The Academy of Arts at Pariser Platz invites you to a reading and discussion on November 22nd, 2018 at 7 pm on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the Unification of Academy of Arts in the East and West of Berlin.
Image above: Academy of Arts at Pariser Platz, 2016, © Stephanie Schneider
In Heiner Müller’s view, it was „not a love marriage, but a marriage of convenience“: 25 years ago, the artistic communities in both parts of Germany united to form an all-German Academy of the Arts. The State Treaty on the Academy of the Arts, supported by Berlin and Brandenburg, was signed on September 20th, 1993. From today’s point of view, what seems self-evident was the result of a heated debate within and outside the artists‘ society. The two-year-long academy dispute grew into an ideological substitute debate about reunification. The two presidents Walter Jens and Heiner Müller contributed significantly to the success. Despite different intentions, they maintained their goal of an independent and autonomous Academy of the Arts and found a self-determined path in which artists from East and West came together.
The merger of the two archives in East and West went rather smoothly, albeit not without losses. As early as autumn 1990, the directors drew up the concept for an all-German art archive, which was largely implemented with the merger. Today, the archive is a renowned modern art archive that encompasses all branches of art and, with its multidisciplinary concept, enjoys a unique selling point. The anniversary is an occasion for the Academy to look back. Katharina Wackernagel and Charly Hübner read texts from the unification process. In a conversation, Katharina Thalbach, Christoph Hein, Jürgen Becker, Ulrich Roloff-Momin and Klaus Staeck discuss the development of the artists’ partnership over the past 25 years. Questions that were discussed then and now play a role here: What are the tasks of an academy, and how can its internationality be shaped? What experiences do members from East and West bring to the joint academy? The radio journalist Alfred Eichhorn, who accompanied the unification process himself, moderates the discussion.
With Jürgen Becker, Christoph Hein, Charly Hübner, Ulrich Roloff-Momin, Klaus Staeck, Katharina Thalbach, Katharina Wackernagel, Host: Alfred Eichhorn
Welcome: Jeanine Meerapfel, President of the Academy of the Arts, and Werner Heegewaldt, Director of the Archive
WHEN?
Thursday, November 22nd, 2018, 7 pm
WHERE?
Academy of the Arts, Pariser Platz 4 (at the Brandenburg Gate), 10117 Berlin-Mitte
Reading + Discussion: 25 Years of Unification of the Academy of Arts East and West | Art@berlin : Back to ART@Berlin
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