KaDeWe then sipping a latte or a beer at Hackescher Markt at 10.30. There’s never a shortage of things to do. It helps that the city has an efficient public transport system. There is an U-Bahn station within easy walking distance of almost everywhere. You may have to change trains to reach your final destination, but this is made easy by frequent announcements and electronic signage. The buses also feature passenger friendly timetable information. And you can use the one ticket on trains, buses and trams. There is no real need to have a car, but that does not mean no-one has one. On the contrary, cars are everywhere, parked on the roadside mostly as private garages are few and far between. Arriving in Berlin by either train or plane, the trees and the green are the first things you notice. The giant park Tiergarten lies in the centre of the city and is a favourite place for Berliners in summer — and they are not afraid of exposing themselves to the sun either, setting their bodies in deckchairs or on blankets on the ground to catch the most rays! And in Berlin, you need to find the time for that too, because there is so much to do here.
Jeremy Fisher teaches literature at the University of New England in Armidale. He was director of the Australian Society of Authors when he received a Goethe-Institut scholarship to spend research time in Berlin.
© Jeremy Fisher
34:
berlin on stage
:35
Electronic City 12 – 27 Nov No performances Mondays Tue – Sat 8.15pm Sun 5.00pm Thu 11 Nov Preview Tickets:
$30/$20 (concession) and for group bookings of ten or more. Tuesday performances all tickets $18 Preview tickets $15
Bookings: 03 9016 3873 E: hoypolloy@bigpond.com Mechanics Institute Performing Arts Centre (MIPAC) Cnr Glenlyon and Sydney Roads Brunswick
Globalisation, communication, digitalisation, standardisation, disorientation… disintegration. Electronic City is a burgeoning, all encompassing über-techno-metropolis where flexibility and resilience are paramount for success and survival. TXL: Berlin, MEL: Melbourne, TPE: Taipei, JFK: New York, FCO: Rome, MAD: Madrid — Tom hasn’t any idea what city he is in… he’s moving so fast he’s going nowhere. Tom’s great love, Joy, is working the check-out at the ‘ready to eat’ store in an airport — she dreams of George Clooney and longs for Tom… her life is being filmed in a reality documentary soap. Joy’s infrared scanner has broken down as the queue of impatient corporates grows larger… the system has crumpled. The global conveyor belt has ceased — this is Electronic City. BY: Falk Richter TRANSLATED BY: Daniel Brunet
Creative Director: Wayne Pearn Designer: Kat Chan Lighting: Ben Morris Sound and Motion: Feedback Loop
© Mathew Windebank, Millimetre
Presented by Hoy Polloy Theatre in partnership with the Goethe-Institut Australia.
…a panic-stricken farce from the inner mental world of contemporary busyness… Theater Heute
kultur SEPTEMBER 2010
36:
berlin on stage
A Woman in Berlin 16 – 28 Nov No performances Mondays Tue – Sat 8.00pm Sat 2.00pm (matinees) Sun 5.30pm Thu 25 Nov 1.00pm (matinee) Tickets: from $15 – $30 plus booking fees Bookings: Tel: 03 9685 5111 or www.malthousetheatre.com.au Tower Theatre at the CUB Malthouse 113 Sturt Street Southbank
As the Red Army rolls into Berlin an unnamed woman waits for the inevitable. The conquest of the city is only the beginning of a new war, one in which the vanquished will be claimed by the victors… Hailed as one of the most powerful and important accounts of a woman’s experience of war, more than half a century later ‘A Woman in Berlin’ has only gained in its ability to shock and impress. The voice of this anonymous, brilliant account slips between pitiless honesty and lyrical elegance, all the while daring to stare its unthinkable subject in the eye. “Poetry after Auschwitz is barbaric”, wrote Theodor Adorno — but beneath the brutal detail of this fearless narrative lays a mythic lament to the women who have been silenced by history. Orpheus has left his Eurydice to an eternity in the underworld; her crime to have looked back at the trials she endured there. In this clear-eyed account of her own history, the forgotten woman’s lament is finally given voice.
CREATIVE Adapted and directed BY: Janice Muller co-adapted and performed by: Meredith Penman Set and Costume Designer: Gabrielle Logan Composer and Sound Designer: Russell Goldsmith Lighting Designer: Matt Cox A Woman in Berlin is based on the diary ‘Eine Frau in Berlin’. Tagebuch-Aufzeichnungen vom 20. April bis 22. Juni 1945 by Anonymous, Eichborn AG, Frankfurt am Main, 2003, English Translation: Philip Boehm. This project has been assisted by the Australian Government through the Australia Council for the Arts, its arts funding and advisory body. This adaptation of A Woman in Berlin was originally developed with the participation and support of B Sharp, Company B Belvoir and the Goethe-Institut.
