The Kunstbibliothek presents Cracked up and burnt down, Fireworks art from five centuries from 8 November 2024 to 9 February 2025 at the Kulturforum. Fireworks are an art of the moment, of which nothing remains but fond memories and a lot of rubbish. For centuries, it was the most brutal and expensive art form of all. Today we know that the waste and ecological madness behind the beautiful moment are not sustainable. But what do we know about the development of firework art, its strongholds, its media and political significance? And what does the future of this art form look like? In the exhibition ‘Durchgeknallt und abgebrannt’, the Kunstbibliothek is looking for answers together with its collection objects, contemporary artists, the public and actors from science and environmental protection.
Image above: Aenne Biermann, Feuerwerk, Fotografie, 1928 © Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Kunstbibliothek / Dietmar Katz
The exhibition begins with a look at the global history of fireworks and then focuses on the European courts of absolutism as hotspots where fireworks could unfold across the entire spectrum between genius and madness. The protagonists from Versailles, Vienna, Munich and Dresden outdid each other with martial seriousness, stately claims to representation and media-effective waste of resources. The copper engravings on display bear witness to a p-rotechnical arms race between the courts. Peace resolutions, anniversaries, declarations of alliance, births, weddings and christenings were welcome occasions to make a lasting impression with artificial and fleeting celestial spectacles.
The art of fireworks is a genuinely interdisciplinary art form. Each firework display was the result of months of collaboration between architects, set designers, pyrotechnicians, choreographers and musicians. The so-called ‘art of war’ was also involved. Firework treatises such as ‘De la Pyrotechnia’ (1540) by Vanoccio Biringuccio or the ‘Halinitro-Pyrobolia’ (1627) by Josef Furttenbach were created on the basis of military knowledge. And finally, the copper engraved depictions of fireworks were an art in themselves. Long before the invention of film, visual artists were performing cinematic wonders. They captured the sensations of a full-length fireworks programme in a single image: fire wheels, burning lettering, gushers, water bombs, rockets, fireballs, girandoles, choreographed battles on water and on land.
Europe and its absolutist rulers perfected the theatrical and architecturally elaborate display of fireworks. The Baroque penchant for wilful economic madness and spectacular waste culminated in the art form of fireworks. Entire castles, temples, fortresses, ships and specially created monsters were built and burnt down. Claude Lorrain, for example, captured the events surrounding the coronation of Ferdinand III as ‘King of the Romans’ in several engravings at the beginning of February 1637: a castle with a square floor plan explodes, revealing a round tower. This in turn flies into the air and the equestrian statue of the King of the Romans appears.
At the centre of the exhibition ‘Cracked up and burnt down’ is a part of the Art Library’s collection from the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries that has never been shown before: Over 70 engravings, some of them large-format, and around 40 historical books that provide information on the development of fireworks for war and festive purposes. The potential for discussion that unfolds between the festive beauty and the warlike madness of pyrotechnics is a challenge to exhibit these treasures over the turn of the year. A contemporary section presents works by Malte Bartsch, Daniel T. Braun, Sandra Kranich, Cai Guo-Qiang, Roman Signer and Michael Wesely. The exhibition is internationally enriched by loans from the network of the National Museums in Berlin, including the Ethnological Museum, the Gemäldegalerie, the Hamburger Bahnhof – Nationalgalerie der Gegenwart, the Kupferstichkabinett, the Lipperheide Costume Library, the Museum of Asian Art, the Museum of European Cultures, the Museum of Islamic Art, the Photography Collection of the Art Library and the Rathgen Research Laboratory.
The exhibition space will also be a platform for events. Talks, guided tours, films and discussions and a special theme day with Deutsche Umwelthilfe (DUH) in the middle of the works offer the opportunity for a critical examination of an ambivalent art form. What is the future of fireworks? What can be learnt from the history of fireworks? What impact do conventional fireworks have on our environment? How can the magic and experience of a special moment be captured in lasting images? What alternatives to burning fireworks are there and what do creative, avant-garde solutions look like worldwide? An extensive programme of events approaches questions about the future of fireworks from different perspectives.
‘Cracked up and burnt down. Fireworks Art from Five Centuries’ is curated by Maren Wienigk, Head of the Archi-tecture and Ornamental Engraving Collection at the Art Library.
WHEN?
Opening: Thursday, 7 November 2024, 7 pm
Exhibition dates: Friday, 8 November 2024 – Sunday, 9 February 2025
Opening hours: Tuesday, Thursday – Friday, 10 am – 6 pm, Wednesday, 10 am – 8 pm, Saturday – Sunday, 11 am – 6 pm
WHERE?
Kulturforum
Sonderausstellungshalle
Matthäikirchplatz 6,
10785 Berlin
