6th Berlin Biennale for Contemporary Art
what is waiting out there
11 June – 8 August 2010
curated by Kathrin Rhomberg
With the title what is waiting out there, the exhibition presented contemporary positions by more than 40 international artists whose work centrally questioned the notion of the present and the role of contemporary art in relation to the now. The presented artworks (more than half of them new productions) reflected and made visible the multiplicity of ways in which art appropriates and produces the many different realities of our contemporary times.
On invitation of Kathrin Rhomberg the American art historian Michael Fried curated an exhibition with works by Adolph Menzel (1815-1905) produced in cooperation with the Alte Nationalgalerie / Old National Gallery and the Kupferstichkabinett (Museum of Prints and Drawings) of the National Museums in Berlin. By showing a selection of drawings and gouaches by the great 19th century realist from Berlin contemporary art was juxtaposed with an art historical position that served as a contextualization to the 6th Berlin Biennale’s point of view.
Kathrin Rhomberg opened up the curatorial process of the exhibition by organizing it in collaboration with other artists. Michael Schmidt’s photo series Frauen (Women, 1997–99) was on view on billboards in public space both during the run-up and throughout the biennale. Marion von Osten chose the e-flux Journal as space for her artistic contribution and edited one issue of the magazine. Thomas Locher developed the graphic treatment of the 6th Berlin Biennale together with the graphic designer Yvonne Quirmbach whilst Marcus Geiger designed the exhibition architecture in close collaboration with Kathrin Rhomberg herself.
Already before the official opening, the 6th Berlin Biennale commenced with the project Artists Beyond which was funded by the European Commission. The project engaged in a public dialogue with several artists such as Mark Boulos, Phil Collins, Marcus Geiger, Nilbar Güreş, Petrit Halilaj, Thomas Locher and Marie Voignier, and took place at the sites where they were currently working on their pieces for the 6th Berlin Biennale. The creative process itself was thus made a public part of the biennale.
La monnaie vivante / The Living Currency / Die lebende Münze (after Pierre Klossowski) was another exhibition project which took place during the first week of the biennial. The three-day event was curated for the 6th Berlin Biennale by Pierre Bal-Blanc and produced in collaboration with the theater Hebbel am Ufer (HAU) and the Centre d’art contemporain de Brétigny (CAC Brétigny). Over the course of the three days, the exhibition La monnaie vivante constantly changed its appearance as it juxtaposed contemporary and historic perceptions of the body in visual arts with notions from dance, music and theater. During this event the audience at HAU played an active part in an open-ended performative process.
A solo exhibition with works by George Kuchar—created in collaboration with Marc Siegel—was furthermore presented in a warehouse space in Berlin-Kreuzberg. On the opening night Andrej Kuzkin and Marlene Haring performed in the gallery. Marlene Haring continued her performative interventions moreover throughout the entire duration of the exhibition.
The curator of the 6th Berlin Biennale
Kathrin Rhomberg
Kathrin Rhomberg invited the following projects to participate in the 6th Berlin Biennale
La monnaie vivante / The Living Currency / Die lebende Münze
Pierre Bal-Blanc
Menzel's Extreme Realism
Michael Fried in Cooperation with Old National Gallery and The Museum of Prints and Drawings of the National Museums in Berlin
George Kuchar
Marc Siegel
Graphic design
Thomas Locher
Yvonne Quirmbach
Kathrin Rhomberg, curator of the 6th Berlin Biennale. Photo: Manfred Unger
Kathrin Rhomberg in the catalogue of the 6th Berlin Biennale
Can [art] make disparate realities perceivable and prompt us to participate reflectively in them? That is the central question to be posed by the 6th Berlin Biennale for Contemporary Art. How can it aid the viewer in assuring him/herself of his/her existence and of the world, [...]More >
Artists of the 6th Berlin Biennale
b
- Bernard Bazile
- Mark Boulos
- Mohamed Bourouissa
c
- Olga Chernysheva
- Phil Collins
- Minerva Cuevas
e
- Shanon Ebner
- Nir Evron
g
- Marcus Geiger
- Ion Grigorescu
- Friedl vom Gröller (Kubelka)
- Nilbar Güreş
h
- Petrit Halilaj
- Marlene Haring
j
- Cameron Jamie
- Sven-Åke Johansson
- Thomas Judin
k
- Sung Hwan Kim
- George Kuchar
- Andrey Kuzkin
l
- Thomas Locher
- Adrian Lohmüller
- Armando Lulaj
m
- Renzo Martens
- Adolph Menzel
- Avi Mograbi
o
- Ferhat Özgür
- Henrik Olesen
- Roman Ondák
- Marion von Osten
s
- Margaret Salmon
- Hans Schabus
- Michael Schmidt
- Ruti Sela & Maayan Amir
- Gedi Sibony
- John Smith
- Michael Stevenson
- Sebastian Stumpf
t
- Ron Tran
v
- Danh Vo
- Marie Voignier
- Vincent Vulsma
w
- Anna Witt
x
- Pleurad Xhafa / Sokol Peçi