Australian Stage
Presented by Malthouse Theatre in cooperation with the Goethe-Institut Australia. © Andy Baker, Meredith Penman
This is the sort of independent theatre that we need: A tight onehander telling a poignant story in an intimate, largely restrained fashion and yet with a keen awareness of the theatrical. …a theatrical achievement of disarming power.
berlin on stage
:37
A Drink with Heiner Müller Sun 21 Nov 2.30pm Tickets: $10 Merlyn Theatre at The CUB Malthouse 113 Sturt Street Southbank Tel: 03 9685 5111 www.malthousetheatre.com.au
Welcome to A Drink with Heiner Müller, an audio exhumation, a live interview with a dead writer. In March 1990, just after the first and last democratic elections in the German Democratic Republic, ABC Radio National reporter Tom Morton interviewed Müller at his flat in a nondescript outer suburb of East Berlin. Over a bottle of whisky they spoke about the fall of the Wall, Müller’s career as a writer under ‘real existing socialism’, his 9-hour production of Hamlet, which had just been staged at the Berliner Ensemble, and about the future of Germany: “It’s like when a diver comes up from the deep to the surface too quickly he can get sick and dizzy — I think that’s what a lot of people are experiencing now — the dizziness of freedom.” 20 years later, Müller remains one of the most fascinating and enigmatic writers of his time, a man whose literary output and biography encapsulate many of the tensions and contradictions of Cold War culture and life under a Communist regime. When it emerged in the mid-90s that Müller had collaborated with the Stasi, he did not try to shy away from his involvement, but confronted it in his autobiography Krieg Ohne Schlacht, a brutally honest reckoning with his own past and the history of his times. A Drink with Heiner Müller is a performance piece featuring audio from the 1990 interview, readings from Krieg Ohne Schlacht and other texts by Müller, and Tom Morton’s reflections on their meeting, the man, and his meaning. Presented by Malthouse Theatre, ABC Radio National in cooperation with the Goethe-Institut Australia.
kultur SEPTEMBER 2010
38:
berlin on stage
Jochen Roller: Basically I Don’t But Actually I Do Wed 24 – Sat 27 Nov 7.30pm Tickets: $25/$18 (concession) Box Office: 03 9322 3713 artshouse@melbourne.vic.gov.au www.artshouse.com.au Arts House, Meat Market 5 Blackwood Street North Melbourne
In their new collaboration, German choreographer Jochen Roller and his Israeli colleague Saar Magal take a photo of an SS man shooting a Jewish woman as the starting point as they compile a catalogue of images and situations that are stored in their heads and bodies as phantoms of the memory of the Holocaust. As children of the third generation and grandchildren of both perpetrators and victims, they examine through choreography how these phantoms of memory influence the perception of the other. What if the people in the photograph were originally Grandpa Roller and Grandma Magal? Without direct access to the historical information that disappeared with their grandparents, they use various experimental stage set-ups to explore the ideas and realities that shape their German-Israeli relationship. A Production by Jochen Roller and DepArtment, in coproduction with Kampnagel Hamburg and Goethe-Institut Tel Aviv. Funded by Behörde für Kultur, Sport und Medien Hamburg and Fonds Darstellende Künste e.V.
CREATIVE By and with: Jochen Roller, Saar Magal LightING design: Marek Lamprecht Soundtrack: Paul Ratzel Production Management: DepArtment/Harriet Lesch, Katharina von Wilcke
Guest
Presented by Arts House in cooperation with the Goethe-Institut Australia. Arts House is a City of Melbourne contemporary arts initiative.
Jochen Roller ist ebenso amüsant exhibitionistischer Animateur wie scharfer Analytiker sozialer Fakten […] Ein vielseitiger, faszinierender, unberechenbarer Performance-Künstler. Ballettanz
© Jochen Roller, Basically I Don’t But Actually I Do
Jochen Roller is a Berlin based dancer, choreographer and dance curator for Hamburg’s Kampnagel. Jochen has performed extensively and internationally and returns to Australia after a series of dance workshops around the country in 2007.
