And here I thought we should be discussing a transition from the feudal, redundant snooze fest of state funding that procures the so-called National Pavillions every two years at the otherwise lovely Bienalle Jardini. But no, let's bring the cultural discourse back a few decades and discuss the role of culture in nationalism. (pssst…. Culture doesn't have a role in nationalism; that is propaganda)

From Eurovision to FIFA ( of all oligarch supporting places), from the Glasgow Film festival to Cannes, to Spotify and the Met, a growing list of venues and institutions in the cultural and sports industry have issued a blanket or selective Russian ban. The Arts Council of England "advised" the cancellation of all Russian exhibitions and loans. (Also "advised" to seek "legal advice" before actually canceling any contracts; this is, after all, a corporatocracy). La Biennale di Venezia's official statement takes a page out of art criticism, saying essentially nothing: "expresses its complete solidarity for this noble act of courage and stands beside the motivations that have led to this decision" (drink for every unnecessary word in that sentence). La Biennale remains a six-month-long art fair where everything is for sale; oops, sorry, my bad, that's not what it says; The Biennale remains "a place where peoples meet in art and culture (and Aperol) "and condemns all those who use violence to prevent dialogue and peace." War prevents a bit more than dialogue and peace; it also prevents breathing. Just FYI.

 

While some institutions have issued a selective ban on federally funded projects, expressing solidarity to regime opposing voices, this has not always been the case in our Western "civilized," "freedom-loving" world, which is troubling. Surely, SURELY we all agree by now that culture transcends nationality? It would be almost impossible to weed out nationality out of nearly anyone in our late-stage globalization, let alone world-traveling artists. What about 30% of the Russian-speaking Ukraine population? Or am I assuming a similarly significant Ukrainian-speaking Russian population? Can we consume their art?

 

I scolded my dad for buying my son a national flag for the latest iteration of Greek revisionist history on March 25th. "When the Turks come…" ( I have heard this my whole life), he scolded back. The allegiance to the flag is going to keep us (Greeks) together to fight. "Allegiance to the flag" allows governments to declare freedom restricting laws (which will remain in force long after the "national" threat is forgotten, see 9/11). Also, spending a disproportionate amount of the state budget on police and military instead of care and climate change is the actual threat to our civilization. All while we post Fuck Putin memes.

What about all the Germans who have bought land in Peloponnese? Won't they want to protect their property and their spot in the sun? I shot back, and I was only half kidding. Can't progress and freedom-loving people unite in the fight against the current and any aggression? Wouldn't there be MORE of us fighting if we come together to adhere to peace, freedom and human rights instead of one nation's cultural identity  (whatever that can mean nowadays) at the expense of minorities? 

On that note; Interesting trivia from the @deutscherpavillon2022 - can art really have a national affiliation today? A discourse that becomes particularly prevalent today with the calls to boycott Russian artists. Scarcely an exhibition context is as charged and overlaid with meaning as the national contributions to a biennial. Throughout the years many non-German artists exhibited in the German Pavilion. However, it was only in 1993 when commissioner Klaus Bußmann addressed the issue of national affiliation explicitly with the nomination of Hans Haacke and Nam June Paik.

The year 2009 was the first in which the German Pavilion presented a solo artist of non-German citizenship: Liam Gillick, chosen by the curator Nicolaus Schafhausen. In more recent years, artist biographies have become more global, increasingly dissolving national affiliations and attributions. To date, 750 artists and curators were German, 52 people of other nationalities and 25 had a dual nationality.

Photos: 1. Deutscher Pavillon 2009, Liam Gillick: How are you going to behave? A kitchen cat speaks, © Kirsten de Graaf, 2. Deutscher Pavillon 2009, exterior view, © Natasa Radovic

with posters by Monica Bonvicini, Claus Föttinger, Katrin Glanz, Beat Gipp, Shila Khatami, Dan Perjovschi, Andrea Pichl, Jost Wischnewski, Johannes Wohnseifer, Marina Naprushkina, Christine Würmell, Matthias Sturm, Andreas Templin, Oliver Ressler, Stefanie von Schroeter, Silke Wagner, Lena von Goedeke, Joulia Strauss, Andreas Koch, Marie S. Ueltzen, Anna Meyer, Peter Niemann, Jonathan Monk, Bhima Griem- curated by Raimar Stange
until 18.06 at the foyer 

With works by Dami Amat-Marwi, Felix Ansmann, Shiwa Ghanbari, Angel Hafermaas, hayate kobayashi, Kani Lent, Sasha Nesen, Carmen Ng, & Jannis Jelto Witzel

What is „New Queer filmmaking“, and where is it taking place? What makes a director or a film queer, or ‘new queer’?

The identification of queer cinema probably emerged in the mid-1980s through the influence of queer theory, which aims to challenge and push further debates on gender and sexuality as developed by feminist theory and confuse binary essentialisms around gender and sexual identity, expose their limitations, and depict the blurring of these roles and identities. Queer Formats presents the resulting works of the eponymous seminar at UdK Berlin led by Constantin Hartenstein.

