Setting The Pace
Pedro Barateiro, The Naked City, outside the Neue NationalGalerie (Picture sourced from Berlin Biennial library)
Now in its 5th edition the Berlin biennial has cemented its place in the Berlin art scene but now faces tough challenges to keep up with the ground the name it made for itself from its beginnings, “The task of the Berlin Biennial is to observe Berlin as a city and also the production of contemporary art in the city. When the Berlin biennial was founded in the late 90’s Berlin was a lively city with a big number of non-profit project spaces. The big museums with little public funding left a vacancy for contemporary art exhibitions” explains Katia Reich, project manager of the KW Institute for Contemporary Art.
This year’s open-ended theme entitled ‘When Things Cast No Shadow’ focuses on creative liberation that isn’t usually exercised in established art exhibitions. The curators Adam Szymczyk and Elena Filipovic decided upon not a having a theme at all in order to give the artists complete control over their creations, so you can expect a scattered array of ideas to manifest themselves in the exhibitions, “It was important do a biennial for artists in which they do productions and not choose a theme. [For them] to choose a piece of art that could fit into the big title but be more courageous and do an open structure and invite an artist to create something new, to give the artist freedom to tell a story; whether old or new.”
Since it’s inception in 1996 by Klaus Biesenbech the project has aimed to bring the designs of young and innovative contemporary artists from all over the world to the attention of the Berlin art community, “The Berlin Biennial is something that acts a middle ground between the big museums and the smaller independent projects, it has public funding but can be strong and visible and an event where a bigger audience can be drawn in” states Reich.
The five venues on offer this year were all chosen to accentuate this years open theme. The prestigious Neue Nationalgalerie, KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Skulpturenpark Berlin Zentrum and the Schinkel Pavillon are all hubs for this years biennial but for the elusive 5th ‘venue’ they have utilized the dimension of time. By using the theme of time this year they have extended the Biennial into the night – showcasing over 100 artists and thinkers in 63 nightly events, performances, lectures, film screenings and workshops (under the name of Mes nuits sont plus belles que vos jours.
This year there is definitely a feeling of increased interactivity with the projects. For example at the Neue Nationalgalerie, Gabriel Kuri has changed the infrastructure of the museum to meet his creative needs. He has a created a wardrobe space where the visitors leave their bags and coats, in the actual exhibition space, with no hangers, shelves or anything remotely conventional that is usually used for storage, “This is what we call in German ‘public participation in artwork’. It’s a strong formal work but it becomes really chaotic once put into practise.”
The venues have been chosen for both historical significance as well as functionality as an exhibition space. The KW for example is an 18th century building in east Berlin and it contrasts with the Neue Nationalgalerie which was designed in the late 60’s and was the answer of western politics to the GDR. As an exhibition space it doesn’t have walls and is an intentional open space, hence tying in with this year’s theme of having an open structure, “These aspects were really important for the choices; on the one had having the historic significance and on the other hand having a hectic, site specific space” explains Reich.
This years challenge to the audience to read in between the lines and ask questions of the exhibitions on show this years Biennial has been met with some criticism from Berlin bloggers (Iheartberlin.de branded it a ‘a big disappointment’) and the theme regarded as too abstract for some art lovers, “Compared with the last Biennial we have less famous names on the list and it’s not as consumable this year. Everyone is asking for the concept but they [the curators] have just laid out an open structure” explains Reich. “At the end, the concept and structure become clear and it makes sense. You have the read the guide, you have to watch, observe and analyse the structure to get a result out of it.”
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