MY BERLIN
Boris Eldagsen
I was living in Mainz when I first came to Berlin in the mid-90s as an art student, having won a meet-and-greet with the artist Christo during his Wrapped-Reichstag project. The raw energy of the city hooked me and I ended up returning every year for the legendary street festival, The Love Parade. In the 1990s, Berlin was a magnet for German youth. After my studies I knew that I wanted to settle down in a major European arts capital — either London or Berlin. Britannia was ‘cool’ then, but I am glad that by accident it became Berlin. It wasn’t long before I knew Berlin was developing into a special city both to live and work in; and not only for contemporary photo/video artists like myself. In some cities you never become a local. In Berlin there is a saying that it only takes a year and a hard winter. What does it mean to be a Berliner? To be a motor of change or take part in it, to be experimental with the future without forgetting the past. And to be tolerant. Everybody can simply be who they are, or want to be. This promise goes way back to the Prussian King, Friedrich the Great. In times where each nation had to follow the belief-system of the King, he simply said: be a good citizen, pay your tax and the rest is your private affair. My favourite places? As the city is in constant change, they come and go as well. Being a Berliner means being in love with the transience of time. Being optimistic. Even when the winters are cold and grey — there will always be amazing summers.
© Boris Eldagsen, How to disappear completely
Boris Eldagsen is a Berlin and Melbourne artist.
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www.eldagsen.com
kultur SEPTEMBER 2010
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berlin waves
On ABC Radio National
Check website for more details: www.abc.net.au/rn/events/berlinwaves
Sat 09 Oct 7.30am Saturday Extra with Geraldine Doogue Highlights from ‘Germany, the Eurozone, and the World Beyond Forum’ recorded in Melbourne earlier in the week. Germany has traditionally been the Union’s strongest economic player, and its views and fortunes influence the European way. Now, as the Eurozone faces a storm of sovereign debt, what role will Germany play in keeping the Union buoyant? Join us for a forum on the politics and economics of the nation considered pivotal to the success or failure of the European project. Sat 09 Oct 2.00pm Wed 13 Oct 1.00pm 360documentaries: ‘A German Reunion’ In 1990 former ABC producer Tom Morton travelled through the former East Germany, talking to factory workers, writers, activists and students about their hopes, fears and experiences in the first flush of excitement after reunification. Earlier this year Tom returned to Germany and revisited the people, and places, he encountered 20 years ago. How do the hopes of 20 years ago stack up against the realities of today? A co-production with Deutschlandfunk. Sat 09 Oct 3.00pm Thu 14 Oct 3.00pm Poetica: ‘A Pantomime of Words: The poetry collages of Herta Müller’ The German speaking Romanian born Müller was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2009. The critic Denis Scheck described visiting Müller at her home in Berlin and seeing that her working desk contained a drawer full of single letters cut from a newspaper she had entirely destroyed. Realising that she used the letters “to recombine her own literary texts”, he felt he had “entered the workshop of a true poet”. Sun 10 Oct 2.00pm Thu 14 Oct 1.00pm Hindsight: ‘Blues for Checkpoint Charlie’ A musical documentary feature marking the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall with the testimony of two American servicemen who spent years on guard in Checkpoint Charlie, the most famous crossing point between East and West Germany during the Cold War. Blues for Checkpoint Charlie is a documentary feature with a soundtrack by Dominic Muldowney, one of Britain’s leading contemporary composers. Produced by award winning documentary maker David Mairowitz. American born, Mairowitz has lived in Europe for more than 30 years, dividing his time between Avignon and Berlin.
© Wolfgang Scholvien, Weltzeituhr, courtesy of Berlin Tourism Marketing GmbH
Visit Berlin on ABC Radio National and let your imagination run wild. A rare treat for those who cherish radio documentaries, radio plays and features.
berlin WAVES
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Wed 13 Oct 3.00pm Sat 16 Oct 9.00am ByDesign presented by Alan Saunders Highlights from ‘Form, Function or Fetish? Unpacking Contemporary Design’, a public forum exploring how design has, and continues to, shape our world and affect every aspect of our lives, from Bauhaus to our house. Recorded at the Somewhat Different exhibition. Guests include Volker Albus, Somewhat Different curator and architect; Malte Wagenfeld, industrial designer and RMIT University academic and others. Sat 16 Oct 2.00pm 360Documentaries: ‘poor but sexy’ Berlin is a small city with a big financial problem, but it has long had a reputation as a creative centre — a reputation that has endured through several wars and the Wall, and has attracted international artists as diverse as Christopher Isherwood, Nick Cave, Barrie Kosky and Ming Wong. The fall of the Wall might have put an end to (West) Berlin’s sense of being a singular enclave of freedom in the midst of oppression, but it also created new opportunities, as whole areas of the city suddenly became available for re-invention and re-occupation. These days, creative Berlin flourishes, even as the city’s finances continue to slide. In this peripatetic documentary, Jean Claude Kuner, a long time Berlin resident and an award winning feature maker, tries to see his city through the eyes of expatriate artists (and a party of gay Frenchmen), matching their romantic visions against his own hard bitten understandings of one of the world’s iconic cities. Sat 16 Oct 4.00pm Sun 17 Oct 6.00am Elsewhere: ‘The Boars of Berlin’ The dense forests that surround Berlin on all sides are home to many thousands