2009/10 Season

Art section

The Arts and Power is a theme that can be traced through the ages in many different forms. Art has been used to demonstrate power, has been abused by those in power and, last but not least, art has a power of its own. The relationship between the visual arts and power in the 20th century is the focus of this season’s art exhibitions.

Rike Zoebelein
Art section

The degree of independence which artists are permitted in determining the form and content of their work is a measure of how liberally power is exercised. The ideologies purveyed by fascism and communism force(d) artists to take up a stance in their relationship to those in power. That decision may result in acceptance and instrumentalization by the regime or social isolation leading in extreme cases to exile or even death.

The season’s first exhibition includes a look back at Germany’s still relatively recent history as a divided nation. Artistic Freedom – Artists in Exile is an exhibition of photos taken when journalist Jürgen Serke visited famous literary exiles for a series in the German news magazine stern. In 1937, when Ernst Barlach said “In my fatherland I am forced to live the life of an emigrant,” he was aware that the alternative was internment in a concentration camp. Works by artists who suffered a similar fate because they were not prepared to place their talent at the service of the Nazi regime and its inhuman machinery are brought together in another exhibition: Drawings – Masterpieces by Forbidden Artists.

Artists who had a choice left the country. One of these was the Jewish architect and photographer Andreas Feininger, whose work is showcased in the retrospective Andreas Feininger – That’s Photography. Born in Paris as the son of German painter Lyonel Feininger, he grew up in Germany, was exiled in 1933 and emigrated to Sweden, but was forced to leave in 1939. As an “exile with no sense of home” he emigrated to the United States and went on to become one of the most important photographers in the 20th century.

An Invitation to Art Colleges marks the start of a new series of exhibitions as part of our stART project. The focus is on the rising generation of artists at German art schools. An informal series of exhibitions gives students from wellknown art colleges an opportunity to present their current work in the Erholungshaus. The series is launched by Burg Giebichenstein from Halle an der Saale, a school with a long tradition which was subjected to two totalitarian regimes in the 20th century. Today, Burg Giebichenstein is a modern art and design school with university status driven by enormous creative and innovative potential.

Young musicians from Pre-College-Cologne will provide a musical backdrop to the openings of all four exhibitions. Established in 2005 as a branch of the Cologne music academy Musikhochschule Köln, Pre-College-Cologne provides musical instruction for exceptionally gifted youngsters from the age of 10. Under director Ute Hasenauer, a multi-stage audition process is used to assess various aspects of young people’s talent and develop an individual programme of tuition. The students receive tuition at weekends, examination credits can be offset against their later studies and a special programme of cultural activities is arranged for them. The objective is to foster the rounded development of these young musicians and prepare them for their future career.

Taken together, the four exhibitions form a conjunction between the past and present. The season starts by looking back and ends right here and now with works by young artists. The musicians from Pre-College-Cologne and the students from Burg Giebichenstein have been invited to present their work in a conscious attempt to inject a younger accent. As artists and musicians privileged to grow up and work in freedom and tolerance, they express the values and hopes embraced by contemporary society.

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