Photo: Vadim Zakharov, Monument of Theodor W. Adorno, 2003
The open-air art exhibition SCHÖNESHOW will take place from 20 August to 19 September 2021 in the 1,200 sqm Schönegarten. Without the help of funding, the group exhibition takes up the idea of the strength of a community that creates something together out of itself. This strength also makes it possible to create and work in human history independently of existing structures.
The “SCHÖNESHOW” is therefore a collaborative work of 30 artists who create art in group work and in harmony with the users of the garden. Art is created that is adapted to the conditions of life in a community garden. The play of children and pets, the neighbourly gathering, the sustainable cultivation of fruit and vegetables and, last but not least, the weather conditions will flow together in a symbiosis with the artists’ concepts for this place of retreat. The SCHÖNESHOW makes art accessible to all generations, across all species and beyond all social classes. The SCHÖNESHOW brings together a diverse community of artists:
With Hannah Becher, Joanna Buchowska, Heloisa Correa, else (Twin) Gabriel, Grete Gabriel, Grigori Dor, Margret Eicher, Andreas Hachulla, Marte Kiessling, Silja Korn, Catherine Lorent, Isabel Kerkermeier, Sebastian Kusenberg, Via Lewandowsky, Regina Mamou, Marius Mathisrud, Mascha Naumova, Christopher Sage, Maik Schierloh, Susanne Schirdewahn, Caro Suerkemper, Eva Schwab, Kerstin Serz, Semra Sevin, Zuzanna Skiba, Lucy Teasdale, Marian Wijnvoord, Vadim Zakharov and Kristoffer Zeiner. Life Performance with Turbo Jambon.
While outside the country – due to the Corona-related closures of art and cultural institutions – parks and public spaces were made available to artists, sometimes quickly, Berlin has not yet widely embraced art with its public spaces and green areas to cushion past and future lockdowns. In addition, this exhibition is financed by the participants themselves. Everyone gives a contribution, which is used for the flyers and the documentation of the exhibition, for example. The participants invest their own time to realise the SCHÖNESHOW. This exhibition is financed entirely without subsidies.
During the Corona pandemic, exhibitions organised by artists have become more prominent again. This is a reminder of the grievances in Berlin art that continue to exist and have been exacerbated by Corona. Other countries such as Norway and the Netherlands set a positive example in terms of funding and exhibitions even before Corona.
The initiator and curator of SCHÖNESHOW is the artist Semra Sevin. She uses organising exhibitions as an artistic practice to give new impulses directly at the grassroots level. In December 2020, she curated the outdoor exhibition “Reawakening” at the “Station Berlin”, which received media attention. Artists such as Alicja Kwade and Gregor Hildebrandt participated.
The “Schönegarten” is an area of around 1,200 square metres where Schönebergers of all ages and backgrounds can grow fruit and vegetables and plant flowers on around 65 raised beds. In addition, culture is offered at events organised by them. Seating areas and an open-air cinema offer additional opportunities to organise culture and art with distance and corona fair. Notker Schweikhardt, member of parliament for the Green Party, initiated the “Schönegarten” as a private citizen. “Today we know that garden styles reflect the aesthetic, social, technological, economic and political attitudes of the respective time at least as accurately as any other art form. The changing fortunes and ambitions of successive generations can be seen in gardens.” (John Sales, ‘Gardener’s View’, The National Trust Magazine, 8 [1998], p. 23.) “Berlin has over 200 community gardens. Depending on the focus of use, actors:inside and location, these gardens vary greatly in size, appearance and form of organisation. There are neighbourhood gardens, intercultural gardens and many more. Sustainable food cultivation plays a major role in many gardens. The new “urban gardens” are spread all over the city, but most often in the inner city districts. A fundamental origin can thus be found in the longing of many city dwellers for inner-city greenery and the possibility of active activity and recreation in nature”. (Quote from the Berlin Platform for Productive Urban Greenery).
SCHÖNESHOW – Group Exhibition (OPEN AIR)
curated by Semra Sevin
Vernissage: Fri, 20.08., Sat, 21.08., Sun, 22.08.2021, daily 5:00 – 9:00 pm
Life Performance with Turbo Jambon
Finissage: Sat, 19.09.2021, 4:00 – 8:00 pm
Beverages & food can be bought Fri + Sat at Caffèmania (10 metres from the garden)
WHERE?
Schönegarten (next to Haus am Kleistpark)
Grunewaldstraße 8
10823 Berlin-Schöneberg
WHEN?
daily 4:00 – 8:00 pm