of wild pigs, their numbers growing rapidly as their breeding cycles adapt to the increasing availability of food all year round. And these ancient animals (straight from the pages of Grimm’s Tales and the deep past of German mythology) aren’t keeping to the woods. Each year the 30 hunters employed by the Berlin city council are called upon to kill more than 900 pigs in the streets of the city, a fraction of the thousands that make their home in the suburbs, not the bush. In this entertaining documentary we go pig hunting in the Green Wood accompanied by an adventurous pug and a plucky border terrier, join a local chef on a tour of the hunting lodge of the Prussian kings, and meet the ornithologist who is master of the official pig killers of Berlin. Sun 17 Oct 3.00pm Thu 21 Oct 7.00pm Airplay: ‘Berlin’ written and performed by David Hare For his whole adult life, the celebrated British writer and performer David Hare has been visiting the city which has long been regarded as the most exciting in Europe. But there’s something in Berlin’s elusive character which makes him feel he’s always missing the point. Now, to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Wall, Hare gives a 55-minute meditation about Germany’s restored capital — both what it represents in European history and the peculiar part it has played in his own life, most recently during the filming of THE READER (for which Hare wrote the screenplay). On 12 October 2009 David Hare gave a special fundraising performance of the piece for Company B, Belvoir. His reading, to a packed audience in the Belvoir Theatre, Sydney, proves this distinguished British playwright to be a powerful and exciting performer. Sun 14 Nov 10.00am Artworks: ‘Modern Times’ Berlin’s New National Gallery is a famous ‘temple of light and glass’ designed by Mies van der Rohe. It houses 20th century European painting and sculpture. Much of this collection, however, has a turbulent past. In a show, currently on display, called Modern Times — The Collection 1900–1945, visitors are made aware of the paintings that are missing just as much as the paintings that are there. Artworks speaks to the curators about the splintering of this gallery’s collection during the pre-war years, particularly the fragmentation that occurred through the Nazi campaign against ‘Degenerate Art’. During this period many great expressionist masterpieces disappeared and they are still greatly missed.
kultur SEPTEMBER 2010
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berlin waves Sun 14 Nov 11.00pm Artworks Feature: ‘Rebuilding the Island’ A feature on the rebuilding of Berlin’s Museum Island. Since German reunification, plans to reconstruct the ruined or demolished buildings on Museum Island have been much discussed. Finally, the Neues Museum reopened, 70 years after it was closed. It once again displays its ancient collection; most notably the famous bust of Nefertiti. Interestingly, though, the building has been brought back to life in a way that recognises its tumultuous history. In Berlin, Albert Ehrnrooth speaks with Alexander Schwartz, the design director for David Chipperfield architects, the British firm responsible for the reconstruction of the museums and galleries on Berlin’s Museum Island.
On ABC Radio National
Sun 21 Nov 11.00am + 8.00pm Artworks Feature: ‘The Painter, the Poet, and the Art of Betrayal’ Ralf Kerbach was part of the underground arts scene in East Berlin in the early 1980s. Originally from Dresden, Kerbach was kicked out of the art school there in 1980 for being part of a group of young East German painters who were heavily influenced by Western modernism (Pollock, Twombly, de Kooning etc). He was also in a punk band called ZWITSCHERMASCHINE, named after a drawing by Klee. Kerbach moved to the Prenzlauer Berg quarter in East Berlin, home to many cultural and political dissidents and worked closely with a radical poet called Sascha Anderson, illustrating several volumes of his poetry. In 1982 Kerbach moved to West Berlin and lived there and in Paris until after the fall of the Wall. In 1992 he was invited to become a Professor of Art in Dresden — at the same art school which had kicked him out. Around the same time, he discovered that his former friend, the poet Sascha Anderson, was a Stasi informer who had informed on many of the leading writers, painters and political activists in East Berlin in the early 1980s. Written and produced by Tom Morton
Sun 21 Nov 3.00pm Thu 25 Nov 7.00pm Airplay: ‘liebesrap’ by Gesine Schmidt A love story recorded on the tough streets of ‘multikulti’ Neükolln. In this emotionally wrenching drama we experience six months in the lives of two young lovers, Vanessa and Yusuf. Award winning writer Gesine Schmidt developed the script of LIEBESRAP from hours of interviews with the real life models of the play’s protagonists. Through this story of innocence and despair an image of contemporary Berlin slowly emerges in all its multicultural complexity. LIEBESRAP was first recorded on location in Berlin several months ago, and the play’s director Jean Claude Kuner has worked with Australian actors to develop a richly textured English language adaptation, in which German, Turkish and English voices interweave to create a distinctly fresh and exciting radio drama. LIEBESRAP is a coproduction between ABC Radio National and Deutschlandfunk with the support of the Goethe-Institut Australia. Sun 21 Nov 8.30pm The Night Air: ‘Die Wende — the Turning Point’ As the finale of Radio National’s Berlin Waves festival THE NIGHT AIR tunes into THE TURNING POINT — DIE WENDE. In the mix of festival highlights and archives will be ideas of reunification and change as explored by major European artists in sound, music, poetry and performance. Reunification — social, spiritual and sonic — East and West, People and Gods, Sound and Silence. Expect surprises as the art and ideas of Kafka, Stockhausen and Rilke engage in a lively sonic debate. Presented by ABC Radio National in cooperation with the Goethe-Institut Australia.