 

with Maria Anwander I Ruben Aubrecht I Claudia Balsters und Hannah Goldstein I Antje Blumenstein I Anne Brannys I Alke Brinkmann I Claudia Busching I Martin Dörbaum I Cécile Dupaquier I Lara Faroqhi I Saeed Foroghi I Anne Gathmann I Nathalie Grenzhaeuser I Harriet Groß I Philipp Hennevogl I Peter Hock I Katrin Jaquet I Anne Kaminsky I Petra Karadimas I Julia Kissina I Achim Kobe I Andreas Koch I Gabriele Künne I Leyre Lassierra Viguri I Jorge Lopes I Wolfgang Matzat I Alexander Menegotto I Thomas Monses I Matthias Moravek I Rainer Neumeier I Oliver Neumann I Enrico Niemann I Jennifer Oellerich I Kristina Popov I Frederik Poppe I Mariel Poppe I Heinz Pranter I Maja Rohwetter I Stefan Roigk I Miguel Rothschild I Nadja Schöllhammer I Stefan Schwarzmüller I Zuzanna Zita Skiba I Hans-Peter Stark I Craig Stewart I Petra Tödter I Dagmar Tränkle I Lukas Troberg I Anke Voelk I Nicole Wendel I Elmar Zimmermann I Christof Zwiener

Finissage on Saturday, April 29, 2022, 6-11 pm

Brunnenstr. 29
10119 Berlin

Beautifully intelligent show on view @galerie_eigenart „Hi {first name}, I hope this finds you well" by Martin Gross.
Galerie EIGEN + ART Berlin
March 31 - May 14, 2022
The exhibition will be on view during @galleryweekendberlin from Friday, April 29 - Sunday, May 1, 2022.

On display on palettes, pedestals, shelves, and wall frames are various ceramic artworks produced at HB-Werkstätten für Keramik in Marwitz, Brandenburg, Germany. The cups, busts, vessels, and assemblages in the exhibition engage with systems of value and evaluation in art and society. The title itself, B-Ware (German for second-rate), critiques industrial production and economic and social systems, as well as Hoosen’s self-perception as an artist and misfit.

Private Life is made up of 300 photos found at flea markets or in the personal archives of friends and family. Collected, selected, and reworked by the artist, this "gallery of private snapshots”, spanning 1960s to 1990s, covers a broad spectrum of subjects - parties in the ‘70s, a day at the beach, kissing your aunt on the cheek, or a favorite pet. Mlecko saw himself as a catalyst, someone who is rendering these images visible in a different way. Private Life shows the archetypes of relationships between family and friends, us and others. Susan Sonntag wrote that the most grandiose result of the photographic enterprise is to give us a sense that we can hold the whole world in our heads - as an anthology of images. 

Last day: Saturday, April 16
Installation view of Martin Mlecko, Private Life, 2022 © Renata Chueire

group show with Carris Adams, Yesenia Bello, Knut Eckstein, Óscar González Díaz, Unyimeabasi Udoh, and Nicole Wendel. Curated by Holly Cahill and Debra Kayes of Tiger Strikes Asteroid Chicago

SCOTTY is pleased to present LifeLinien, an exhibition organized by Tiger Strikes Asteroid Chicago that brings into conversation artists from Chicago and Berlin as part of Meanwhile, We Are Here, the first iteration of a two-part, cross-cultural exchange between the US Tiger Strikes Asteroid network and various artist-run spaces in Berlin including HAUNT/Frontviews, Horse & Pony, HilbertRaum, Schau Fenster, SCOTTY, Xanadu and nationalmuseum

OPEN CALL Freedom
Freedom is a precarious commodity that must always be conquered, fought for, preserved, protected and defended anew.
For this year's Open Call on the theme of "FREEDOM", works can now be submitted for a group exhibition at SCOTTY. The exhibition will run from 06/25/2022 - 07/30/2022 and the opening will be on Saturday 06/25/2022 starting at 6pm.
The OPEN CALL is open to visual artist:s of all disciplines / media who would like to submit a work on this theme. Please note that the project space is only 24 square meters. We ask all applicants to submit only one work each. The selection of submissions will be decided on by mid-May and applicants will be notified immediately.
Closing date is Sunday, 05/01/2022
Please send meaningful images of your work, a short description, CV and website by 01.05.2022 with the subject "Open Call - Freedom" to: scotty-open-call@gmx.de

Open Call: AS* PAPANGUS street performance in Berlin. OYOUN is looking for 10 women* in Berlin to take part in the AS* PAPANGUS street performance on May 7. AS* PAPANGUS by Bruna Amaro (@amarobru) is a celebration of women* - our life, struggles for survival, fight against the numerous facets of structural oppression in our society. See details here. 

If you are interested to participate, please send an email to dami@oyoun.de with the following information, in any format, by April 26.
- a short introduction to yourself
- an answer to the question: what makes you a fighter, what makes you mightier than a trampled flower?
- your experience / memory / feelings that you want to explore during the workshop and the street performance.
We look very much forward to the applications by women* from marginalized communities.
AS* PAPANGUS opens the first chapter of Oyoun‘s second curatorial focus Mightier than a Trampled Flower.