History in the making – the wild 80s – a women's project!
The exhibition Living the Desert. Making History – The Wild Eighties – A Women's Project! showcases the work of the artist Rotraud von der Heide and, in doing so, exemplifies the importance of the feminist art scene in 1980s West Berlin – between the Berlin Wall and social, artistic and feminist upheaval.
Image gallery
Rotraud von der Heide, Claudia in der Hängematte, Mischtechnik
In the winter of 1979/80, women occupied a former chocolate factory in Berlin-Kreuzberg.
It had been vacant for 13 years and was in a state of disrepair. Rotraud von der Heide (b. 1942) was one of the pioneers whose inexhaustible energy and creative drive helped to establish the largest women's district centre in the Federal Republic of Germany, which still exists today.
About Rotraud von der Heide
Rotraud von der Heide was not only a pioneering activist and performance artist in the wild 1980s in West Berlin, she also went to the eastern part of the city immediately after the fall of the Berlin Wall to explore the (free) spaces that had suddenly emerged in the unified city together with the female artists there.
The following exhibitions and events were always bold, radical and international.
Since 2002, Rotraud von der Heide has been a member of the Endmoräne group of female artists, in which female artists from Brandenburg and Berlin artistically bring abandoned places in Brandenburg back to life.
After occupying the Schokofabrik (Chocolate Factory) in Berlin-Kreuzberg, Rotraud von der Heide dedicated herself to urban planning and social utopias with her art project The Desert Is Alive.
The first rooftop greenhouse in Berlin was the result. As visionary as the rooftop greening was from a contemporary perspective, the questions it raises about the positive effects on the urban climate are still relevant today.
As part of the exhibition, the artist will present her new book ‘The Desert is Alive’.