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German Summer tune into german School Melbourne 448 St Kilda Road, Melbourne P: 03 9864 8917 E: learngerman@melbourne.goethe.org Sydney 90 Ocean Street, Woollahra P: 02 8356 8366 E: learngerman@sydney.goethe.org
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If the Berlin Wall never fell, Communism was never defeated, and the rivalry between East and West Germany went forever unabated, where East and West Germany united and collided, one would ďŹ nd the ongoing celebration of German uniďŹ cation that is Berlin Bar.
Berlin Bar Concealed high above a myriad of laneways, occupying an unlikely location well hidden from the public eye, Berlin is a unique new venture, a timeless encapsulation of postmodern German culture. Paying respect to Charlie Chaplin Č‹ÂˆÂ”Â‘Â? –Š‡ …Žƒ••‹… ƤŽÂ? ÇŽ Š‡ ”‡ƒ– Â‹Â…Â–ÂƒÂ–Â‘Â”ÇŻČŒÇĄ ‡”Ž‹Â? ‹• ƒ •’ƒ…‡ –Šƒ– ‹• Ž‘•–nj‹Â?nj–‹Â?‡ǥ ›‡– Ƥ”Â?Ž› Ƥš‡† ‹Â? –”ƒ†‹–‹‘Â?Ǥ ƒ•‡† ‘Â? –Š‡ —Â?Â‹Ć¤Â…ÂƒÂ–Â‹Â‘Â? ‘ˆ ƒ †‹˜‹†‡† ˜‹•‹‘Â?Ǣ •—Â?’–—‘—• ›‡– humble, Berlin is a venue split in two, as the famous city itself once was. With a focus on traditional craft drinks and an emphasis on classic customer-service, Berlin Bar invokes ƒ …‘Â?–‡Â?’‘”ƒ”› …—Ž–—”ƒŽ Â˜Â‘Â”Â–Â‡ÂšÇĄ ƒ Šƒ˜‡Â? ‹Â? ™Š‹…Š ‰—‡•–• ƒ”‡ transported to an overlooked era that was forever thought to be lost. ‡”Ž‹Â? ’”‡•‡Â?–• ƒÂ? ‡š–‡Â?•‹˜‡ ƒ””ƒ› ‘ˆ ’”‡Â?‹—Â? ÇŽÂƒÂ–ÇŚÂ…ÂƒÂŽÂŽÇŻ ƒÂ?† ǎ„ƒ…Â?ÇŚÂ„ÂƒÂ”ÇŻ •’‹”‹–•ǥ ƒŽ‘Â?‰ ™‹–Š ƒÂ? ‡…Ž‡…–‹… •‡Ž‡…–‹‘Â? ‘ˆ ƒ˜ƒ”‹ƒÂ? bottled beers, a selected portfolio of respected Australian, New Zealand and German wines, a handpicked list of French ŠƒÂ?’ƒ‰Â?‡ǥ ƒÂ?† ƒ ƤÂ?‡ ”ƒÂ?‰‡ ‘ˆ Ž‹“—‡—”•ǥ …‘‰Â?ÂƒÂ…Â•ÇĄ ƒ’‡”‹–‹ˆ• and digestivs. Â?Œ‘› ƒ •‡ƒ– ‹Â? ƒ•– ‘” ‡•– ‡”Ž‹Â? –‘ ‡š’‡”‹‡Â?…‡ ‘—” —Â?‹“—‡ brand of table service, or take a seat at the bar to best ‡Â?Œ‘› –Š‡ –Š‡ƒ–”‡ ‘ˆ ‘—” ‡š’‡”–Ž› –”ƒ‹Â?‡† Â•Â–ÂƒĆĄÇ¤ ‡Ž‡…– ›‘—” ˆƒ˜‘—”‹–‡ Ž‹„ƒ–‹‘Â? Č‹Â…Â”ÂƒÂˆÂ–Â‡Â† –‘ ›‘—” ’‡”•‘Â?ƒŽ Â•Â’Â‡Â…Â‹Ć¤Â…ÂƒÂ–Â‹Â‘Â?Â•ČŒÇĄ ‘” Ž‡– ‘—” …Šƒ”Â?‹Â?‰ Â•Â–ÂƒĆĄ ‰—‹†‡ ›‘—” •‡Ž‡…–‹‘Â?Ǥ
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Public Transport TO MELBOURNE CULTURAL INSTITUTIONS FOR BERLIN DAYZ
