BERLIN 89/09: Art Between Traces of the Past and Utopian Futures

Runs: 09/18/09 – 01/31/10, Opening hours: Wed–Mon, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Opening: Thursday, 09/17/09, 7 p.m. Accompanying program: Every Monday from 6 p.m.

Twenty years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, the exhibition “Berlin 89/09 – Art Between Traces of the Past and Utopian Futures” at the Berlinische Galerie carries out an interim investigation of the transformations that were triggered by this historical event in the German capital. The exhibition includes numerous works by internationally renowned artists who have dealt with these changes – some dramatic, others barely noticeable – in the capital’s architectural and urban structure. When the Berlin Wall was opened, the city became the focus of international attention almost overnight: previously the symbol of two opposing political systems, it was now a barometer for the process of reunification and the test ground for new societal, cultural and architectural ideas. The profound process of change that has occurred in Berlin since then has not only been accompanied by numerous public debates about the construction of the new capital; it has attracted and continues today to attract numerous artists from all over the world, for whom the dramatic changes in Berlin have been the subject of intensive artistic investigations and interventions right from the very beginning. These change processes have inspired concepts and ideas that offer commentaries, alternatives and Utopias. The exhibition will be accompanied by an extensive program featuring films, concerts and artist's talks. www.berlinischegalerie.de