Balade: Christine Sun Kim, Photo © Eike Walkenhorst.
Balade”, French for “walk”, is an exhibition course conceived by the curators Liberty Adrien and Carina Bukuts as a stroll through Charlottenburg’s neighbourhood and which specifically seeks the approach of the general public. In 9 stations stretching over 4 km through Charlottenburg, “Balade” explores the history and present of the neighbourhood from 10 July to 22 August 2021. At each of the exhibition venues, Berlin-based artists will exhibit works that have either been produced especially for them or customised for them.
Inspired by the practices of promenadology according to Lucius Burckhardt, the exhibition aims to make people aware of the conditions of perception of a neighbourhood and to reflect on the design of the space and its history. This means not only the urban space in its entirety as a public area, but also the many different actors that define a neighbourhood, such as cultural institutions, public facilities and shops located there.
At a time when questions of identity are being asked anew and new spaces for discussion are opening up, the works in “Balade” deal with questions of belonging. For each exhibition venue, the curators have invited an artist who lives and works in Berlin. All the artworks not only enter into a dialogue with their surroundings, but by placing them in public and semi-public spaces they also seek to get close to an audience that may have had little contact with contemporary art.
Balade is accessible free of charge and barrier-free.
Participating artists & their places
Verkehrskanzel
Christine Sun Kim
Kurfürstendamm Corner Joachimsthaler Straße, 10623 Berlin
Opening hours: 24/7
Delphi Filmpalast
Jimmy Robert
Kantstraße 12A, 10623 Berlin
Opening hours: Sa, 11 – 13 hrs
Institut Français
Ulrike Ottinger
Kurfürstendamm 211, 10719 Berlin
Opening hours: Mo – Fr: 9 – 18 hrs+ Sa – Su: 11 – 15 hrs
Savoy Hotel
Studio Pandan
Fasanenstraße 9-10, 10623 Berlin
Opening hours: 24/7
Litfaßsäule I
Slavs and Tatars
Mommsenstraße 12, 10629 Berlin
Opening hours: 24/7
Litfaßsäule II
Slavs and Tatars
Wielandstraße 1-2 Corner Pestalozzistraße, 10625 Berlin
Opening hours: 24/7
Rathaus Charlottenburg
Bettina Pousttchi
Otto-Suhr-Allee 100, 10585 Berlin
Opening hours: 24/7
Museum Charlottenburg Wilmersdorf in der Villa Oppenheim
Jumana Manna
Schloßstraße 55 / Otto-Grüneberg-Weg, 14059 Berlin
Opening hours: Tue – Fr: 10 – 17 hrs+ Sa – Su: 11 – 17 hrs
Abguss-Sammlung Antiker Plastik
Haris Epaminonda
Schloßstraße 69 b, 14059 Berlin
Opening hours: Fr – Sa: 14 – 17 hrs
Kleine Orangerie Schloss Charlottenburg
Willem de Rooij
Spandauer Damm 20, 14059 Berlin
Opening hours: Wed – Su: 13 – 18 hrs
Guided tours
“Balade” is accompanied by a series of free guided tours, which take place on the following dates at 11 a.m. each and start at the traffic pulpit (junction Joachimsthaler Platz / Kurfürstendamm).
17. July 2021 (English)
24. July 2021 (German Sign Language)
14. August 2021 (German)
Registration is required at info@balade-berlin.com.
Film programme
11. July 2021, 11 hrs
Ulrike Ottinger, »Paris Calligrammes«
Cinema Paris, Kurfürstendamm 211, 10719 Berlin
Tickets can be purchased promptly via the Yorck Cinema Group
On the occasion of Ulrike Ottinger’s exhibition at the Institut Francais, Cinema Paris invites you to a matinee of her film “Paris Calligrammes”. In it, the filmmaker and photographer embarks on a journey back in time to Paris in the 1960s and looks at the pulsating metropolis as a hub of intellectual and artistic creativity of the post-war generation. Starting with the Librairie Calligramme bookshop as one of these informal meeting places, Ottinger draws the cartography of a city between reconstruction, political upheaval and its utopias. In cooperation with the author’s bookshop, Ottinger will sign her artist’s book on the film after the screening.
17. July 2021, 23.30 hrs
Jimmy Robert, »Cruising«
Delphi Filmpalast, Kantstraße 12A, 10623 Berlin
Admission free
At the Delphi Filmpalast, Jimmy Robert shows a newly revised version of his film “Cruising” (2019). In the video, Robert and five queer performers perform various choreographies in the urban space of Bucharest. In a conservative country like Romania, where the queer body is almost invisible, “Cruising” is an act of resistance that undermines the power of politics and religion.
Audio guide
From the beginning of the exhibition, an accompanying audio guide to the individual stations of the course can be found at www.balade-berlin.com.
