‘Walking through Walls’ exhibition explores divisive borders
Border walls divide. Ther purpose is to intimidate and repel. President Trump is pushing to set up one such wall along the US border to Mexico. And walls cause deaths. More than 140 people were killed trying to cross the Berlin Wall, most of them shot down by East German border troops.
Artists have repeatedly reflected on the profound inhumanity of border walls. Such works of art make up Berlin’s Gropius Bau museum exhibition “Walking Through Walls,” which marks the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall.
The 28 artists on show in the exhibition deal with the physical presence of border walls and how they affect people. Political scientist Francis Fukuyama famously expected that the worldwide spread of liberalism would lead to the “end of history,” but divisions continue to affect the world. That pessimistic view is evident in many of the works on show, yet some offer glimpses of hope by reflecting on how division can be overcome.
Read more: Rediscover East Germany’s top fashion magazine, ‘Sibylle’
Hope through empathy
“All artists have personally experienced the impact of walls or political divisions in some form,” curator Till Fellrath told DW. Even though we might not be able to change the world, added Fellrath, we can nevertheless develop empathy — and art can be part of that.
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Exhibition ‘Walking Through Walls’ echoes Berlin Wall experience
Mona Hatoum: ‘Waiting is Forbidden,’ 2006–2008
“Waiting is forbidden” is written in Arabic and English on the blue road sign: a warning for all marginalized groups, whether homeless or — as in the case of the artist herself — fugitive. The work deals with the artist’s personal experience after she had to emigrate to London due to the Lebanese civil war.
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Exhibition ‘Walking Through Walls’ echoes Berlin Wall experience
Gustav Metzger: ‘In Memoriam,’ 2005
Metzger’s sculpture deals with the history of Jewish refugees and links it thematically to the situation of today’s refugees worldwide. Visitors can easily enter and move through the cardboard labyrinth until the passage narrows further and further — and is finally completely blocked.
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Exhibition ‘Walking Through Walls’ echoes Berlin Wall experience
Michael Kvium: ‘Beach of Plenty,’ 2017
At first glance, the painting shows a holiday paradise. At closer look, one sees a rubber boat approaching the beach. One person has even gone overboard and is calling for help. The discrepancy between carefree vacationers and refugees who meet here becomes evident. The Mediterranean is the border between these contrasting realities.
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Exhibition ‘Walking Through Walls’ echoes Berlin Wall experience
José Bechara: ‘Ok, Ok, Let’s Talk,’ 2006
Fifty wooden tables, some slightly inclined, are joined together in this sculpture. Two chairs facing each other protrude from the table. The work illustrates the difficulties in interpersonal communication that arise when the other person’s intentions remain unclear and dialogue becomes impossible. The work is an appeal for open exchange.
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Exhibition ‘Walking Through Walls’ echoes Berlin Wall experience
Tagreed Darghouth: ‘Vision Machines; Shall You See Me Better Now?,’ 2019
The series “Vision Machines” by Lebanese artist Tagreed Darghouth shows cameras, drones, satellites and other devices that can be used for surveillance. It is a critique of modern society in which citizens are restricted and put under pressure through constant supervision.
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Exhibition ‘Walking Through Walls’ echoes Berlin Wall experience
Dora García: ‘Two Planets Have Been Colliding for Thousands of Years,’ 2017
Walking along markings on the floor, both actors and visitors participate in this performance. The installation illustrates the metaphorical walls that separate us from the people in our environment. It, too, is an appeal for better communication.
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Exhibition ‘Walking Through Walls’ echoes Berlin Wall experience
Anri Sala: ‘1395 Days without Red,’ 2011
The video installation deals with the Yugoslav civil war and the siege of the city of Sarajevo, which began in 1992 and lasted for almost four years. It addresses the trauma of the city’s inhabitants and their attempt to go on with everyday life.
That idea is demonstrated in the film Shadow Play (top picture), featuring asylum seekers in Switzerland. New York-based artist Javier Tellez invited them to tell their stories of expulsion and exclusion with their hands. Another artwork suddenly appears in the video: The Hand, a 1947 sculpture by Alberto Giacometti, created in memory of his own experience of fleeing to Switzerland during World War II. It becomes clear that uprooting and displacement is a violent experience that transcends any specific era.
Another type of confrontation can be observed in the video loop of Marina Abramovic and Ulay’s Light / Dark performance from 1977. The couple slaps each other alternately and without interruption. Unable to communicate and compromise, both insist on their point of view, hitting against each other’s invisible wall.
Zeitgeit of a new era: Sibylle Bergemann’s portraits from 1990
Beyond many metaphorical explorations of the concept, the exhibition also includes direct references to the Berlin Wall itself, which is not only present in people’s minds but still has physical traces: A commemorative section of the wall near the Gropius-Bau museum has been preserved.
A series of six photos by Sibylle Bergemann, one of the most high-profile photographers in East Germany and a co-founder of the photographers’ agency Ostkreuz, reflect the post-Cold War atmosphere. They are portraits of a young girl standing by the Berlin Wall shortly after it was opened. It’s an area of Berlin that has completely changed since. Her gaze is questioning, expectant and not fearful.
Article source: https://www.dw.com/en/walking-through-walls-exhibition-explores-divisive-borders/a-50399183?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf