„I believe that all of us – and from this the art world would benefit – should re-concentrate on art and its contents. Over the last decades museums have been forced to produce faster changing exhibitions, which were soon forgotten. The cannot be the entitlement of a museum.“

The 6. Berlin Biennale for contemporary art presents between the 11th of June and the 8th of August different positions of contemporary art. Michael Schmidts photographic work will build the first contribution to the Biennale and will be visible in public spaces throughout.
The program will be contextualized by an exhibition with works by Adolph Menzel (1815 – 1905), which has been curated by American art historian Michael Fried on invitation by Kathrin Rhomberg in collaboration with Alte Nationalgalerie and Kupferstichkabinett.

Each year in May people form all field of theatre-productions, journalists an d guests form all around the world are meeting in Berlin. Centerpiece of the meeting will be ten of the most remarkable productions, which are chosen by an independent jury out of 400 performances of this season.

In her work, New York-based artist Wangechi Mutu, who was born in Kenya, addresses issues related to black female identity between Western consumer culture, African politics and postcolonial history.
She became known for her collages that vacillate between beauty and
horror: By using the most various materials such as glitter, tape or
animal furs in combination with magazine clippings, she creates
idiosyncratic pieces that present the female body in a distorted,
seductive, or commanding way and in a state of constant
transformation.

Building upon the cosmic aspects of this quiet, meditative place, Turrell is creating the worldwide largest museum installation he has made to date at the Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg, producing a light-filled space of experience in the tradition of his Ganzfeld Pieces. His installation will be an exploration of space and light: immaterial and material at once. The timelessness and fascination of James Turrell’s works derives from his incredible skill at capturing fleeting light and giving it the visual presence and tactile density of a physical body.

In squatting, Tilo Schulz and Jörg van den Berg articulate an exhibition practice, which emphasizes the presence and the actual experience of the artwork in the exhibition in terms of display as art mediation. squatting brings together works of art that address remembrance in thematic and structural terms, as well as pieces that deal with experiences o f places, situations, and people. Hence squatting establishes a direct connection between the Temporäre Kunsthalle and its location (the Schloßplatz) as a place that is permanently exposed to ideological appropriations.

The commitment to a solely subjective point of view is central to Thomas Olbrichts way of collecting. Surprises and antagonisms are not being dismissed – existentialist themes like dead, fugacity and Eros build central points. Big names like
Master of Parrots, John Currin, Eric Fischl, Franz Gertsch, Cindy Sherman or Marlene Dumas are facing newcomers like Corinne von Lebusa, Tomoko Nagai or Rachel Goodyear. Thereby, historic and timeless topics meet with modern and contemporary contents.

Since the early 1970s Rebecca Horn is working as an artist with performance, film, sculptural installation, sketching and photography.
The distinctiveness of her work lies in the precise technical and physical functionality with which Horn is bringing her sculptures to life. Her oeuvre seems to be held together by consequent logic: Each piece seems to develop right out of the former.

Nothing in Berlin is as constant as change. Apart of hysteric art fairs a formerly believed dead part of the city is developing into a must-see for those interested in art. New galleries, a Free Museum and some old acquaintances Potsdamer Strasse are becoming the antipole to Heidestrasse – and between both Neue Nationalgalerie and Hamburger Bahnhof are blazing.

For CAAs friends and supporters artist Tilo Schulz will as DJ contribute the sound of his live and work. In the relaxed atmosphere of a club guests can examine contemporary art from Berlin.

Tilo Schulz´s work can hardly be limited to a certain field. A broad range of disciplines characterizes the work of Leipzig-born Schulz: sculptures, paintings, shketches as well as object and installations. Moreover, he is working as a curator, author and docent. Central to his work is the question for ideologic and social motivation for exhibitions and aesthetics in which he is involving the visitor. „It is about a good balance between a single work, an exhibition and production – the fascination for a detail as a part of th whole… A piece of art is as complex as a machine, an exhibition as diverse as a film and the artist will then become a director or technician – it all differs on the perception.“ (Tilo Schulz). The talk with the artist will be moderated by Dr. Alexandra von Stosch.

Contemporary Arts Alliance Berlin is pleased to assign the CAA-Mentor-Scholarship 2010 to Nele Schwierkus. Since 2004 Nele Schwierkus studies at the UDK Berlin, from 2009 in the class of Florian Slotawa.

Her sculptural works focus on her environment and convince through humor, a playful interest in experimenting and an extraordinary sense for visual and acoustic presence of objects. Besides Nele Schwierkus consistent work, the CAA Jury has been persuaded by Schwierkus sensitive approach to her project in context with Campus Rütli, in which she will be working with scholars.

After we visited the shell of New Museum together with architect Alexander Schwarz (Chipperfield Berlin) two years ago, we will now be guided through the exhibition by Prof. Dr. Dietrich Wildung. A main feature of the newly erected building are its axial viewpoints. The association of different times, ruinous past and rebuilding, Nofretes brilliance and Helios, the god of the sun, transform the New Museum into a big stage. The concept of the exhibition compiled by Dietrich Wildung (former director of the Egyptian Museum) aims at cumulating themes rather than chronology. Central to the presentation is the Egyptian sculpture as “l’art pour l’art”.

Since 1995 the Canadian artist couple Janet Cardiff and George Bures Miller are working interdisciplinary with visual arts, film, theater or sound. In their accessible installations the visitor becomes the protagonist. André Breton stated in his „Surrealist Manifest“ in 1924: „ I believe in the future resolution of these two states, dream and reality, which are seemingly so contradictory, into a kind of absolute reality, a surreality, if one may so speak.“ But can the surreal be set into scene? In Janet Cardiff’s and George Bures Millers installations and the so-called „Walks“ Bretons vision seems to get to life. They take us to a surreal parallel world: audio-visual productions, who call for all senses.