Berlin Art Week: Der Wind wehte westlich

The Berlin Artists Program (BKP) of the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) is considered one of the most prestigious residency programs for artists from around the world. The exhibition now demonstrates that the BKP was clearly associated with political goals before the fall of the Berlin Wall, with scholars such as Joan Jonas, Maria Lassnig, and Bridget Riley. Curators Nóra Lukács and Melanie Roumiguière present their insights into the inner workings of the BKP at three exhibition venues: the New Berlin Art Association (n.b.k.), the Gallery in Körnerpark, and the daadgalerie. The exhibited program archives and artworks reveal how a close circle of individuals (mostly male and white) significantly influenced the artistic scene in West Berlin at that time.

When Melanie Roumiguière took on her role as head of the Visual Arts department at BKP in 2018, her first goal was to digitize the archive. During this time, she was contacted by Lukács, a lecturer and doctoral student at Humboldt University, who was researching the significance of West Berlin for artists from Eastern Europe in the 70s and 80s. This led to their collaboration on a project that quickly evolved into an exhibition due to the interesting research findings. Due to the abundance of discoveries, Roumiguière and Lukács divided the exhibition into three chapters.

Klare politische Agenda

The exhibits in the daadgalerie focus on the history of the BKP. With the aim of preserving West Berlin from „cultural isolation“ and attracting international cultural creators to the city, the US-based Ford Foundation established the BKP in 1963. Roumiguière explains that it was „an organization connected to the Allies“, and adds, „I would say that the originally communicated internationalization was deliberately political. The propaganda aspect was significant.“ In the first few years, artists were paid more money, essentially being bought to activate the program. Lukács agrees that the political agenda remained important later on, stating, „Inviting someone from Eastern Europe to West Berlin after the Berlin Agreement using federal funds from Bonn was naturally a provocation.“

The exhibition at the gallery in Körnerpark is dedicated to Agnes Denes, whose correspondences in the archive surprisingly revealed that the artist was never able to take up her residency in West Berlin in 1978. „For 50 years, it was pretended that Denes had been here in Berlin,“ explains Roumiguière. The first solo exhibition of the American artist in Germany since 1978 explores the ideas she originally developed for the scholarship that never materialized, and showcases photographs and drawings that highlight Denes‘ engagement with science, nature, and body politics.

Roumiguière erzählt, dass die beiden dem Schriftverkehr auch haben entnehmen können, dass Denes einen Film geplant habe, für dessen Umsetzung der DAAD aber die technischen Mittel nicht bereitstellen habe können. Obwohl Denes lange hartnäckig blieb und ihren Aufenthalt nachholen wollte, blieb ihr dieser verwehrt, genauso wie das Netzwerk vor Ort.

Zu diesem Netzwerk gehörten auch die Entscheidungsgeber bei der Auswahl der Stipendiatinnen und Stipendiaten. Auf die Frage nach den Mitgliedern der Jury in den 70er und 80er Jahren antwortet Roumiguière: „Die Jury bestand mit wenigen Ausnahmen aus – teils alt gewordenen – weißen Männern“, und zählt unter anderem ihren Vorgänger und Galeristen René Block, den Kurator Kasper König, das Gründungsmitglied der Berlinischen Galerie Eberhard Roters sowie den ehemaligen Direktor der Neuen Nationalgalerie Werner Haftmann, auf. Der Kurator, dessen Nazi- und Kriegsverbrecher-Vergangenheit 2021 in einer Ausstellung über die Geschichte der Documenta im Deutschen Historischen Museum öffentlich gemacht wurde, war von Anfang an Jurymitglied, fällte bis zu seiner Pensionierung 1974 Entscheidungen für das Programm und nutzte das BKP-Geld aus Bonn für seine eigenen Ausstellungen der Stipendiaten/Stipendiatinnen.

„I cannot reword“

The curators also addressed questions about gender and the concept of art. During their research on Yvonne Rainer, an American choreographer, dancer, and filmmaker who was nominated by Kasper König, Lukács and Roumiguière discovered that the jury expected her to create a dance piece, even though she intended to make a film. „Yvonne Rainer had to really persuade them to allow her to do what she wanted. The so-called free zone that was supposed to be created did not have the same rules for female artists as it did for their male colleagues,“ commented Roumiguière, with Lukács adding, „It’s important to know that the visual arts field did not have an open application process, and one had to be recommended.“ This resulted in the establishment of a concept of art that excluded certain groups of people from the art world. „There was a comment in the documents from Eberhart Roters stating that he couldn’t relate to art from other cultural and geographical areas. Therefore, they wanted to narrow down the circle of potential applicants so that only artists who already fit the jury’s concept of art were considered,“ explained Lukács.

Das Hinterfragen des Kanons ist inzwischen Teil der Jurysitzungen des BKP. Auch die digitale Aufarbeitung des Archivs ist in vollem Gang. Das Ausstellungsprojekt zeigt nun erstmals öffentlich diese schonungslose Auseinandersetzung des Programms mit sich selbst und ist somit ein Schritt in die richtige Richtung.

Dass sich die Besucher:innen in den drei Schauen nicht nur kritisch mit dem BKP beschäftigen können, sondern neben neuen Arbeiten – etwa von Kasia Fudakowski oder Isaac Chong Wai im n.b.k. – auch über lange Zeit in Lagern vergessene Werke, wie solche der Malerin Maija Tabaka aus der ehemaligen UdSSR oder der britischen Op-Art-Künstlerin Bridget Riley, entdecken können, ist ein Geschenk.