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If the Berlin Wind Blows My Flag delves into the artistic scenes that thrived in
pre-unification West Berlin within the framework of the DAAD Artists-in-Berlin
Program (BKP). As part of the
residency program, international artists were invited to the city starting in
1963 to save West Berlin from “cultural isolation.”


An exhibition in three chapters – at daadgalerie, n.b.k., and Galerie im Körnerpark – accompanied by events at Akademie der Künste examines the role of the DAAD Artists-in-Berlin Program in nurturing artistic practices and networks during the Cold War. It also investigates the program’s cultural and political orientation, which was particularly noticeable in its selection process.  

The exhibition at n.b.k. focuses on key exhibitions and art movements of the 1970s and 1980s in Berlin, presented in dialogue with contemporary positions. Through an examination of historical projects in public space, paintings associated with Critical Realism, and the international network connected to EP Galerie Schweinebraden in East Berlin, the exhibition unravels the interplay of artistic movements within and extending beyond the borders of the divided city.  

At daadgalerie, the focus lies on the interrogation of the origins and cultural-political mission that underpinned the Artists-in-Berlin Program during its first decade. Drawing on historical works (including by KP Brehmer, George Rickey, and Bridget Riley) and new pieces that respond to documents and ephemera sourced from the program’s archive (including by Contemporary & and Sonya Schönberger), the exhibition traces artistic networks and renegotiates established institutional narratives.  

At Galerie im Körnerpark, Agnes Denes. Early Works marks the artist’s first German solo exhibition since 1979 and revisits her original concepts for a BKP grant that never materialized. In addition to a newly created wall piece, early photographs and drawings from the 1970s and 1980s will be on view, offering a glimpse into the influences that continue to shape Denes’s artistic direction, such as science, ecology, and body politics.

Events


Gallery in the Körnerpark: Agnes Denes: Early Works
September 8, 2023 (opening) to January 14, 2024


Neuer Berliner Kunstverein (n.b.k.): If the Berlin Wind Blows My Flag
September 13, 2023 (opening) to January 14, 2024


BKP / daadgalerie: If the Berlin Wind Blows My Flag
September 13, 2023 (opening) to January 14, 2024


Akademie der Künste: October 26, November 1, 2023
Additional information
admission free
Participating artists
Bettina von Arnim
Gábor Bódy
KP Brehmer
Marcel Broodthaers
Stanley Brouwn
Wojciech Bruszewski
Daniel Buren
Vlassis Caniaris
Rafael Canogar
Isaac Chong Wai
Agnes Denes
Braco Dimitrijević
Piero Dorazio
Ieva Epnere
Wojciech Fangor
Robert Filliou
Terry Fox
Kasia Fudakowski
K. H. Hödicke
Dorothy Iannone
Joan Jonas
Wolf Kahlen
Allan Kaprow
Edward & Nancy Kienholz
Milan Knížák
Jan Kotik
Shigeko Kubota
Joan La Barbara
László Lakner
Maria Lassnig
Madeyoulook
Maina-Miriam Munsky
Ann Noël
Eduardo Paolozzi
A. R. Penck
Michelangelo Pistoletto
Suzan Pitt
Yvonne Rainer
Remo Remotti
George Rickey
Bridget Riley
Alicja Rogalska
Sonya Schönberger
Shelly Silver
Charles Simonds
Maija Tabaka
Endre Tót
Ben Vautier
Emilio Vedova
Wolf Vostell
Lawrence Weiner
Stephen Willats
Emmett Williams
Ruth Wolf-Rehfeldt
Constantin Xenakis