English
The choice of museums in Berlin is so overwhelming that we who live in other cities in the world cannot avoid feeling a certain amount of envy. The city is not content with having a whole island of museums: it also has a wide variety of high quality exhibition spaces scattered around other parts of the city. One of these is the Hamburger Bahnhof, a modern art centre which displays a plethora of art forms that have emerged in recent decades, as well as a selection of top new artists. The history of the Hamburger Bahnhof (literally the Hamburg Train Station) is tied to the vicissitudes of this great city. Originally designed to give shelter to travellers on the Berlin-Hamburg line, it then became a railway museum. It was abandoned to its fate during the Cold War years, but then, around ten years ago, the building was renovated and it has been open to the public as a centre for contemporary art ever since. The centre has played host to a range of events including meetings, concerts, conferences and lectures.
Some of the most unique artists of the twentieth century come together in this place. To give you an idea of the kind of exhibitions that Hamburger Bahnhof specialises in, take a look at this one, on display until January 1, 2012, dedicated to the German artist, Joseph Beuys (1921-1986). Beuys was one of the main representatives of the avant-garde group, Fluxus, a movement that combined visual poetry with performances, installations and the innovative musical ideas (based on silence and Eastern rhythms) of the American John Cage (1912-1992).
The exhibition, entitled 8 days in Japan and the utopia of Eurasia, examines a trip made by Joseph Beuys to ‘the land of the rising sun’ in which he gave lectures, concerts and performances, and created installations and performances in order to promote his own particular vision of a kind of international brotherhood. The artist, very committed to peacemaking projects and to respecting the environment, placed particular emphasis on communicating via art (hence his obsession with interventions in public spaces). He believed that “salvation” would only be possible by combining Western rationalism and intellect with the subconscious and soul of the East. In the exhibition there are projections of his lectures, some of which warn about the danger of nuclear energy, a sad omen after the tragedy of Fukushima.
Here is a link to see more information about the exhibition: http://www.hamburgerbahnhof.de/exhibition.php?id=29818&lang=en.
Don´t forget to reserve apartments in Berlin to use as your base-camp when you come and enjoy some of this city´s wonderful museums.
Translated by: Ben Palmer
