Kilpper Projects (Blog)

Pressemitteilung des n.b.k.
- please scroll down for English version!

Thomas Kilpper
State of Control

20. Juni – 26. Juli 2009
Kurator: Marius Babias

Eröffnung: 19. Juni 2009, 19 Uhr,
ehemaliges Ministerium für Staatssicherheit der DDR (MfS), Normannenstraße 19, 10365 Berlin-Lichtenberg

Es sprechen:
Marius Babias (Direktor n.b.k.)
Dr. Eugen Blume (Leiter Hamburger Bahnhof)
ab 22 Uhr Basso-Bar

18–21 Uhr Eröffnung, Neuer Berliner Kunstverein (n.b.k.), Chaussestraße 128/129, 10115 Berlin-Mitte
www.nbk.org

Zwanzig Jahre nach Mauerfall realisiert der Neue Berliner Kunstverein mit dem Künstler Thomas Kilpper ein Kunstprojekt im ehemaligen Ministerium für Staatssicherheit der DDR (MfS), das erstmalig der Öffentlichkeit zugänglich gemacht wird. Weitere Arbeiten des Künstlers werden zeitgleich in den Räumen des Neuen Berliner Kunstvereins gezeigt. Thomas Kilpper, geboren in Stuttgart und in Berlin lebend, setzt sich in seinen Bodenschnitten mit deutscher Geschichte auseinander. Seine groß angelegte Intervention auf 1.600 qm bietet eine geschichtliche Rückschau auf verschiedene staatliche Konzepte von Überwachung und Repression – vom Nationalsozialismus bis zur digitalen Gegenwart.
Die geteilte Geschichte Deutschlands, die sich in diesem Gebäude, aber auch in den geschnitzten Motiven im Boden und den Drucken ablesen lässt, ist auch eine des Widerstands gegen Unrechtssysteme.

Buchreihe n.b.k. Ausstellungen
Zur Ausstellung erscheint im Verlag der Buchhandlung Walther König, Köln, eine Publikation.
144 Seiten mit farbigen Abb., deutsch/englisch, 19,80 EUR (15 EUR ermäßigt)

Standorte

Neuer Berliner Kunstverein (n.b.k.)
Chausseestraße 128/129, 10115 Berlin-Mitte

Dienstag – Sonntag 12-18 Uhr
Donnerstag 12-20 Uhr

Ehemaliges Ministerium für Staatssicherheit der DDR (MfS)
Normannenstr. 19, 10365 Berlin-Lichtenberg

(gegenüber Forschungs- und Gedenkstätte Normannenstraße, Stasi-Museum)
Donnerstag – Sonntag 11-19 Uhr

Programm Kunstvermittlung

Donnerstag, 25. Juni 2009, n.b.k. (Chausseestraße 128/129)
19 Uhr Ausstellungsgespräch mit Thomas Kilpper (Künstler) und Marius Babias (Kurator)

Donnerstag, 09. Juli 2009, ehemaliges MfS (Normannenstraße 19)
20 Uhr Konzert - Erste Stufe Haifisch (D) / Victim (U.K.)

Donnerstag, 16. Juli 2009, ehemaliges MfS (Normannenstraße 19)
17 Uhr Besuch Forschungs- und Gedenkstätte Normannenstraße (Stasi-Museum). Anschließend Ausstellungsrundgang. Sophie Goltz (Kommunikation / Kunstvermittlung n.b.k.) mit Thomas Kilpper (Künstler)

Samstag, 18. Juli 2009, n.b.k. (Chausseestraße 128/129)
20 Uhr Konzert - Arnold Dreyblatt Ensemble

Ausstellung und Programm werden ermöglicht durch die finanzielle Förderung von:

sowie der Unterstützung von:

Galerie Christian Nagel (Berlin/Köln)
Patrick Heide Contemporary Art (London)

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Weiterere Ausstellung:

Thomas Kilpper - State of Control
22. Juni - 18. Juli 2009

Dienstag - Samstag 13 - 18 Uhr

Eröffnungsbrunch
Sonntag, 21. Juni 2009, 11 Uhr

Galerie Olaf Stüber
Max-Beer-Str. 25 | D-10119 Berlin | T +49 (0)30. 28 38 63-12
mail@galerieolafstueber.de | www.galerieolafstueber.de

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English Version:
Thomas Kilpper
State of Control

June 20–July 26, 2009

Opening: Friday, June 19

7 pm, former GDR Ministry for State Security (MfS), Normannenstr. 19, 10365 Berlin-Lichtenberg

Speakers include: Marius Babias (director n.b.k.), Dr. Eugen Blume (director Hamburger Bahnhof)
from 10 pm Basso-Bar

6-9 pm, n.b.k., Chausseestraße 128/129, 10115 Berlin-Mitte

Twenty years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, Neuer Berliner Kunstverein is realizing a project with artist Thomas Kilpper at the former GDR Ministry for State Security (MfS), which is being made accessible to the public for the first time. Additional works by the artist will be shown at the same time in the spaces at Neuer Berliner Kunstverein.