Australian Academy of Design Tram: 109 Stop 127 North Port + 10 minute walk down Ingles Street Berlin Bar Trams: 1, 3/3a, 5, 6, 8, 16, 64, 67, 72 Stop 10 Bourke Street/Swanston Street University of Melbourne Trams: 1, 3/3a, 5, 6, 8, 16, 64, 67,72 Stop 1 Tram: 19 Stop 11 Royal Parade Ian Potter Gallery Trams: 1, 3/3a, 5, 6, 8, 16, 64, 67,72 Stop 1 University of Melbourne The Corner Hotel Tram: 70 Stop 9 Richmond Railway Station RMIT Gallery / State Library Trams: 1, 3/3a, 5, 6, 8, 16, 64, 67,72 Stop 8 LaTrobe Street/Swanston Street Trams: 24, 30 Stop 6 Swanston Street/LaTrobe Street
Monash Gallery of Art Glen Waverley Train Line to Glen Waverley Station 745 Bus (Rowville) Stop Ajax Dr/Jells Rd (Wheelers Hill) Pakenham/Cranbourne Train Line to Oakleigh Station 693 Bus (Belgrave) Stop Jells Rd/Ferntree Gully Rd 804 Bus (Dandenong via Wheelers Hill) Stop Wheelers Hill Shopping Centre Goethe-Institut Trams: 3/3a, 5, 6, 16, 64, 67, 72 Buses: 216, 219, 220 Stop 23 Arthur Road/St Kilda Road German School Melbourne Tram: 96 Stop 22 Holden Street/Nicholson Street Malthouse Theatre / Merlyn Theatre Trams: 3/3a, 5, 6, 8, 16, 64, 67, 72 Stop 17 St Kilda Road and Grant Street Mechanics Institute of Performing Arts Tram: 19 Stop 21 Corner Sydney and Glenyon Roads
Melbourne Recital Centre / Foyer ABC Studios Tram: 1 Stop 17 Trams: 3/3a, 5, 6, 8, 16, 64, 67, 72 Stop 16 Southbank Boulevard/St Kilda Road Buses: 216, 219, 220 Victorian Arts Centre Roxanne Parlour Trams: 1, 3/3a, 5, 6, 8, 16, 64, 67, 72 Stop 9 Lonsdale Street/Swanston Street The Wheeler Centre for Books, Writing and Ideas Trams: 1, 3/3a, 5, 6, 8, 16, 64, 67, 72 Stop 8 La Trobe Street/Swanston Street Stop 9 Lonsdale Street/Swanston Street Trams: 24, 30, 35, 109, 112 Stop 7 Russel Street /La Trobe Street RMIT Capitol Theatre Trams: 42, 48, 109, 112 Stop 6 Swanston St/Melbourne Town Hall Trams: 1, 3/3a, 5, 6, 8, 16, 64, 67, 72 Stop 11 Collins Street/Melbourne Town Hall
COM0386
ACMI / Fracture Gallery Federation Square Trams: 70, 75 Stop 5 Swanston Street/Flinders Street Trams: 1, 3/3a, 5, 6, 8, 16, 64, 67, 72 Stop 13 Federation Square Arts House / Meat Market Trams: 55, 59 Stop 14 Grattan Street/ Royal Melbourne and Royal Women’s Hospital
Berlin TRAMSTOPS in melbourne
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berlin DAYZ ACKNOWLEDGES
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Partners Supporters
kultur SEPTEMBER 2010
50:
Calendar of events
Tuesday 28 September 12.30pm Planning means dividing: Lecture Canberra Faculty of Arts and Design University of Canberra
Day -byDay For updates on all these events please check: www.goethe.de/australia Information correct at time of printing.
