Exhibition Cech Art Space
In five workshops, the young face – face future ambassadors from Minsk have prepared a multi – layered program. Ernst Barlach and Käthe Kollwitz understood their art as a contribution to the development of the world, as a contribution to the future. What do the young exhibition ambassadors from Minsk have to tell us? What did they see in this exhibition that we have not seen yet? What do their contributions make visible to us?
By German ambassador Peter Dettmar, the exhibition face art – face future was formally opened with around 100 old and young visitors on November 4, 2017 at 5 pm in the CECH. Together with film-director Mila Klinzova and art-historian Lena Hil, the participants of Team 2 formulated contemporary artistic messages on the art of Ernst Barlach and Käthe Kollwitz in their video-works. These cut-and-produced video-clips, shot with their smartphones, were presented to the public in Minsk until November 10. In total, over 240 visitors came during these five days to discuss the significance and background of the video-works of the young artists.
It is very touching to see the intensity and aesthetic perfection of the different video contributions. They raise the question about the real quality of our lives and make us think. See for yourself! Here you find all the ART:
The presentation concept was developed by the Hamburg artist Arne Lösekann. His idea of the crutch sculptures, which serve as presentation surfaces for the videos, reflected one of the monumental figures of Ernst Barlach, the “beggar on crutches”. Disabilities can have a variety of causes: they can be caused by war, accident, violence or illness. Every society is obliged to reflect these causes and to integrate people with their special needs. The crutches thus become a multi-layered symbol of humanity, lost in our increasingly profit oriented world. Anyone who shows weakness appears worthless in this system. The growth society dictates effectiveness and self-optimization. That’s exactly what the crutches boycott symbolically: In this world we can not and will not progress! Future can only go (without the crutches), if we rethink, collectively reflect what we really need to live for. In the opposite sense, these crutches stand for the realization of having to say goodbye to the idea of permanent enrichment, this misguided concept of progress that not only provokes new wars but, above all, destroys our common livelihood, our planet Earth.
Presentation in the National Art Museum Minsk
Under the guidance of Belarusian choreographer Olga Skvortsova, the art mediators Team 1 developed a performance entitled “Body.Access” in reference to the works of Ernst Barlach and Käthe Kollwitz. From movement and body language they created a sensitive, emotional and thrilling interpretation of the exhibited works. The around eight-minute performance provided a vivid and modern approach to a time long ago.
Together with the art-historian Sofia Sadovskaja, the 13 young exhibition ambassadors also have developed a 1.5-hour program to highlight and discuss the current significance of the works of Barlach and Kollwitz for our time. From November 5th to 7th, 2017, they conducted nine presentations of the exhibition with a total of 206 visitors. Anyone who has experienced this passionate and focused program has taken the following message: Commit to a socially equitable, peaceful and sustainable world!
Participant Interview