In his floor cuttings, Berlin artist Thomas Kilpper, born in Stuttgart, engages with German history. His large-scale intervention on 1,600 square meters offers a historical retrospective on various state concepts of surveillance and repression, from the Nazi period to the digital present.  The divided history of Germany that can be read in this building and in the cut motifs and imprints in the floor is also one of resistance against systems of injustice. In this work, Klipper chronicles the history of both German states and the events from 1989/90 until today.

Curated by Marius Babias

Book Series n.b.k. Exhibitions
As part of the book series n.b.k. Exhibitions, a catalog will be published by Verlag der Buchhandlung Walther König, Cologne, including a preface by Marius Babias and an interview with Clemens Krümmel, 144 pages with color illustrations, German/English.

Locations

Former GDR Ministry for State Security (MfS), Normannenstr. 19, 10365 Berlin-Lichtenberg
(near Research Center and Memorial Site Normannenstraße, so-called Stasi-Museum)
Thursday – Sunday  11 am – 7pm

Neuer Berliner Kunstverein, Chausseestraße 128/129, 10115 Berlin-Mitte

Tuesday – Sunday  12 am – 6 pm
Thursday 12 am – 8 pm

Program

Thursday, June 25, 2009, n.b.k. (Chausseestraße 128/129)
7 pm Artist talk with Thomas Kilpper (artist) and Marius Babias (curator)

Thursday, July 09, 2009, former MfS (Normannenstraße 19)
8 pm Concert
Erste Stufe Haifisch (GER) / Victim (GB)

Thursday, July 16, 2009, former MfS (Normannenstraße 19)
5 pm Guided tour Research Center and Memorial Site Normannenstraße (so-called Stasi-Museum) and exhibiton walk together with Thomas Kilpper (artist) und Sophie Goltz (Communication / Education n.b.k.)

Saturday, July 18, 2009, n.b.k. (Chausseestraße 128/129)
8 pm Concert
Arnold Dreyblatt Ensemble

Supported by

3sat sendete heute in der KULTURZEIT ab 19.20 einen TV-Beitrag über mein Leuchtturm-Projekt und die aktuelle Situation auf der italienischen Insel Lampedusa: Video und Text: http://www.3sat.de/kulturzeit

Model at Villa Romana, Florence, 2009

Thomas Kilpper
A Lighthouse for Lampedusa!
15.04. – 15.05.2009

We cordially invite you and your friends to the opening
of the exhibition on Wednesday 15th April at 7 p.m.

Unfortunately the model of the Lighthouse can not be realised in Piazza San Pancrazio. Exhibition and model will be shown at Villa Romana!

Opening Times: Tues – Fri 3 – 7 p.m. and by appointment

Villa Romana / Via Senese 68 / 50124 Florenz / Italie
www.villaromana.org

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Last autumn the artist Thomas Klipper, who lives and works in Berlin, set up the project  A Lighthouse for Lampedusa!

Every year approximately 20,000 people, most of whom are immigrants from Africa, try to reach Europe via the island of Lampedusa. According to the Italian Home Office, in 2008 this number reached as much as 35,000 people. Thousands die at sea: humanitarian organisations have estimated that nearly a tenth of the total number of migrants die during the dangerous crossing. Thomas Klipper plans to create a major lighthouse and arts centre, in collaboration with architects, engineers and island residents.

A lighthouse equipped with a powerful beam could provide important support to those navigating at sea and reduce the danger of shipwreck. The light would also convey an important message to migrants: “We’re here, we aren’t hiding”. For those living in Lampedusa the lighthouse could become a meeting place, exhibition space and a venue for conferences, concerts and other cultural events.

The building of the lighthouse will now be possible thanks to wide local and International support. Over the winter an initial model was presented at the “dispari&dispari project” exhibition space in Reggio Emilia. In Florence Thomas Klipper has designed a model to be set within the urban context of Piazza San Pancrazio, right next to the Museo Marino Marini.