Friday 08 October – Tuesday 26 October Stadt und Haus — New Berlin Architecture Melbourne Goethe-Institut
Thursday 30 September 6.00pm Two German Architectures: Opening Reception Canberra Gallery of Australian Design 7.30pm Floor talk with Simone Hain Canberra Gallery of Australian Design
Friday 08 October 11.30am Victorian Seniors Festival morning tea Melbourne RMIT Gallery 6.00pm Stadt und Haus — New Berlin Architecture: Panel discussion Melbourne Goethe-Institut
Friday 01 October – Saturday 23 October Two German Architectures Canberra Gallery of Australian Design
Monday 18 October – Friday 12 November Zeitgeist Becomes Form Melbourne Australian Academy of Design
Friday 01 October – Saturday 13 November Somewhat Different — Contemporary Design Melbourne RMIT Gallery
Friday 22 October 1.00pm Zeitgeist becomes Form: Comrade Couture Melbourne Australian Academy of Design
Tuesday 05 October 9.30am RMIT Urban Architecture Laboratory Program: Lecture Melbourne RMIT Gallery 6.00pm Form, Function or Fetish?: ByDesign Melbourne RMIT Gallery
Tuesday 26 October 6.00pm Zeitgeist becomes Form: Opening Melbourne Australian Academy of Design
Wednesday 06 October 12.00 noon Developing the New Berlin: Floor Talk Melbourne RMIT Gallery 6.30pm Germany, the Eurozone, and the world beyond Melbourne ABC Studios Cnr Southbank Bld & Sturt St Southbank Thursday 07 October 12.00 noon Contemporary Design: CURATOR Floor Talk Melbourne RMIT Gallery 6.00pm Somewhat Different: EXHIBITION Opening Reception Melbourne RMIT Gallery
Wednesday 27 October 2.00pm German School Film Festival with Bas Böttcher Melbourne ACMI 6.30pm Hijacked 2: Floor talk by Anne Lass Melbourne Monash Gallery of Art 7.00pm Lubitsch: Schuhpalast Pinkus 8.10pm Lubitsch: One Hour With You 9.40pm Lubitsch: Carmen Melbourne ACMI 7.30pm Mouse on Mars Brisbane The Zoo Thursday 28 October 8.00pm Bas Böttcher: Literature like a Rock Concert Melbourne Berlin Bar
Friday 29 October 6.30pm Bas Böttcher: Literature like a Rock Concert Sydney Goethe-Institut 7.30pm Hijacked 2 Outdoor Screenings Melbourne Federation Square Saturday 30 October 11.30am Hijacked 2: Field trip with Anne Lass Melbourne Monash Gallery of Art 3.00pm Hijacked 2: Opening Melbourne Monash Gallery of Art 8.00pm Mouse on Mars Sydney Oxford Arts Factory Saturday 30 October – 16 January 2011 Hijacked 2 — Recent GermanAustralian Photography Melbourne Monash Gallery of Art Sunday 31 October 7.30pm Mouse on Mars Melbourne The Corner Hotel Monday 01 November – Friday 26 November The Power of Language Melbourne University Baillieu Library Tuesday 02 November 7.30pm Atos Trio: Program 1 Perth Concert Hall 8.30pm 13 Semesters Nationwide@The World Movies Channel Public Screenings at the GoetheInstituts in Melbourne and Sydney Wednesday 03 November – Tuesday 30 November Berlin — City of Change: Exhibition and school class visits Melbourne Goethe-Institut
Wednesday 03 November 7.00pm Lubitsch: The Student Prince 8.55pm Lubitsch: Madame Dubarry Melbourne ACMI 3.00pm Ran an de Buletten! Learn Berlinerisch Open Day Melbourne Goethe-Institut 6.30pm Berlin — City of Change Opening Reading by Wladimir Kaminer “Ich bin kein Berliner” Melbourne Goethe-Institut 8.00pm Mouse on Mars Perth Amplifier Thursday 04 November 6.15pm Young Capital Writers: Bas Böttcher, Wladimir Kaminer, Carsten Beyer, Anna Funder Melbourne Wheeler Centre 8.00pm Rhythm Is It! Melbourne ACMI 9.00pm Russendisko Melbourne Berlin Bar 8.00pm Atos Trio: Program 1 Adelaide Town Hall Friday 05 November 9.00am Symposium: Imagining the New Berlin Melbourne Ian Potter Museum 5.30pm The Power of Language: Opening and Performance Melbourne University Baillieu Library 7.00pm Comrade Couture Melbourne ACMI
Saturday 06 November 9.00am Symposium: Imagining the New Berlin Melbourne Ian Potter Museum 8.00pm Atos Trio: Program 2 Melbourne Recital Centre 7.00pm In Berlin Melbourne ACMI 9.00pm Berlin Babylon Melbourne ACMI Sunday 07 November 3.30pm Comrade Couture Melbourne ACMI 5.30pm Berlin Vortex Melbourne ACMI 7.00pm Berlin, Symphony of a Great City Melbourne Federation Square Monday 08 November 7.00pm Berlin Babylon Melbourne ACMI Tuesday 09 November 8.30pm Tornado Nationwide @ The World Movies Channel Public Screenings at the GoetheInstituts in Melbourne and Sydney Wednesday 10 November 7.00pm Lubitsch: Broken Lullaby 8.30pm Lubitsch: Kohlhiesels Töchter 9.40pm Ernst Lubitsch in Berlin Melbourne ACMI 7.00pm Atos Trio: Program 2 Brisbane QPAC Concert Hall South Bank Thursday 11 November 6.00pm Hot Spots: Culture, Climate and Architecture Panel Melbourne RMIT Capitol Theatre 7.00pm Atos Trio: Program 2 Canberra ANU School of Music
