Language:
English
Pages:
46 Seiten
,
Illustrationen
Year of publication:
2014
Keywords:
Kunstausstellung
Abstract:
Berlin provides fertile ground for art’s coping with the historical burden laid on the shoulders of those who choose to live in this complex city. It is gradually regaining the status denied to it abruptly upon the Nazis’ rise to power, and even moves energetically forward: countless young artists from all over the world have been active in the city ever since its wall was torn down in 1989, turning it into a vibrant cultural center. What, then, is the secret of Berlin’s magic in 2014? Of the city which makes its past present at every corner? Some say it is its low cost of living, others say it is its openness to artistic and cultural endeavors. Indeed, Berlin of our time may be a unified capital, it may be the “other” Berlin, and may be convenient to live in, but at the same time it is a place of disaster, a symbol of loss. The disaster may have occurred long ago, but it is still totally present within it. “Recollection”, according to Kierkegaard, is a turn from a real-life present to a past that used to be but is no more. “Going back to the past”, as opposed to recollection, assumes a total loss of the present, a loss which enables the returnee to find himself once more at the starting point. Whoever truly seeks to return to the past, rather than just recollect it, must therefore risk his present, his existence, and thereby regain it. The third-generation artists in this exhibition return to Berlin to seek its formative moments – Berlin of the Third Reich, of the Weimar Republic, of the Great War, and of the turn of the century. By touching the great icons of the war and German culture, while adopting the practices of historical research and artistic reference, they mirror the indirect move in which they turn back towards themselves and offer an attempt to capture part of the past.
URL:
https://www.herzliyamuseum.co.il/en/exhibition/back-to-berlin/
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