27 May 2021

Arbeit am Gedächtnis – Transforming Archives
Discussion series accompanying the exhibition
Livestream programme in June

With the exhibition “Arbeit am Gedächtnis – Transforming Archives” the Akademie der Künste explores the current artistic practice of dealing with memory and memory storage: Artists examine archives, challenge the processes of selection and probe gaps in the depot. The show, featuring commissioned artworks by 13 artists as well as selected objects and documents from the Archives of the Akademie der Künste, will be open to the public as of 17 June 2021 at the Akademie building on Pariser Platz.

The exhibition will be accompanied by talks with participating artists, lectures and panel discussions. The series will kick off on 1 June with a discussion about the US civil rights activists Paul and Eslanda Robeson, for whom the East German Academy of Arts founded an archive in the mid-1960s, and about their legacy for the anti-racist movements of today. On 2 June, as a prelude to the exhibition, a talk will be held between the writer Cécile Wajsbrot and filmmaker and Akademie President Jeanine Meerapfel. On 5 June, Alexander Kluge will talk about cooperation between archives; Eduardo Molinari and Alice Creischer will discuss the consequences of genocide and ecocide. On additional dates, the artists Thomas Heise, Arnold Dreyblatt and Candice Breitz will present their work. Aleida Assmann, Cristina Baldacci and Sharon Macdonald will discuss the role of art in the dynamics of remembering and forgetting; Ulrike Draesner and Ingo Schulze will talk with the writers Meena Kandasamy and Mohamed Mbougar Sarr about post-colonialism and memory. The performative discussion event UNEXPECTED LESSONS, which will take place from 11 to 12 June, will examine the decolonization of memory and knowledge from an artistic and scientific standpoint, touching upon questions relating to African philosophy and conventional museum-based forms of preservation and presentation.

Livestreams available at www.adk.de

Tuesday, 1 June, 7 pm (EN)
Resonating Struggles: Paul and Eslanda Robeson in East Berlin
Discussion with Matana Roberts, George Lewis, Doreen Mende and Kira Thurman

Wednesday, 2 June, 7 pm (DE)
Going Through the Heart. An Introduction
Artist talk with Jeanine Meerapfel, Cécile Wajsbrot
Introduction by Johannes Odenthal, Werner Heegewaldt

Saturday, 5 June, 7 pm (DE) + 8 pm (EN)
Memory Works On Us
Artist talk with Alexander Kluge, Erdmut Wizisla, Johannes Odenthal
From Memory to Political Imagination
Artist talk with Eduardo Molinari and Alice Creischer

Tuesday, 8 June 2021, 7 pm (EN)
Images of Remembering and Forgetting
Lectures and discussion with Aleida Assmann, Cristina Baldacci, Sharon Macdonald

Friday – Saturday, 11 – 12 June 2021, 1:30 pm – 9 pm / 10 am – 9 pm (DE+EN)
UNEXPECTED LESSONS – Decolonizing Memory and Knowledge
Performative discussion event with Felwine Sarr, Nana Oforiatta Ayim, Nathalie Anguezomo Mba Bikoro, Syowia Kyambi, Elsa M’Bala and others (11 June) and Bénédicte Savoy, Malick Ndiaye, Natasha A. Kelly et al. (12.6.)

Tuesday, 15 June 2021, 7 pm + 8 pm (DE)
Archiv-Karussell... inspired by John Cage’s Rolywholyover
Artist talk with Arnold Dreyblatt
Pictures of an Exhibition – The Installation Entfernte Verwandte
Film screening and artist talk with Thomas Heise

Tuesday, 22 June 2021, 7 pm (DE+EN)
Rewriting Memories
Readings and discussion with Ulrike Draesner, Meena Kandasamy,
Mohamed Mbougar Sarr, Ingo Schulze. Moderation Daniela Dröscher

Tuesday, 29 June 2021, 7 pm (EN)
Never Ending Stories
Lecture by Candice Breitz

Further information on the exhibition and the events:
www.adk.de/gedaechtnis

 
Exhibition Information
Arbeit am Gedächtnis – Transforming Archives
17 June – 19 September 2021, Tues – Sun 11 am – 7 pm
Admission € 9 / 6, opening days 17 – 20 June 2021: admission € 3
Free admission Tues from 3 pm and for visitors under 19s
Access restrictions due to COVID-19, time slot tickets
Akademie der Künste, Pariser Platz 4, 10117 Berlin, Tel. 030 200 57-1000