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Friday 12 November – 27 November Electronic City Tuesday to Saturday 8.15pm Sunday 5.00pm No performances on Monday Melbourne Mechanics Institute of Performing Art Saturday 13 November 1.30pm Atos Trio: Program 2 Sydney City Recital Hall, Angel Place 2.00pm Berliner Philharmoniker: Program 1 Perth Concert Hall
Saturday 20 November 7.30pm Atos Trio: Program 1 Newcastle Conservatorium of Music 2.00pm The 12 Cellists of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra Sydney Opera House 8.00pm Berliner Philharmoniker: Program 2 Sydney Opera House Sunday 21 November 2.30pm A Drink With Heiner Müller Melbourne Malthouse Theatre
Sunday 14 November 8.00pm Berliner Philharmoniker: Program 2 Perth Concert Hall
Monday 22 November 7.00pm Atos Trio: Program 1 Sydney City Recital Hall Angel Place
Monday 15 November 7.30pm Scharoun Ensemble Melbourne Recital Centre
Tuesday 23 November 8.30pm The Architect Nationwide@The World Movies Channel Public Screenings at the GoetheInstituts in Melbourne and Sydney
Tuesday 16 November 7.00pm Atos Trio: Program 1 Melbourne Recital Centre 8.00pm Berliner Philharmoniker: Program 1 Sydney Opera House 8.30pm Pink Nationwide@The World Movies Channel Public Screenings at the GoetheInstituts in Melbourne and Sydney Tuesday 16 November – 28 November A Woman in Berlin Tuesday to Saturday 8.00pm Saturday 2.00pm Sunday 5.30pm No performances on Monday Melbourne Malthouse Theatre Wednesday 17 November 8.00pm Berliner Philharmoniker: Program2 Sydney Opera House Friday 19 November 8.00pm Berliner Philharmoniker: Program 1 Sydney Opera House 10.00pm Alex Barck/Jazzanova Melbourne Roxanne Parlour
Wednesday 24 November 7.30pm Jochen Roller: Basically I don’t but actually I do Melbourne Meat Market Thursday 25 November 7.30pm Jochen Roller: Basically I don’t but actually I do Melbourne Meat Market Friday 26 November 7.30pm Jochen Roller: Basically I don’t but actually I do Melbourne Meat Market Saturday 27 November 7.30pm Jochen Roller: Basically I don’t but actually I do Melbourne Meat Market Tuesday 30 November 8.30pm Rabbit without Ears Nationwide@The World Movies Channel Public Screenings at the GoetheInstituts in Melbourne and Sydney
www.goethe.de/australia
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BERLIN DAYZ brings Berlin to Australia — and here is your chance to travel to Berlin and experience it for yourself! Just follow a few easy steps and enter a draw to win: A flight to/from Berlin courtesy of Lufthansa German Airlines
+ A one month German Language
course at the Goethe-Institut Berlin
+ Accommodation and breakfast for four weeks This is what you should do:
n i l r e B y M e c n e i r e p x E
n Read all about My Berlin in this program or on www.goethe.de/australia n Send us your image and story — whether you have been to Berlin or not — and tell us about your Berlin experience or your Berlin ideas n All entries should reach berlindayz@sydney.goethe.org by 15 Dec 2010
This is what we will do: n We will publish entries on www.goethe.de/australia n We will award ‘best entry’ and notify the winner See website for full terms and conditions.
Roundtrip fare based on online weekend specials. Subscribe to our newsletter on lufthansa.com Roundtrip fare based on online weekend to receive our latest offers.specials. Subscribe to our newsletter on lufthansa.com to receive our latest offers.
*Travel via Asia or America or make it a Round-The-World trip. Price includes taxes & surcharges. Subject to exchange rate fluctuations. Flights to/from Australia are operated in conjunction with airline partners. *Travel via Asia or America or make it a Round-The-World trip. Price includes taxes & surcharges. Subject to exchange rate fluctuations. Flights to/from Australia are operated in conjunction with airline partners.