What do the E-Werk Luckenwalde and Künstlerhof Frohnau have in common? Both are venues for art and culture and both were influenced by the GDR’s post-war period and German reunification. In the north of Berlin, a 100-meter-wide and two-kilometer-long sandbar marks the landscape, and like every scar, it has its own history: it is the former “death zone” – a no man’s land. Now, however, it’s a place for artistic productions and discourse – Künstlerhof Frohnau – where you can rent studio space and participate in events, workshops and cultural programs. On Saturday (01.07.2023) Memory Beach, the contemporary festival for music and performance, will be taking place at the site. For one day, its courtyard will be transformed into a space of experience and movement for residents, participants and visitors. As part of the festival, this scarred strip of land will become a place of storytelling, tours and staging. The open air event is free of charge and starts in the early afternoon (can stay here until late in the evening). In the opposite direction, just 30 minutes south of Berlin, is E-Werk Luckenwalde, a coal-fired power plant opened in 1913 that was decommissioned after reunification.
In 2017, the art collective Performance Electrics led by Pablo Wendel brought the site back to life – powered not by electricity but by art. This weekend (01 & 02.07.2023), the site is hosting the first stage of the “Burn Out” symposium series, in which speakers will present their research results on topics related to human sustainability: Institutional Burnouts, Ecosystemic Infrastructure Change, and Hypocrisy in the Art World. They will address critical questions about what institutional growth can look like and where its limits lie. How can we dislodge environmental imperialism and take radical action locally and globally to rectify historical exploitation? Performances will be distributed throughout the program, creating non-didactic spaces for reflection and promoting art as an equally valuable form of knowledge transfer. Presentations will be in both German and English with live translation. Food and beverages will be available from Trafo and the E-Werk gardens will be freely accessible. Brandenburg has a lot to offer besides wheat fields, the Havel and gherkins: it is home to contemporary art that engages with world affairs both present and past. This weekend is more proof of this.
Text: Laura Iriondo / Credit: Trevor Good, Julia Grüßing, E-WERK Luckenwalde; 2 Personal Things
E-Werk Luckenwalde, Rudolf-Breitscheid-Str.73, 14943 Luckenwalde; map
01–02.07.2023. Tickets are available here.
Künstlerhof Frohnau e.V., Hubertusweg 60, 13465 Berlin–Frohnau; map
01.07.2023 14–23h. You can find the full program here.
@ewerk_luckenwalde
@kuenstlerhof_frohnau