Other works by Thomas Klipper will be presented at Villa Romana, among which two documentary videos and some large scale xylographs from London and Frankfurt.

Thomas Kilpper, class of 1956, is renown for his works that intervene with artistic readings of specific social and political contexts. His work has been shown in prestigious spaces such as the South London Gallery, the Generali Foundation in Vienna, the Schirn Kunsthalle, the Kunstverein in Frankfurt and the Badischer Kunstverein in Karlsruhe. He is currently preparing an engraving on linoleum, in collaboration with Neuer Berliner Kunstverein, measuring 800 square metres and intended for the floor of the ex Ministry of State Security building (the Stasi) in East Germany.

Un Faro per Lampedusa! [pdf]
Ein Leuchtturm fuer Lampedusa! [pdf]

State of Control - Out of Control - (Arbeitstitel)

In der Normannenstraße 19 – einem Gebäude des ehemaligen Ministerium für Staatssicherheit – wird ein überdimensionaler ,Linolschnitt’ im Fußbodenbelag entstehen; 800 m2 PVC-Bodenbelag bilden dafür das Ausgangsmaterial.

Ich schneide in die vorgefundene Substanz dieses aufgeladenen Ortes, um ihn mir ,anzueignen’. Es entstehen Bilder aus dem Zusammenhang ,Staatliche Überwachung und Strategien ihr zu begegnen’. Ich schreibe sie in diesen Ort ein und transformiere damit seine ,Basis’ – den Boden – in einen Stempel. Ein zeitgeschichtlich umstrittener, verlassener Ort wird neu ‘besetzt’, wieder belebt und neu definiert.

PVC-flooring - Normannenstraße 19 - Stasi-HQ - Berlin

Installation view @ dispari&dispari project, Reggio Emilia

dispari&dispari project is pleased to invite you, to the opening of the exhibition “A Lighthouse for Lampedusa”. This is the first show in Italy of Berlin artist Thomas Kilpper (born Stuttgart). With this project, the artist reflects on the current phenomenon of immigration focussing on the extraordinary case of Lampedusa. On this island, just 80 nautical miles away from the African Continent, this year more than 30.000 refugees have reached (about 50% more than in 2007) - mostly in heavily overcrowded little boats. For them the shores of Lampedusa became a Synonymon for the dream of a better life in Europe. But often their “journey of hope” turns into a deadly tragedy – help organisations estimate one out of ten die during their dangerous crossing.

“A lighthouse with a maximum strength beam can provide essential orientation at sea and help to reduce the danger to life. Over the last months, Thomas Kilpper developed this idea for a new art project with a double function: in collaboration with architects, engineers and local people he wants to build a lighthouse with an adjacent cultural center on Lampedusa.

A tower and a landmark building, capable of hosting a diverse and transnational programme of communication, negotiation, exhibitions, concerts and other cultural events on its ground floor; a place that attracts not only new visitors to the island but also local people - making Lampedusa not just a location to talk about, but also somewhere to learn from and listen to each other…”

From the appeal – please see appeal.

To understand the situation on the ground and to start to develop a network of contacts and relations with local people Kilpper travelled the island. On his second trip a meeting with interested “Lampedusian’s” on this project could be held. With ‘A Lighthouse for Lampedusa’ Kilpper proceeds with his site related and socialy engaged interventions like ‘Al Hissan - The Horse of Jenin’, 2003 in Israel / Palestine and ‘Pigisback’ 2006 in London. At dispari&dispari project ‘A Lighthouse for Lampedusa’ will be presented to a wider audience for the first time – as a sketch for an utopian idea to come true in the near future. A Lighthouse for Lampedusa is an event produced by dispari&dispari project of Reggio Emilia and the artist Thomas Kilpper. Thanks for support and cooperation to: The German Institute for the Foreign Cultural Relations (ifa), the House of Artists Villa Romana in Florence, the Lampedusa and Linosa commune and Radio Delta in Lampedusa. The exhibition is open until 14 February 2009 from Tuesday to Friday from 10.00 - 13.00 and 15.00 - 19.00. Saturday and Sunday by appointment.

For more information, visit: www.dispariedispari.org or write to info(at)dispariedispari.org

Lighthousemodell under construction, November/December 2008

Installation views @ dispari&dispari, Reggio Emilia

Installation views @ dispari&dispari, Reggio Emilia

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Invitation Card to the Show at dispari&dispari in Reggio Emilia:

Cartolina

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