Baumschule Kulturforum – St. Matthäus-Kirche | since July 2023

Between the Neue Nationalgalerie, St. Matthäus-Kirche, Kunstbibliothek, Kupferstichkabinett, Gemäldegalerie, Kunstgewerbemuseum, Berliner Philharmonie and the Staatliches Institut für Musikforschung with the Musikinstrumenten-Museum, the freely accessible artistic and horticultural spatial installation “Baumschule Kulturforum” will be created from July 2023 under the artistic direction of Klaus Biesenbach and atelier le balto. According to little by little, green islands of young tree groves will colonise the stone open space of the Kulturforum. As new actors in the urban space, they invite visitors invite visitors to linger, come together, discuss and participate in the and participate. The “Baumschule Kulturforum” aims to sustainably improve the quality of stay in the Kulturforum and offers a new perspective on a cultural cultural quarter, which was once intended as a green extension of the Tiergarten and could become so again. The project will kick off in July 2023, a small group of young trees on the Piazzetta of the Kulturforum.

Image above: Baumschule Kulturforum, a project of the St. Matthäus Foundation under the artistic direction of Klaus Biesenbach and atelier le balto, Berlin, July 2023 © atelier le balto, photo: Sebastian Grapentin

From July 2023, the installation “Baumschule Kulturforum” will gradually transform the the Kulturforum into a temporary, freely accessible and participative participatory cultural and museum garden of all neighbouring institutions. Young groves of trees grow over the summer months and sturdy wooden seating furniture provide shady places and invite visitors to linger and get together. As a prelude, about 80 trees will be planted on about 250 square metres on the open space in front of Café Estrade on the Piazzetta, among other places. A total of 200 trees will be added in the following weeks on the lawn of St. Matthew’s Church and finally on Scharounplatz.

The willow, alder, walnut and cherry trees selected by the artists and landscape architects of atelier le balto in close cooperation with Klaus Biesenbach are tolerant of the urban climate. Their function is not only decorative greenery, but they also provide shade on the otherwise uncovered area. The quality of stay on the sealed area of the Kulturforum is thus considerably improved. The plan is to leave the three tree islands on an area totalling 1000 square metres on the Kulturforum until the end of 2024. The Kulturforum nursery sees itself as a young, living organism, a coexistence of visitors, trees, plants and the animals that will find in will find a new habitat in this garden. In the context of the events will be offered as part of the installation – and the neighbouring institutions are also invited to participate and to play installation with their own formats. The “tree nursery the Kulturforum encourages reflection on the transformation of urban spaces in times of urban spaces in times of climate change. The programme of events is made programme of events is made accessible on the website, and the individual tree species 2/4 are also presented there with their characteristics.

Users will also be able to access these on site via QR codes. Further information and the entire programme of events will soon be available at www.baumschule-kulturforum.de. The neighbouring institutions already set the first impulse for more “community greenery” in the Kulturforum last year: On 4 September 2022, as part of the Cultural Summer Festival of the Kulturprojekte Berlin, the joint action and event day “A day in the green. The undiscovered gardens of the Cultural Forum” took place, on which the New National Gallery, the Museum of Decorative Arts, the Museum of Prints and Drawings, the Picture Gallery, St. Matthäus Church, the State Library, the Berlin Philharmonic and the State Institute for Music Research with the Museum of Musical Instruments invited visitors to concerts, readings, guided tours, performances and a church service in their gardens. On the closed Sigismundstrasse between the New National Gallery and St. Matthäus Church, a large table was set up on the initiative of Klaus Biesenbach, director of the New National Gallery, where hundreds of Berliners and guests could gather, enjoy free food and drinks and eat together. The “Day in the Green” will take place again this year, this time on 3 September.

The installation will be accompanied by a programme of events and guided tours will take place. Participation in the events is free of charge and is possible by pre-registration at info@baumschule-kulturforum.de.

WHERE?

St. Matthäus-Kirche
Matthäikirchplatz
10785 Berlin

WHEN?

Baumschule Kulturforum: from July 2023
“The Day in the Green”: 03. September 2023

COST?

Free entry