November 9, 2024 marks the 35th anniversary of the fall of the Wall. To mark this occasion, the KUNSTFORUM Foundation of Berliner Volksbank gGmbH, with its extensive collection that specializes in art from the GDR, and the Brandenburg Gate Foundation are planning a joint approach to the topic of the Berlin Wall from an Eastern and Western perspective.
Image gallery
Die Mauer. Vorher, nachher, Ost und West, Key visual
Rainer Fetting_Mauer_1978_Kunstsammlung der Berliner Volksbank
Wolfgang Mattheuer_Und die Flügel ziehen himmelwärts_ 1987_Kunstsammlung der Berliner Volksbank_Copyright VG Bild-Kunst Bonn 2024Wolfgang Mattheuer_And the wings move skywards_ 1987_Art collection of the Berliner Volksbank_Copyright VG Bild-Kunst Bon
The exhibition entitled "The Wall: before, after, East and West" explores artistic viewpoints from the second half of the 1980s to the early 1990s, with a conscious focus on the period around 1989/90.
The view is taken from two perspectives:
On the one hand, the wall is examined before and after 1989, and on the other hand, views from East and West are compared. This dual perspective offers a multifaceted picture of a time of change.
The exhibition presents works by artists such as Annemirl Bauer, Manfred Butzmann, Rainer Fetting, Ellen Fuhr, K.H. Hödicke, Werner Liebmann, Wolfgang Mattheuer, Harald Metzkes and Ulla Walter.
The focus on the period immediately before and after 1989 as well as from East and West raises central questions that are still relevant today in both art and contemporary political discussions:
- How did artists from both parts of Germany depict the Wall in their works?
- What significance did it have in contemporary art?
- What changes occurred after the fall of the Wall?
For a long time, the Wall was a taboo topic for artists from the GDR, as it was hardly allowed to be discussed in the official art world. Depictions of walls were mainly found on small-format works on paper for private use.
West Berlin artists had more freedom and also dealt with the topic in large-format paintings. The Wall was the most symbolic sign of German division and Berlin's special status as a free zone for artists.
The exhibition largely presents works from the Berliner Volksbank's art collection, which was launched in 1985.
This collection placed an emphasis on realistic art from the German post-war period, particularly from Berlin and East Germany.
The exhibition takes place at the Brandenburg Gate Foundation, which is located in the rebuilt Max Liebermann House. The house was next to the Brandenburg Gate on Pariser Platz and was destroyed during the Second World War. After the war, the area belonged to the Soviet sector and later to East Berlin.
The Brandenburg Gate became a symbol of German unity after the Berlin Wall was opened in 1989. One of the first provisional border crossings between West and East Berlin was built exactly on Liebermann's former property.
Pariser Platz with the Brandenburg Gate is still an important place in German-German history and therefore offers the ideal setting for an exhibition about the Berlin Wall.
