„Anstoss Berlin“ reflects on the richness of a city that within a very short period of time has become the centre of a globalised art scene. Since the end of the 1990ies hundreds of artists who operate worldwide have flocked to the Spree. Although they work and live here in Berlin, until now their work is often shown only in other metropolises’ museums. The astonishing change towards a capital of the arts in Berlin itself remained rather abstract at an institutional level.

Now the Haus am Waldsee ventures to take the first step.

With its three-month summer-exhibition “Anstoss Berlin” the house focuses Berlin’s international art scene. 61 artists from 21 nations present works from their current production.

The exhibition shows one work by each of the participants who are all born between 1950 and 1975. The show takes up all of the house’s exhibition space as well as the park with its 10,000 sq m at the lake.

In its 60th jubilee, the Haus am Waldsee shows clearly that it will dedicate itself in concentrated solo- and group-exhibitions to this exact potential with which the city advertises all over the world. Hereby, the house follows its own tradition. From the beginning it was the aim of the house to introduce its audience to the latest trends of international art. Even in the late 40ies the Haus am Waldsee was the first institution in Berlin to introduce artists such as Pablo Picasso (1947), Henry Moore (1951), Max Ernst (1951), Joan Miró (1954), George Braque (1955), or Käthe Kollwitz (1946), Schmidt Rottluff (1948), and Oskar Schlemmer (1950).

Today “Anstoss Berlin” for the first time raises questions regarding the motives of the artists who live here. Why has Berlin so quickly become the launching pad for contemporary art in the globalised media age? Is it the low rents and like-minded friends who also settled down here? Is it the city`s special history that is still perceptible everywhere? Or is it the openness and spaciousness of a metropolis of three million inhabitants that in comparision with London, New York or Beijing leaves a lot of space for individual development? What are the topics the artists take up? Are there mutual points of view of the present, or have styles and media become as global as their protagonists have become mobile? “Anstoss Berllin” does not look for clear answers. The exhibition wants to point out who moves Berlin, as well as to kick off discussions on all levels with its rich accompanying programme.

Participating artists: Franz Ackermann, Norbert Bisky, John Bock, Candice Breitz, Michel de Broin, Angela Bulloch, Janet Cardiff & George Bures Miller, Björn Dahlem, Tacita Dean, Marcel van Eeden, Olafur Eliasson, Thomas Eller, Michael Elmgreen & Ingar Dragset, Ayse Erkmen, Simon Faithfull, Valerie Favre, Thomas Florschuetz, Adib Fricke, Bernard Frize, Christine de la Garenne, Katharina Grosse, Asta Gröting, Carla Guagliardi, Mona Hatoum, Eberhard Havekost, Stuart Haygarth, Swetlana Heger, Arturo Herrera, Olav Christopher Jenssen, Takehito Koganezawa, Clemens Krauss, Via Lewandowsky, Thomas Locher, Robert Lucander, Melanie Manchot, Rémy Markowitsch, Jonathan Meese, Björn Melhus, Jonathan Monk, Joel Morrison, Frank Nitsche, Manfred Pernice, Daniel Pflumm, Bettina Pousttchi, Quin Yufen, Thomas Rentmeister, Gerwald Rockenschaub, Miguel Rothschild, Anri Sala, Karin Sander, Albrecht Schäfer, Shimabuku, Tino Sehgal, Ann-Sofi Sidén, Markus Sixay, Florian Slotawa, Rirkrit Tiravanija, Till Velten, Corinne Wasmuht, Peter Welz.

Under the patronage of Klaus Wowereit, governing mayor of Berlin.

The exhibition is supported by the Hauptstadt-Kulturfonds, the Stiftung Deutsche Klassenlotterie (Berlin), the Bezirksamt Steglitz-Zehlendorf von Berlin – Kultur- und Bibliotheksamt, FB Kultur and the Freunde und Förderer des Hauses am Waldsee.

A catalogue will be published. Mail order via info@hausamwaldsee.de or phone: 030 801 89 35.

Artistic director Haus am Waldsee: Dr. Katja Blomberg

Curators: Dr. Katja Blomberg, Dr. Sabine Bartelsheim 

With kind support by:

Argentinian Embassy, British Council, Canadian Embassy, Embassy of the United States, Italian Cultural Institute Berlin, Québec Government Office, Royal Danish Embassy, Royal Netherlands Embassy, Royal Norwegian Embassy, Swedish Embassy, Swiss Embassy, AV-Tour GmbH, Bauzentrum Sommer, Eidotech, Rothaus, Sammlung Sperling

Media partners: Die Welt, Zitty, Monopol, Artnet, Kulturradio, radioeins