The big issues of war and peace often remain abstract. The strong media presence of crises and wars often makes many people even less willing to deal with these topics.
Image gallery
"RIBBONS" von Renee van Bavel
The artist Renee van Bavel knows how to use her artistic practice to appeal to people's feelings, to bring them back to thinking about war and peace emotionally and to focus on what unites them - the desire for peace.
For the past year, she has been collecting commemorative ribbons from all over the world and sewing them together to create a large, unifying and colourful work of art: ‘I am sewing and collecting while President Volodymyr Selenskyj is talking to Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Berlin, just two kilometres away from me, about new arms deliveries to Ukraine. I am sewing while Donald Trump comes to power. While the AfD becomes the second largest party in Germany. I sew while the Middle East burns. I am sewing to show what unites us at a time when so much divides us.’
8 May marks the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War. At the same time, numerous armed conflicts and wars are taking place around the world. There are discussions about the reintroduction of compulsory military service and the danger of Russia attacking other countries.
At Späti, the artist talks to Prof Dr Axel Drecoll, Director of the Brandenburg Memorials Foundation, about her time as artist in residence at the Sachsenhausen and Ravensbrück memorials, making connections and her commitment to peace.
From 16:30, the artist will be in the foyer sewing the memorial ribbons.
Procedure
- 16:30-18:00: DJ
- 18:00-19:00: Talk, moderated by Jan Linders
Participants
Renee van Bavel is a Dutch artist living in Berlin. In her work, she deals with the themes of peace, freedom and humanity. From 2022 to 2024, she was artist in residence at the Sachsenhausen and Ravensbrück memorials, where she developed new forms of remembrance through art.
She has also been writing songs for international commemorative events for many years, including for the Berlin House of Representatives, the Berlin Wall Foundation and the Dutch Ministry of Defence, and has performed several times for the Dutch King Willem Alexander, former Federal President Joachim Gauck and Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, among others.
Prof Dr Axel Drecoll
Director of the Brandenburg Memorials Foundation
- free of charge
- Mechanical arena in the foyer
- Language: German
- Part of: SPÄTI
Additional information
Dates
April 2025
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